Lazzer

German 80's Metal is an absolutely bottomless ocean of Steel near impossible to navigate through. Thankfully we have our German Hard Rock and Heavy Metal guide to hold our hand, but for a shorthand version we'll try to highlight the essentials here in our review-dept. and LAZZER's one and only vinyl legacy is certainly worthy of this special spotlight.

It's no secret that we loves the MLP-format here at The Corroseum and "Metalized" is the upfteenth example of a great, no-fillers release in this fold. Opener "Crowed[sic] Will Rock" does indeed rock! Semi-dated, fast-paced EuroMetal is once again the name of the game and corny background-grunts aside this is as loveable as basic Euro-Steel gets. "Heavy Metal Beast" however this their absolute pièce de résistance. Grinding, perfect Metal riff-o-rama in the vein of the darkest '89-'95-era Running Wild gems, as well as contemporaries like Arrow, Atlain, Avenger and Inherent Sin. This is the type of universal HM hit that should make this album at least as coveted as the way "Child Of Hell" made the Black Fate LP a severely overpriced wantlist-topper in recent years, so watch those discogs-statistics folks!

Praise Satan we get zero schmallads or r'n'r fillers on the flip, but yet another great speeder in the form of "Fast Food", that shit title aside surprises with some comfy Scandinavian Mindless Sinner/Gotham City/Parasite-vibes, but the closer "Fire On The Earth" is definitely Hit #2. Just a super-catchy chorus to a gallopy, NWOBHMish pace with all the finest of previous ingredients present. Heads be banged! and those that don't, etc...

The more I think about it, the more I'm growing to love the generic "Metalized" choice for an album title. It's 100% honest marketing and in some weird way its deadpan'ness combined with the silly band name, pink genric logo and overall dull sleeve design enhances the Surprising Private Pearl-status of the album as a whole. I wouldn't say this is a German want-list topper just yet, but it has become increasingly difficult to locate in recent years and I would recommend any 80's Metal collector to grab a copy if ever the opportunity arises. Unless you're a sicko who hates Grave Digger, Brainfever and Gravestone you won't be disappointed.