format: Mini-LP
year: 1987
country: Sweden
label: ABF Finspång
#: -
info: -
style: Melodic Metal, Hard Rock
Side A:
Side B:
BLIZZARD is about as spot-on the Swedish Melodic Metal-archetype as we could possibly get. For the most part never too wimpy to scare away the open-minded Metalheads, but melodic enough to entice the American and Asian market. It's a wonder they never conquered the world, right?
Well, neither did Hazy, Arrow or T.E.R. and all belonged in the same niche and were of similar quality.
There's no denying "Fading Away" is an amateur product - the song compositions are quite simple and the vocals aren't 100%, 100% of the time - but the performance is fairly tight and the production has no major shortcomings. The most prominent streak of youthful insecurity is how they don't seem to be able to make up their mind wheather they want to be Europe or Iron Maiden ...but since the majority of Swedish rock acts at the time were stuck between Europe and B*n J*vi, this can hardly be
considered a flaw.
"Illusions" and "Fading Away" are the stand-out tracks here. A bit similar to each other perhaps, but really good, striding "Power Metal-light", keboards or not. "Stronger Than The Wind" has some nice standard HR riffing going for it, while "Lonely Night" represents the throwaway Swedish aor-side of the band. While the album as a whole won't blow your mind, I just can't see how anyone with a taste for catchy 80's HM could ever get disappointed by it.
My own theory as to why this EP hasn't become a bigger want-list item through the years
is that ultra-super-unsexy ABF-logo on the front cover, and I'm not even gonna bother explaining to you non-Swedes why this adds so much Extra Lame to the aura of the record. Just try this out for a fun mind-trick: Carefully put your thumb on the screen and cover that red little shitstain in the corner. What do you see? Correct. Cool private pressing. Now remove your thumb - what do you see? Correct. Lame after-school project. Great way to ruin the band's future collector-kült rep, assholes*!
* = ABF that is, not the band, who I'm sure was innocent of this atrocity.