I've
documented the multitude of old FWOSHM-7"s in
this
article, but certain masterpieces do however need some special attention
and ZONE ZERO's weighty '82 effort is definitely one of the most important
releases of early Swedish Metal. Out of all the spotty releases on the
cult budget-label
Pang,
this is probably the best and most essential. Undisputed top-5 material,
at least as far as Swedish 7"s go.
The woeful intro lead, the heavy machinegun-burst riffing, the proud,
majestic vocal and lyrical themes all make "Win Or Die" a Metal
Anthem worthy of inscription in the "Proud Vikings & Warriors"-Metal
Hall Of Fame. Think ARC's legendary "
War
of the Ring" played in a more down-to-earth HEAVY LOAD-manner
and you're halfway there. It's kinda hard to believe this was actually
recorded before most of MANOWAR's discography, but then again we all rode
dragonships to kindergarten and have had our Viking helmets on since potty-training,
so the epic power chord runs in our blood so much more naturally over
here than in burger-munchin' fatso hillbilly U.S. of A. ;P
"Evil Dream" shares the same epic sound, but is less instant
than the A-side.
Although not a ballad, it's kinda similar in feel and construction to
JUDAS PRIEST old evergreen "Beyond The Realms Of Death". A great
song in it's own right that displays the dynamics of the band and makes
you wish they'd made a full-length LP even more. One can find a certain
comfort in the fact that some demo and rehearsal recordings have recently
been unearthed and if you have some good tape/CDR trading contacts you
definitely need to keep an eye out for them, since they too include some
brilliant material. Due to some minor domestically achieved cult-status
in later years, the band recently reformed and recorded a few new demo
cuts, in a sligthly more modern fashion, but we hope and pray the band
will soon find it's way back to the path of true Metal glory.