It
doesn't look very promising, does it? This album had completely passed
me by until I saw it on e-bay half a year ago. Since I collect old
all-girl,
real Metal records I got curious, even if they looked like
2nd rate VIXEN clones on the album cover. The seller wrote the usual harangue
about "killer power metal!" etc, but forgive me for being skeptical.
Recently an affordable copy turned up at a Metal Market and this time
I had a little more confidence in the seller's promises of it's heavy
content (cheers Rainer!). And waddayano', this ain't half-bad stuff, really.
Very standardized European Heavy Metal in the ACCEPT/POKOLGEP/PRIEST-vein,
including a healthy number of faster, double-bass-drum-driven Power-pieces,
like the upbeat and slightly mellow "Stiny v Ulicich", Speed
Metallic "Svêdomi v Nás", the great epic "Prokleti
Hrichu" etc.
AND... believe it or not, only
1 (one)
vomit-inducing, schmalzy, pompous schlager-ballad on the whole record!
"What?!?" you say?
"On an East European Metal
record? It cannot be!", but yes, "Bohuzel" is practically
the only real downer on the album. Despite the even, high quality of songwriting
it's still the kind of album you'll enjoy more for it's lack of crap songs
rather than it's unforgettable highlights, but I can guarantee* you a
surprisingly positive Metal-experience, especially if other mid-league
Czech Steel like KERN, VITACIT, KREYSON etc has let you down in the past.
(Then again it's no match for CITRON's mighty "Radegast".) All
in all, LORETTA is more of a 'nice surprise' than an undiscovered work
of genius. Or perhaps it totally slays and I'm just getting old and jaded.
Go figure.
* = Not a guarantee. The Corroseum does not give refunds
on behalf of poor taste and/or judgment.
Originally written in German. Translate to:
Lasst Euch bloß von dem Bandnamen nicht abschrecken! Loretta spielen einwandfreien, starken Heavy Metal ohne Kompromisse! Sicher die härteste All-Girl Combo, die mir bisher begegnet ist. Keine Ausfälle (Balladen) sind hier zu vermelden, es gibt Metal vom Fass, mal flotter, mal schleppender, aber immer eingängig und gut. Auch die Produktion geht voll in Ordnung, wenn Euch die Scheibe also wider Erwarten irgendwo in die Hände fällt, sofort verhaften!