On
the 2nd volume of these extremely obscure Dutch compilations things have
developed ever so slightly away from the most rudimentary Hard Rock/NWOBHM-ish
moments of the
1st volume.
It's also most likely the most cult/"exotic" volume of the whole
series. I'll soon elaborate further on that issue...
Seeing the title "King Of The Midnight Fire" on the track list
made me flinch at first. Could this be some unknown original version of
the old RUNNING WILD demo-classic? I had to play the German's version
directly after
EAR DANGER's to be absolutely sure and I'm sorry
to say: no, it's just a fluke. It's however still a decent piece of old-school,
epic Heavy Metal, starting out with an excellent, catchy riff, it transforms
into an acoustic verse and then back to a heavy chorus not quite as catchy
as RW's ol' gem, but you can't win 'em all.
ATOMIC ROCK doesn't
try very hard to hide their English influences. "The Spy" is
a pure NWOBHM-imitation straight off some 1980 DIAMOND HEAD/TRESPASS/SWEET
SAVAGE-rehearsal. The only thing indicating this is recorded a few years
later is this dark, spinechilling twin lead break somewhere in the middle
of the song. On the B-side is where things get a bit more exotic though.
I don't really know what to make out of
SCUM's "Steel From
The Rich"(sic). Lyrically this song is probably the most 'politically
aware' 5 minutes in 80's Metal history. Few punk-bands of the time could
have topped the blatant socialist rantings of this piece. Check this out:
"More money more money more money, for the people who are unemployed.
If they don't give what we want, we have to go out to steal - Steal from
the rich..." Then it gets more radical. Despite the crappy playing
and rather simple, prostest-song like song structure it's actually an
extremely catchy and likable tune. The extremely unlikely amalgamation
of Iron Maiden c:a '79 and Joe Hill???
...AND THEN IT'S PURE FUKKING
EPIC METAL-TIME!! Hrmpfw
wAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Oh man, you cannot possibly
believe how extremely, utterly, immensely
fucking
BAD ANWAR is. I pride myself with having heard a
lot of odd & unusually crappy Metal, and ANWAR are right up there
with the "masters" like LOCH NESS, KUSTER and SECRET METAL.
The intro does make promises of MANILLA ROAD/CIRITH UNGOL-like epicness,
but then: pure fucking kollaps! The musicianship, the production, it's...
Oh forget about it. The thing that still makes the song interesting (apart
from being hilarious) is that had any other band nicked the best ideas
of it, it could have been a pretty neat piece of Steel. Why did they turn
up on the EP then? I hear you wonder. The obvious answer: It's the producer/labelowner
Tiny "Iceman" V. Stiphout's very own band. How very typical...
If by some surreal coincidence they ever recorded an album that the collector
world not yet have discovered, I don't think there will ever be a Metal
vinyl out there I'd pay more for. Seriously, if it's out there, name your
price. The amount of laughter that this hypothetical album could generate
is simply priceless. Pure fucking CULT!