I've
never been much of a fan of Swedish Metal in general up until a few years
ago, when I - like many other collectors before me - discovered the wonderful
world of
FWOSHM ep's. It seems the LP-media somewhat corrupted the minds
& hearts of the majority of Swedish Metal musicians in the mid-80's. I
blame a certain big-haired poserband who's name I don't want to mention
on this site. However in the early 80's our proud Metal vikings banged
their heads to a totally different tune. Anyone who has heard cult acts
like
ZONE ZERO,
GOTHAM
CITY,
SHAKESPEARE, NEMESIS,
AXEWITCH etc should know. A title I've
rarely seen on want- or favelists is ONYX's self-titled debut EP. This
could be for 1 reason only: They sing in Swedish. I can understand if
it will make you sceptical. Alot of HR/HM bands with Swedish lyrix at
this period were more 70's influenced and not overly metallic, but trust
me, ONYX is an exception. Already with opener "Karon" they kick off in
a true early-80's euro-metal fashion, not unlike the faster trax of those
early ACCEPT albums, with some guitarwork in the classic NWOBHM/2 first
MAIDEN lp's style. "Förlorad Son" is a more melodic number which manages
to be just that - melodic - without sounding too commercial. On "Tid Att
Dö" we're back in the fast lane and this one could be taken right off
the "Breaker" album by ACCEPT = pure old-school Power Metal! Final cut
"Nosferato" is what really makes this ep special. An epic Heavy Metal
masterpiece and Swedish top-10 contender! A brilliant composition only
beaten on their home turf by CRYSTAL PRIDE's
debut
7" when it comes to high-class songwriting and being way ahead of
it's time. The song ends with an eerie spoken part over double bass drums
and heavy, epic riffings that would have made Max Schreck real proud.
The production is cleaner than most of the indie recordings from this
period, which is both a good and a bad thing I guess. Kai Nurmi's vocals
need mentioning too. A rather original voice which can hold a tune and
be totally hoarse and freaked out at the same time. As they say in Germany:
Kaufpflicht! ...oh and by the way: There's absolutely no connection what
so ever to the old NY Hip-Hop act with the same name. No, really. I'm
100% sure about this, so all you Rap Metal fans out there, please don't
bother me with queries on this subject.
P.S. It seems there were another Swedish band called ONYX who released
an LP in the mid-80's. This one is not even close to Metal, so don't confuse
these 2 either (like I did at first).