HOW CAN A TURNTABLE MELT? CONSUMERS TO THE NEW METAL

HOW CAN A TURNTABLE MELT? CONSUMERS TO THE NEW METAL

SYLVIE SIMMONS

Gimp rock. Every time you turn on the radio, there it is, whopping you about the ears with all the strength of a cottonwool ball. As much fun as books about little girls and puppies. As much fun as films starring Richard Dreyfuss. Overpaid, overweight Americans who open their mouths to muzak and gloop. So if you want to hear records that stir your blood and gird your loins and hurt your ears then you got to go out and buy them. It's a tough world out there and you need all the help you can get. Opinions, as Steve Walsh says, are like assholes. Everyone's got one. Difference is, I get paid for mine every now and again, and these in my opinion are a good place to start.

Not a top 30 by any means, and not particularly representative of a globe's worth of metal independents, but they're what I managed to dig out of my collection, and most of them ('cause I quickly dispose of any HM record that doesn't severely hurt) are suitably dirty, degenerate, energetic and tasteless. If you can't get these, what the hell, just look for anything with a ram's head or a skeleton or leather or blood on the sleeve, and you're probably heading in the right direction. Good luck. Ted Nugent's already lost half his hearing; why shouldn't you?

ANTHRAX

(Megaforce)

Stick a Black & Decker in your ear, swallow a handful of worm pills and you get this lotmighty stuff in the raw-meat barbarian tradition, no doubt helped by Ross The Boss of Manowar's production job. An album's on the way, meanwhile there's a fine and frantic single, "Soldiers Of Metal" b/w "Howling Furies."

ARMORED SAINT

(Metal Blade)

They come from Pasadena— Van Halen Country—and their motto is "Saints Will Conquer." Probably will, too. Armored Saint, so misty-eyed L.A. heavy metal fans will tell you, are "the most headbangingest band in Los Angeles." In fact they're flaming fanatical; what they lack in professionalism they more than make up for in energy, enthusiasm and overthe-topness. A regular sevenyear-war's worth of dual guitar battles and mayhem, glorious vocals and music in the mold, so to speak, of Priest and Iron Maiden. Looks like they're about to be signed to Chrysalis.

AUGUST REDMOON Fools Are Never Alone

(A.R.M. Records)

Live, this band leaps around like they've taken years of ballet lessons. Can't say that I blame them—it's harder to hit a moving target, and after hearing this piece of plastic too often you might well want to do something nasty to them. A very pro-looking job—catchy sleeve, blood-red vinyl even— but the music's excruciating. Still, finer minds and payola recipients have sworn to liking them, and their track on Metal Massacre IV isn't at all bad.

THE BEAST

(Mutha Records)

A four-track single—what we used to call an EP before 12-inchers and mini-albums came along—by a group I know nothing about but would love to invite to tea. Fast, trashy hack-and-slash stuff—the first tune sounds like Black Sabbath on codeine playing "All The Young Dudes"—almost punk if you didn't see the typical HM ugly winged monster pic on the sleeve. New Jersey hardcore.

BITCH

Damnation Alley Be My Slave

(Metal Blade Records)

"The Padded Cell and the Chateau are two places—S&M places, bondage places, where you can go in and pay whatever fee for a half hour or however long you want, you can beat the shit out of somebody or have somebody beat the shit out of you. They've got the racks and horses and paddles and cages and stretch racks and crosses that they can spin you around on, and mirrors and chains and ropes that they can tie you upside-down by the toenails.'' It's where Bitch did their early photo sessions. It's where Betsy was offered a job. It's where the band get most of their influences from (the ones that they didn't torture out of Sabbath, Priest and Maiden). Supposedly the first L.A. band to use black leather and handcuffs, they're a four-piece fronted—literally; their first record, Damnation Alley, features a close-up of her cleavage as its entire sleeve— by the ravishing Betsy, who does dirty things onstage with whips and chains and gets ravaged by a guitar neck. Both albums sound similarly ravaged but some nice thrashing dementia pokes through the messy sound.

