Following in the footsteps of Gordonomicons "History of Thrash" and vikingbitches "Evolution of Death Metal" threads, I'm hopping on the themed review thread bandwagon. I was originally going to track the lineage of Doom but it's just too overwhelming. Proto-Doom, Traditional Doom, Epic Doom, Stoner Doom, Funeral, Death Doom, blah blah blah. Maybe one day I'll do a Proto-Doom themed thread but for now, here's the idea...

I'll be reviewing albums that came out in 1983 and I'll try as hard as I can to do them in the order they were released. 30 year old albums, the Pearl Anniversary. I already have a list made up and goddamn what a year it was. Lots of legitimate classics. As I go along, if I miss an album on my timeline let me know and maybe I'll squeeze it in. If this goes well I'll probably do the same for 1993 (20 years) and 2003 (10 years).

Also, I'm no writer so don't go in expecting Last Rites staff quality. Anyway, lets get down to the good stuff.

First I'll be covering a few albums that I couldn't find an exact release date for. The first one being...

OZ Fire In The Brain (1983)

     A true gem of an album right here. If it had not been released in 1983 amongst so many legendary albums this may have made more of a dent than it did. OZ is a band that really never came close to capturing the spirit found here (although III Warning is by no means bad) but at least they have a classic under their belt. Well, at least in my opinion.

     Opener "Search Lights" is the best track on an album full of great tracks. A simple main riff and a dynamic hook is sometimes all you need. The vocals here are absolutely perfect. This song is absolutely perfect. I review in hyperbole form, deal with it.

     "Fortune" slows it down just a tad compared to the frenetics of the opener. Yet another catchy main riff, a catchy hook and a nice little solo. Business picks up again with a maniacal guitar solo when "Megalomaniac" begins. As I'm listening to this I'm wondering where these guys went wrong because this would be rollicking radio metal for the time. This is radio anthem material.

     They slow it down again with "Black Candles" and I love the opening a ton. The vocals come across a little awkward at the start which is a shame because I'm loving the instrumentation. It doesn't ruin the song though, not one bit. They get less awkward as the song goes on and I'm not sure if I just got used to them or he changed it up a bit. I guess maybe they weren't on the radio because this is a song about black magic and satanic rituals? Maybe. This builds in heaviness as the song goes on and closes with a nice little show of speed. Bravo!

     "Gambler" is probably the least memorable song here but it's still quality. This isn't weak by any means but if I was forced to pick a weak spot it would be this. Not much to say here as it's competant yet forgettable.

     OZ kicks it up again with "Stop Believin'". I love the main riff here, so simple, so catchy and so effective. If you haven't noticed, I like simple. A couple nice little solo sections also. I know I mentioned it earlier but these vocals are perfect for this music. The best thing a vocalist can do in my opinion is to know their limits and work within them and frontman Ape De Martini understands this in spades.

     "Free Me, Leave Me" sounds similar to something that I can't seem to place. This might be the catchiest song on the album. I almost forgot to mention the RAVEN influence on these guys. You could have a lot worse influence in my opinion. RAVEN released some classic material, one of which happened to be in 1983 so keep an eye out for that one.

     "Fire In The Brain" brings us right back to that RAVEN influence. Here's another one of those trademark catchy choruses, "Fire in the brain, driving me insane, fire in the brain, driving me insane..."

Indeed.

This is an essential piece of metal history and if you haven't heard it you owe it to yourself. There is nothing weak here. A somewhat unheralded classic. OZ never went on to do anything else of consequence, they didn't change metal and they are only a footnote in metal history but a mighty footnote it is.

Two Random factoids. OZ appears on the "Scandinavian Metal Attack" compilation that features the first recordings of BATHORY. And that awesome cover art? The hand of the venerable Quorthon.

I'm glad this thread has gone over so well. ;)

Next up some time tomorrow is an album I'm completely unfamiliar with.

SATAN Court In The Act

It willcatch on. the next album sounds interesting.

Fork Tongue said:

I'm glad this thread has gone over so well. ;)

Next up some time tomorrow is an album I'm completely unfamiliar with.

SATAN Court In The Act

Album kicks fucking ass.

Danhammer Obstkrieg said:

Fork Tongue said:

I'm glad this thread has gone over so well. ;)

Next up some time tomorrow is an album I'm completely unfamiliar with.

SATAN Court In The Act

Album kicks fucking ass.

For some reason I always assumed Captain would be the one to chimp this album 'round here.

Also, just looked these clowns up on MA and I've decided that if you haven't released and album for 25+ years you're not allowed to list your band as "active".

Court In The Act is also killer.  Good choices.

Hey! WTF happened to this?

 SATAN Court In The Act

Sorry for the delay. I'm going into this one completely blind. No knowledge of the band, the album or even what kind of metal this is.

It starts off with a pointless little intro which sounds like something you'd hear on a Paul Chain record, not that that's a bad thing. Track 2 "Trial By Fire" is straight up NWOBHM and really fast NWOBHM at that. The bass is really audible which is something I always appreciate. Love the vocal style also, complete with Kind Diamond-esque shrieks.

"Too late

There's no escape

The trail has beguuuun

Trial by fire

From out of the sky

Feel the radiation buuuuuuuuuuuurn!"

The main riff is every bit as good as Iron Maiden's best riff and already I'm questioning how it is that I don't know this album.

Whoa. "Blades of Steel" (no not the awesome Nintendo hockey game) sounds more like Thrash than NWOBHM. The chorus is kind of catchy on this one and again the riffs are awesome. There's a short riff here from 2:09 - 2:13 tthat reminds me of something Dimebag would have done and right after that from 2:13 - 2:44 comes a very Marquis de Sade type breakdown and than back up into the big thrash style riffs and a blazing solo. Again, killer audible bass lines. Awesome stuff other than the constant shrieks near the end which I found kind of annoying.

"No Turning Back" is more of a NWOBHM/Thrash hybrid and god damn it continues to be awesome. Vocals are done slightly different and I'm not digging them as much. I have no idea how this album was recieved at the time but I'm guessing these guys influenced some Thrash bands in their time.

"Broken Treaties" goes back to full on NWOBHM. Not a bad song by any means but it's pretty standard. The most I can say is I'm really digging the guitar solo ifrom 2:36 - 3:15 or so.

Really not feeling the first half of "Break Free" but the second half kicks up the Thrash a bit and it sucked me back in a bit.

"Hunt You Down" is a little more melodic and radio friendly than anything else on the record but it's by no means commercial cheese. I would have lost my shit if I heard this on the radio and I wasn't 4 years old at the time. Very memorable chorus.

In a weird move the next two tracks, "The Ritual" and "Dark Side of Innocence" are both instrumentals. If I was sequencing this album I definitely would have seperated them. Both are worth checking out though for some great guitar work.

The last track "Alone In The Dock", is another one that could have found a home on the radio at the time.

All in all, a very good album and really heavy for the time period. I'd be interested to find out out if any Thrash bands were influenced by this as at times as it has a Proto-Thrash feel. I'm going to have to hunt down a physical copy of this.

NEXT UP...

Sounds like something I should check out. Nice.

Good ol' KIND Diamond. We need an edit button, post haste.