Attacker
Soul Taker
4.5
I am nearly bereft, ladies and specimens. Attacker is so....well...bad. Flamingly bad. Not as musicians - they seem very competent individually, but as a project. From the subject matter to the worn out, used up compositions to the lame-assed 1982 recording to the shrieking Udozzy Dirkenson vocalist, this is everything that's wrong with powermetal nostalgiacore.
Remember when music went "retro" with grunge and pseudo disco in the early nineties? Remember how the bands that really sounded good didn't actually sound like bands from the 70's so much as lifted the sense of melody from that period, but suddenly there were fifty fucking million groups who just flat out aped Niel Young or Jimi Hendrix? Remember how much you wanted to beat them all to death? Attacker is one of those bands, only aping the worst of the early 80's NWBHM styles. The solos are simply Murray/Smith, the drumwork is Accept, the recording is Grim Reaper, the ethos is somewhere between early Raven and Maiden, but with NONE of the originality of any of the above bands. The one thing I will say is that they play with energy. But to what end?
And the "singer"? Forget it. How he can manage to sound osbournic, off key, gruff, thin and whiny at the same time is probably the only compelling thing about this guy. He takes what would otherwise have been a fairly bad if musically competent tribute band and launches them into the depths of retardation. And not the good kind, with special olympians, friendly smiles and sweeping up the condiment bar after hours...
Bottom Line: Don't fucking buy this thing. Just having to listen to it three times has caused my bowels to cramp up. If you have to buy something old and cheesy, look for a copy of All For One or Metal Heart. Give the money to the people who did this shit when it meant something. But don't fucking buy this record.