CINTRON

(In Rock Records)

Reworked First Generation Metal stuff from a Long Island three-piece who used to do entire sets of Van Halen covers under the billboard "The Van Halen Show." The only cover on this EP is a blisteringly heavy version of Creedence's "Fortunate Son." Some classy guitar work from George Cintron, who's got more than a droplet of Jimmy Page heroics in him.

THE DARK Call Of The Wild

(Lazer Records)

Or maybe it's The Dark by Call Of The Wild. Anyway, it's a very comely black-and-white picture disc with a monster's head on one side and a mounted knight on the rampage on the other, and two bludgeoning songs which'll supposedly show up on an album soon, Masked By Midnight.

EXCITER

Heavy Metal Maniac

(Shrapnel Records)

If Loverboy were alive they'd drop down dead! A Canadian band, can you believe it, that has no twiddly keyboards, no twinkle melodies, no home perms and no sci-fi doodles. This is as subtle'as a motorcycle gang running down a bevy of nuns,frenzied, boiling, brainpummeling stuff, with Sabbath, Saxon and especially Motorhead overtones, fast powerful and dirty. The album came after they put one of their more muscial ditties on the US Metal II compilation, and has very unOttawan tracks like "Holocaust," "Iron Dogs" and "Raising Of The Dead."

THE GREAT WHITE

_(Agean)_

"Great White speelt Amerikaanse HM een wat commerciele zang—vor de headbangers die muziek," gushed one Dutchman. And if that means they're bleeding great, we're paddling up the same canal. An Orange County band that plays heavy, classy rock with pumping riffs, first-' class tunes and gritty, belting vocals, definite major league stuff. In fact, they've already been snapped up by EMI, and this mini album—put out on their own label—couldn't have hurt. It doesn't just sound good, it sounds good: expertly produced by Don Dokken of Don Dokken fame, and pressed on the best-quality vinyl, a real treat for aching ears. One of the mightiest-sounding independents around.

RANDY HANSEN Astral Projection Live

(Shrapnel)

Acid-flashers must be acidflashing. Frank Marino must be wetting himself. What we've got here is an independent album's worth of Jimi Hendrix covers, all of them pretty good, but all of them—well—Jimi Hendrix covers. Randy's a skinny former skating-rink guard from Seattle who got baptized by sweat in the front row of a Hendrix gig at the age of 13. For years he made an honest living sticking on a wig and playing a note-perfect Tribute To Jimi show around California to a growing crowd. He put out an album of original, if Hendrixinspired, stuff on Capitol once, but the producer had no ears and it sounded a bit weak. So he's either gone back to Jimiing full-time or this is a on'e-off souvenir-type thing, but in any case it's not bad at all.

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HAWAII One Nation Underground

(Shrapnel)

Fast and heavy power metal from a group whose members were mostly in the island's firstever HM band. The group's gotten heavier as the line-up has changed, and though they're not "the ultimate metal group" that they call themselves, it's respectably furious stuff. The vocals are a bit weak, but I hear they've fired the singer. They've already appeared on Metal Massacre and US Metal compilations, but they're not an easy lei.

JAGGED EDGE

(Hot Metal Records)

Since some Supreme Rock Human Beings have come out of Cleveland, Ohio, I thought I'd better stick this lot in to show you the other side. A bit dodgy to say the least—your basic yell over crunching HM riffs—but they look the part: star-shaped guitar, studded wristbands and long hair. Stiv Bators could eat them for breakfast.

LEATHER ANGEL We Came To Kill

(Miami Records)

If you've ever wondered what Judas Priest would be like if Rob Halford (no jokes, please!) were a girl, you'll probably take to Leather Angel, the selfproclaimed "Queens Of Leather Rock." A fetching picture of them on the sleeve there is too, vacuum-packed into black leather, balanced on spike heels, draped with metal stuff and topped off with long shagdos. The record isn't quite as formidable—it boasts to be the loudest record ever made and perhaps it is, but the sound's sludge—and I could do without the long cover of Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love"; but the group's pretty good, with belting vocals and strong lead guitar.

