'Unintentional Metal' / 'Metal-by-mistake'

[bigfootkit]

I too very much enjoyed your selections MechaBarbarian (though i was sorry to see you've abandoned your 'classic' avatar ).
Surprise, Blind Date & Cinecyde were all totally new to me & i'll definitely be investigating Surprise & Cynecide further. I'll heed your 'bland power pop' warning re Blind Date though & just snag the good song without polluting my ears with their other stuff.
I do have to take issue with your comment that SAHB were 'not usually associated with metal' however. Whilst not Metal per se, at their core they were a Heavy Rock band, albeit an atypical one with a flair for the odd & theatrical, and definitely one of those bands along with the likes of UFO & Wishbone Ash who exerted a big influence on early 80's Metal, despite not being whole-hog HM bands themselves. Michael Schenker knew a good thing when he lured the SAHB rhythm section to MSG.
BTW, the pre-Alex Harvey incarnation of the band as Tear Gas is worthy of investigation too for a few Proto-Metal-ish gems lurking within their scant 2 LP legacy.
Nice to see Funkadelic getting an unlikely mention on The Corroseum. Their frustratingly inconsistent (& huge) discography has several worthwhile heavy-ish tracks scattered throughout; 'Alice In My Fantasies', 'Superstupid', 'Be Good To Your Earhole', 'Red Hot Mamma' (& it's sequel 'Vital Juices') and of course the devastatingly mournful epic psych/blues instrumental 'Maggot Brain'. Eddie Hazel & Michael 'Kidd Funkadelic' Hampton were incredible guitar players who don't get enough recognition.

[bigfootkit]

That KICK track made me think of 79-81 era Twisted Sister - more than any NWOBHM contemporaries or later-comers, which I find interesting. Cool find!

The Law track was ever so slighly closer to the NWOBHM-sound and I can't help hearing a wee bit of the 'Lizzy there. Great one as well! ...and after grabbing The Bible from the bookshelf and checking - yeah, both are actually mentioned.

I never did manage to find a reasonably priced copy of Malc's book, so i'm surprised/impressed to hear that borderline releases like those were mentioned.
I hadn't ever considered TS when listening to Kick so i'll need to give that another listen with them now in mind.
I've yet to properly delve into my 45's folder in search of good unintentional Metal, but here are a few more examples of the phenomenon which came to mind easily. They'll be familiar to some from their appearances on my podcast, but will be new discoveries to some folks & all are worthy of preservation in this thread. I;m sure the last one has been discussed at length previously 'round these parts, but is still well worth hearing again.

The only worthwhile track from this Canadian AOR band's lone 1987 album is this party-starting RIOT-esque rocker :

CHINA BLUE - Glasses Hi (1987)



Astonishingly atmospheric & bleak USSR/Estonian Proto-Doom from 1972. If only it was longer:

RUJA - Tütarlaps kloaagis (1972)



These Swedes released just one 1978 LP, most of which was fairly run=of-the-mill Prog-inclined Hard (but not very) Rock, but in the midst of that was this almighty clap of Heavy Metal Dunder:

DUNDER - Varje Låt Har Sin Egen Tid (1978)

[MechaBarbarian]

To diversify some from the mostly 70's progsy proto-Heavy stüffs, here's VOIVOD before Voivod started Voivod'ing with their Voivodness about 5 years later, especially/Voivodically in the "Dimension Hatröss"/"Nothingface"-style of Voivod'ery:

Dan! Are you in my social media circles? I made a post about spooky coincidences in metal a year or so ago. It had three examples to kick it off: 1.The Southern Cross song, 2.How much Anvil's "Running Wild" predicted the sound of well...Running Wild, 3. Was how close "The Message" was to Voivod!!! No kidding!
I absolutely love that album and parts of the follow up EP too, Brain Bomb is savage!

Slightly off-topic but if I were to put together a top 5 post-punk tracks that sound eerily like Nothingface/Angel Rat era Voivod it would look like:
Hugh Cornwell - Losers in a Lost Land
Rat At Rat R - plague
Belfegore - All that I Wanted
Sad Lovers & Giants - Big Tracks Little Tracks
Crispy Ambulance - Travel Time

[MechaBarbarian]

I too very much enjoyed your selections MechaBarbarian (though i was sorry to see you've abandoned your 'classic' avatar ).

Haha cheers dude! I must say I've always been embarrassed by the old one as I just ripped a part of somebody's black sabbath fanart. I drew this lil' fella myself!

BTW, the pre-Alex Harvey incarnation of the band as Tear Gas is worthy of investigation too for a few Proto-Metal-ish gems lurking within their scant 2 LP legacy.

Oh yeah! Fair enough, that fact totally slipped my mind! Very good corrections!
That Ruja track rocked!

Cinecyd - U nailed it w/ the Flower Travelling Band-comparison ...and from a bloody punk-band! Is this the only track in their repertoar of this style?

