RISING FORCE
"The
White Album" (demo '79)
Line-up:
Yngve Malmsten (git, voc), M.
Jacob (bs), Z. Uroard (dr)
format: Mini-LP
year: 1986 (rec. '79)
country:
Sweden
label:
- (bootleg)
#:
RF-1
info:
No insert. Edition 500
style: Heavy Metal
Side A:
- Merlin's Castle
- Birth Of The Sun
- Dying Man
Side B:
- Suite Opus no. 9
((CLICK PICS FOR HI-RES SCANS))
Now
here's a FWOSHM-item so rare I seriously started to doubt my own memories
of taping a copy from a friend of a friend 17-18 years ago. And so, just
a few weeks ago I made a most joyful reunion with this piece of early
Swedish Metal history. I had to do some asking around about this one,
but apparently "The White Album" is the unofficial title of
this nameless and pretty much sleeveless, Swedish-made bootleg (some copies
come with a handwritten sticker on the back with songtitles and line-up
info). It's musical content is quite remarkable considering it was recorded
all the way back in '79. It's not too far from the stuff on their superb
"Marching Out" LP from '85, but with a more NWOBHM-meets-True-Metal
feel, perhaps a bit like a mix of their later stuff and old Swedish icons
like SILVER MOUNTAIN or GOTHAM CITY. "Merlin's Castle" is one
of the finest (and earliest!) examples of pure Epic Metal from the north.
A flawless, majestic number riding out on a pitch-black steed into to
the battlefield to cause grievous bodily harm to as many posers as it
is inhumanly possible. Hail and Kill! and so forth... "Birth Of The
Sun" drags on a bit too long for it's own good, especially if you
(like me) find endless guitar-fondling a most dreary part of the Metal
musical tradition. Still, there's some really ace riffing and hooks underneath
it all. Side A ends with the catchy "Dying Man" - melodic, yes,
but no less heavy than the 2 first efforts. The lengthy "Suite Opus
No. 8" is more along the lines of their semi-intrumental debut LP
and not much more than a pornographic display of the guitarist's love
for stroking his tool. A great intro and a pretty heavy lead riff, but
apart from that it's pure muso-bastard fodder (THE GREAT KAT does the
whole Beethoven-Metal thing with so much more balls if you ask me).
Soundwise it's quite alright for a demo. I've heard albums of the time
sounding a lot worse. Should you by any chance have trouble finding this
vinyl (AAHAHAHAHA! I kill me.) I'm pretty sure this recording can be found
on the numerous bootleg CDs of their early demos. As an old vinyl-release
of classic FWOSHM it's remarkable how this item has stayed out of the
limelight in the collector-world. My only guess it that since it was released
during the height of the band's career, it's measly 500 pressing sold
out in a matter of weeks and has since then been rotting away in the closets
of old fans and ex-fans here in Sweden, totally out of reach for foreign
Metal collectors. Time to update your wantlist then, coz this really is
so much more than a mere Yngwie Malmsteen-bootleg. It's a legacy of the
earliest days of the Swedish Metal scene and a fine Heavy Metal album
in it's own right.
(thanx to Janne Stark for additional info)