format: Mini-LP
year: 1986
country: Finland
label: Poko Rekords
#: FORMULA 11
info: -
style: Heavy Metal
Side A:
Side B:
It's unappreciated-lower-medium-rarity-Metal-time! No-one ever talks about old Finns OUTBURST - Why?? They're great! Love Scanda-Metal? With the melodies, the hammond, the Blacksmiths, the Universes and everything? But often find the tunes and vocals just a tiny bit too wimpy? "Stranglers In The Night" is the (mini) album for you!
"I Give You" kicks things off with a bang - hammonds are soaring, vocals are wailing, heads are banging and you instantly want to run to the front of the stage and join vocalist Kake on the chorus. He sounds like Klaus Meine but with more Finnish sisu (google it), or a bit like whatshisname from Austrians U8 and he's perfect for the job. From there they go straight to the crescendo with their one true masterpiece, "Hunter". This - fucking - SONG. Do you ever find yourself to spontaneously start laughing the first time you hear a really killer tune? Like, out of shock coz you didn't expect to hear something that good on a random, non-hyped album? This is one of those tunes. That fantastic lead riff, the mesmerizing bridge and perfect composition makes it a Finnish top 10 in my book, and yours too I'm sure. Things hardly slow down on "Shout Love For Me" - quite the opposite as it is the fastest, most aggressive tune on board and another hit, steamrolling into Power Metal-territory - the obvious show-starter!
Apart from the fact that the chorus tries just a tiny bit too hard to be stadium-filler catchy, B-side opener "Gamblers" is basically a poundin', rockin' strike 4 for on the hit-point sheet. After that, the band says goodbye with the slower, more melodic "Scare". It's not bad, certainly not a ballad and doesn't ruin the vibe and flow and sometimes that's enough. So, Corro recommends. Whether you also need their farwell 7" "Lonely Nights" from one year later is a subject for a future review - I seem to have lost the bloody thing!