As I alluded to "Gutless Radio" the A-side also has some sick Sabbath-y riffs. Much of their material has a slight metal/hard rock edge but none as savage as those two cuts. Good rocking punk though.

Indeed another fun "sub-genre" to explore would be non metal bands with a clear Sabbath influence.

Pere Ubu's debut single! Famously heavily inspired by Bloodrock's D.O.A but for sure there's some Electric Funeral in there too!

Zounds - Did He Jump or Did He Fall?

Super chill (again Flower Travellin'-esque) vibes from this Anarcho punk band.

Oh and how about this take on the War Pigs bassline?

Gets filtered again through Amebix later on hah!

Alex Harvey... - Shocked me. So much Steel in that composition.

Yeah it's amazing! Here's another shockingly metal track I am convinced Killing Joke must've been into (though I've got no confirmation as opposed to SAHB).

[Nonseinormale65]

Dik Dik was a beat/pop band formed in Milano(north Italy) in 1965 and still active although they had a lot of line up changes,they were on the the melodic italian cheesy pop side but in 1977 keyboard player Joe Vescovi (former The Trip,a great hard/prog band and later with the metallers Knife Edge) joined the band,first effort with the new line up was the album "Amico" in 1978 where only a song called "Ossessioni" was good for our ears and unintentional too:



Joe Vescovi heavier influences were more evident in two 7" released in 1978 and 1980 but these songs i dare say were "intentional" ...



and finally in 1980 this one...the intentions were clear,an heavier approach,a new metallic logo and a band pic that says it all...



Unsatisfied by the sales Vescovi soon left the band to form Knife Edge together with Steve Tessarin (Vanadium) and Fabrizio Cruciani (Vanexa,Crossbones) but that's another story while Dik Dik went back to their old sound...

[bigfootkit]

I too very much enjoyed your selections MechaBarbarian (though i was sorry to see you've abandoned your 'classic' avatar ).

Haha cheers dude! I must say I've always been embarrassed by the old one as I just ripped a part of somebody's black sabbath fanart. I drew this lil' fella myself!

You know how it is, you get used to associating people with their avatars & if they change them it's a bit like running into a friend with a new haircut. Just takes a bit of getting used to.
I was ultra-lazy in selecting my own avatar all those years ago. It's from the movie poster for 'Abby,' a blaxploitation rip off of 'The Exorcist'. It's not even a so-bad-it's good film, just plain bad, but it happened to be handy at the time.
The amount of PM's i've had over the years asking what album it's from should have driven me to change it years ago.

[DaN]

To diversify some from the mostly 70's progsy proto-Heavy stüffs, here's VOIVOD before Voivod started Voivod'ing with their Voivodness about 5 years later, especially/Voivodically in the "Dimension Hatröss"/"Nothingface"-style of Voivod'ery:

Dan! Are you in my social media circles? I made a post about spooky coincidences in metal a year or so ago. It had three examples to kick it off: 1.The Southern Cross song, 2.How much Anvil's "Running Wild" predicted the sound of well...Running Wild, 3. Was how close "The Message" was to Voivod!!! No kidding!
I absolutely love that album and parts of the follow up EP too, Brain Bomb is savage!

Nope, always avoided Internet 2.0 because of 90% bad reviews.
Cool as f**k to meet a fellow PoL fan though
I hope & pray you are aware of the "Revolution By Numbers" and "Gigantic Days" demo comp CDs from the late 90's? Just love how they partly want to be post-punk/new-wave but the guitar sound on the early recordings is pure NWOBHM filth

Not quite as Metal as "The Message" but still a unique and brilliant semi-Heavy rock tune from the undergrounz':



The Nigro Mantia/Mighty Sphincter-force is STRONG with this one!

[DaN]

I want to make 2 important requests here, if someone can help out. These are my fragmented memories of the albums and I hope and pray that someone out there can help:

1. A US Hard Rock private album from the late 70's (or possibly 1980?), b/w sleeve, band name was basically the artist's name I think... ONE track was however pure "Stained Class"-type True NWOBHM-style Metal!

2. A 76-79 (I think) private pressing of a New York band (I think #2) with a weird, DEVO'esque, space-suit-wearing sci-fi image, playing some crude'n'raw mix of early Devo, Hawkwind and Death- (yeah THAT other band) Hard Rock/proto-punk/space rock. I strongly remember it was mentioned either here or on the Miskatonic forum 10+ years ago...

Edit: If Graham or Rob can't help me out here I'm doomed...

[bigfootkit]

2. A 76-79 (I think) private pressing of a New York band (I think #2) with a weird, DEVO'esque, space-suit-wearing sci-fi image, playing some crude'n'raw mix of early Devo, Hawkwind and Death- (yeah THAT other band) Hard Rock/proto-punk/space rock. I strongly remember it was mentioned either here or on the Miskatonic forum 10+ years ago...

Edit: If Graham or Rob can't help me out here I'm doomed...

