Metalian

The way the opening title track speeds up from solid, standard mid-pace HM to solid, faster HM about a minute or two into the song truly makes it so much more than the sum of its parts and lack of originality aside we're off to a good start. After debuting on the Juara Juara Rock triptych of compilations earlier the same year with a mixed bag of tracks we're bound to be at least a  wee bit curious about this early Malaysian Steel full-length debut.

Those white suits in the MC cover line-up pic are in stark contrast to the band name, the wild, mean & screaming Metal vocals of Thana and the heavy beginning of the album. Of course it's followed by the usual lame schmallad, but this time I really need to give some credit to track #3, "Luka", which is one of those rare 1-in-20 power ballad pearls armed with some fantastic hooks. With "Keyakinan Diri" and "Kau Gadis Kota" we're somewhat almost back on the HM-track with some cool & catchy NWOBHM'y Metalrock. Thumbs are steadily in the upward position so far!

Side B starts off on a similar note though perhaps on the more melodic path with the upbeat  "Lorong Lorong Sepi", but after that we're dumped in a 3 tracks long swamp of the usual ballad/slow-rock ilk. Luckily we get a happy Heavy Metal ending with the dark & brooding "Destinasi", best described as the perfect mix of Rusty Blade and Kat(!) when at their gloomiest. Compared to their "Era" follow-up from 1989, I'd say this is their marginally more interesting release - at least if you prefer catchy NWOBHM and/or Heavy Olde Euro-Metal over more fancy, neo-classical Steel, but unfortunately it's also quite a bit bigger a challange to hunt down (...and here "quite a bit" is just a polite way of saying "nearly fucking impossible" because Malaysia, but you get the point.)