format: Mini-LP
year: 1985
country: Italy
label: Moon Record
#: MR 32004
info: Inner sleeve w/ lyrics.
style: Heavy Metal
Side A:
Side B:
It really looks like and awesome album, doesn't it? And then there's the excellent title (oozes of 'Dark Sound'), a neat logo, a few promising song titles - expectations are bound to skyrocket. Now, SWORDS will not all-out disappoint you, but it's not the Rollerball-meets-Dark Quarterer-meets-Death SS-concoction one would hope for.
There's some originality there for sure though. Both "Songs From A Black Opera (First Act)" (yes that's a proper song and not an intro) and "An Open Window" include some interesting blends of styles and influences, ranging from wavy The Plads type parts, pseudo-neo-classical guitars, Witchfynde'ish vibes and the rest of the ever-present NW-Of-the-BHM. "Scorpion Woman" on the other hand borders pure cheese, but still the chorus will most likely be the one thing that'll stick in your head after First Play. "Lady's Crying For Me" is a 5-minutes waste of precious vinyl and I don't think I need to explain why. That leaves only "Terror Night" to make or break the record and DAMN that's a mighty fine scream starting things off but alas, the song is a bit of a dud - upbeat chugga-chugga verse, melodic chorus, the usual etc etc.. *yawn*
I'll give SWORDS 2 strong swords rather than 3 weak ones, with a reminder that out in the real world/medieval battlefield, the former would be of much better use than the latter.