Band #1 will require some pondering as there are so many suspects, but #2 must surely be either:

Zolar-X


or Pandora:

[tbieri]

1. A US Hard Rock private album from the late 70's (or possibly 1980?), b/w sleeve, band name was basically the artist's name I think... ONE track was however pure "Stained Class"-type True NWOBHM-style Metal!

Joe Step?

[Khnud]

1. A US Hard Rock private album from the late 70's (or possibly 1980?), b/w sleeve, band name was basically the artist's name I think... ONE track was however pure "Stained Class"-type True NWOBHM-style Metal!

Joe Step?

Dan Jefferies Century? They were Canadian but fit the description perfectly otherwise. Prog/hard rock except the track "The Fury" which is TOTAL Judas Priest worship.

[DaN]

2. A 76-79 (I think) private pressing of a New York band (I think #2) with a weird, DEVO'esque, space-suit-wearing sci-fi image, playing some crude'n'raw mix of early Devo, Hawkwind and Death- (yeah THAT other band) Hard Rock/proto-punk/space rock. I strongly remember it was mentioned either here or on the Miskatonic forum 10+ years ago...

Edit: If Graham or Rob can't help me out here I'm doomed...

Band #1 will require some pondering as there are so many suspects, but #2 must surely be either:

Zolar-X

This forum rules! I should come visit more often..

Yeah, it's gotta be Zolar X. Apart from some confused/mixed-up memory of a very colourful picture sleeve, the music checks all the boxes. Man, this album is bloody Grrrreat! Originals seem sorta expensive but still not in the completely insane bracket = Hellcome to want list.

Am I crazy for getting SACRED BLADE-vibes when listening to a track like this?



...and this us just pure 70's PENTAGRAM:



..while this could surely have come from some lost LEGEND or MANILLA ROAD 1981 demo:

Dan Jefferies Century? They were Canadian but fit the description perfectly otherwise. Prog/hard rock except the track "The Fury" which is TOTAL Judas Priest worship.

Cheers! Yes - exactly this one. Looking at the Discogs-slot and especially the comments below, I'm guessing it was perhaps John who introduced it to us? Seems it actually wasn't released in the 70's after all, so I guess this removes some of the Magic from it. Yeah, confess: We're all silly nerds when it comes to details like this

[bigfootkit]

This forum rules! I should come visit more often..

Yeah, it's gotta be Zolar X. Apart from some confused/mixed-up memory of a very colourful picture sleeve, the music checks all the boxes. Man, this album is bloody Grrrreat! Originals seem sorta expensive but still not in the completely insane bracket = Hellcome to want list.

Glad i was able to help DaN, i know all too well how frustrating it can be to try to reclaim these things from the fog of time. And if it's any consolation the sleeve's nothing like i'd recalled it either.
Likewise for Pandora actually, but the CD version is worth showing as it's a) awful, b) unrepresentative & c) more like the Zolar X cover i had in my mind's eye.
Great to hear this one again, i'd forgotten how much the singer sounds like the guy from Granicus at points.
+EDIT+ Interestingly i just read that Granicus' drummer produced these recordings.



BTW, slightly off-topic but Zolar X's mainman Stephen Della Bosco also had a Punk band in the late 70s/early 80s called Rock Bottom &The Spys who released a lone EP. Really good Punk Rock with added analogue synth bleeps & bloops in a 'sci-fi' style for added niche appeal which might well be up your non-Metal street:

Rock Bottom &The Spys - Rich Girl EP (1981)

[MechaBarbarian]

Nope, always avoided Internet 2.0 because of 90% bad reviews.
Cool as f**k to meet a fellow PoL fan though
I hope & pray you are aware of the "Revolution By Numbers" and "Gigantic Days" demo comp CDs from the late 90's? Just love how they partly want to be post-punk/new-wave but the guitar sound on the early recordings is pure NWOBHM filth

Not quite as Metal as "The Message" but still a unique and brilliant semi-Heavy rock tune from the undergrounz':

The Nigro Mantia/Mighty Sphincter-force is STRONG with this one!

Haha it was a closed group so I didn't think so! More a case of "great minds..."

Had not heard those! You know you have my attention when you mention Nigro Mantia and Sphincter!!!
Really loved it! Thanks for the heads up.

And holy shit! Zolar X. Never heard, instant new favorite! What the hell?!!
Can't get enough of that Sarcofagus/Pinnacle/Fallout-vibe. Speaking of Sphincter, their first incarnation The Brainz released an absolutely incredible single in this vein

And since we're talking space rocked deathrock quasi-metal, from 1982:

[Khnud]

Cheers! Yes - exactly this one. Looking at the Discogs-slot and especially the comments below, I'm guessing it was perhaps John who introduced it to us? Seems it actually wasn't released in the 70's after all, so I guess this removes some of the Magic from it. Yeah, confess: We're all silly nerds when it comes to details like this

Were you present that time at Muskelrock (Facebook confirms it was 2016) when I played it on my phone to the Finnish guys? It was kinda fun to see all their collective jaws drop to the floor (or grass, rather) once the vocals set in.

Anyway, I highly recommend that album.