format: LP
year: 1985
country: Germany
label: private
#: AVC LP 85200
info: Innersleeve w/ lyrics and picture
style: Heavy Metal
Side A:
Side B:
There is certainly no shortage of reviews of German 80's Heavy Metal here at The Corroseum (the heritage of the old Metalpage-archive made sure of that) and there's also that little project we got going, documenting every German HM/HR band that ever existed between 1978-1993, BUT... the absence of a proper writeup of 'the other Overdose' has stuck out like a sore thumb in the back of my mind for years, so it's about time we remedy this imperfection.
As much as Yngwie Malmsteen's classic "More is more!"-quote makes me smile, I've always admired bands who manage to create great Metal music with lesser means. The mid-80's Thor-material is a classic example, and on Overdose's home turf we have d.i.y. pearls like Black Hawk and Caress, as well as Mass, who managed to get this just right on their one masterstroke "War Law". "To The Top" is another great release in this cathegory. On the surface it looks and feels like your avarage B-grade German 'Rumpel-Metal', not all-out falling-down-the-stairs clumsy, but certainly amateurish on a 2nd-Demo-type level. You know, the kind of album that's better produced than it is performed. What sets it apart from most other contenders in the genre is the tunes. 'Original' is hardly the right word for it - frankly a lot of parts of the album are rather generic - but you can tell the band put their hearts and minds into making each song special and unique. You keep expecting them to run out of steam, bring on the fillers and get repetitive like on so many of those Gama-albums, but they never do! Every song has either that special intro riff, or that great bridge, or that captivating rhythm, or that catchy chorus ..or several of them combined! (Except for the dull "Way To Fail", but I guess they pretty much announced it as a filler with a title like that?)
They even have the good taste of saving some of the most interesting tunes for last, as both "Obscuration" and "Rockfever" display pretty much all of the aforementioned traits, plus a tinge of originality and sneaky darkness that suits them very well. It's a fascinating thought how these guys could have developed on a 2nd, more matured release ...And
need I add that the sleeve art is a sheer masterpiece in
Heavy Metal stupid?