MANOWAR Into Glory Ride

(Megaforce)

They signed their contract with Megaforce in blood. Maybe that's why the album sounds a bit anemic. It's barbaric, sure enough, but kind of polite barbaric, compared to their wonderfully nasty macho image. Still, Ross The Boss is a savage guitarist and Eric Adams sings mighty fine, and there's all manner of epic tales and Swords and Sorcery stuff. Shame they put "Defender"— which features narration from the substantial Orson Welleson a separate single. A band with the potential to make a killer album someday soon.

MERCYFUL FATE Melissa

(Megaforce)

Not since the Vikings popped over on one of their rape-and-pillage sessions has Denmark exported anything so heartwarming. Danish 5-piece Mercyful Fate is black metal at its finest— wonderfully painful stuff, a band some have called the epitome of heavy metal and others the greatest Satanic metal band in the world. They used to come on in strait-jackets and split pig heads and slaughter babies. These days they do epic horrorshow stuff on vinyl, superbly produced, with soaring vocals, the odd harmony, thumping powerchords and constant solos. Tunes go by the names of "Evil,” "Curse Of The Pharoahs," "Satan's Pall"—an If-minute masterpiece—"Into The Cover," you get the idea.

METALLICA Kill 'Em All

(Megaforce)

Metallica play metal so fast only a hummingbird could headbang to it; so speedy even their almost-ballad, "Motorbreath," goes by in a rapid Mmmm.,1 Talking of Motorbreath, I knew one of the founding members

back when he was a mere Motorhead fan and threw up in Lemmy's hotel room,but they've come a long way, and though they're obviously Motorhead-influenced, they've got a sound all their own, if your ears are quick enough to pick it up. It's a whiplash of a record, precise as well as speedy, definitely melt-yourface-off material. Some of the album's revamped versions of demo stuff; they're already working on a follow-up Fab record. Their motto: "Metal Up Your Fucking Ass."

MOTLEY CRUE Too Fast For Love

(Leathur)

What can I say? You know and love them as well as I do. Their debut Elektra album came out first on their own Leathur label and there's some differences between the independents and the one Roy Thomas Baker touched up. They originally pressed up 900 copies of the album—a collector's item indeed, it's got white lettering instead of red and a ridiculous photo of singer Vince with a blonde beehive wig on his shag-do. The second pressing—there were 15,000 in all— has red lettering and a more sensible Vince. The Elektra version has shrunken-to-Dio sized pix of the band on the back and bigger printing, and omits the track "Stick To Your Guns."

ODIN

(Odin Records)

More little old Hades from Pasadena. Not a groundbreaking EP, but not bad at all—good screaming vocals, familiar riffs, ballsy sound, and a nice blackand-white drawing on the sleeve with the commendable motto "Headbangers Unite."

PANDEMONIUM Heavy Metal Soldiers

(Metal Blade)

Didn't think I'd have anything good to say about a group who've got songs like "Kitten Mittens," "Little Lady Liar," and "Girls In Love"—severe Loverboy overdose, what?— but L.A.'s Pandemoniurr) do a pretty good job in the popmetal stakes. Look cute enough to bounce on your knee too, if these spikes weren't in the way. They've got the kind of young female following that Motley Crue and Quiet Riot and (whatever happened to) Angel started out with.

QUEENSRYCHE

(206 Records)

Monstrous isn't a word I use too often. Probably because I usually type the o and the u back to front and the white-out makes a horrible mess of my black nail polish. But monstrous they are. Not monstrous as in Ozzy-in-costume monstrous. But monstrous as in towering, mighty, monumental. A perfect combination of class and power and pretty British sounding. This EP—with majestic tracks like "Queen Of The Reich" and straight-ahead metal like "Blinded"—hovered around the Seattle area for a couple of years as a demo before getting an independent release. It's since been up and put out by EMI.

RAVEN All For One

(Neat)

An example of what's coming out of Britain. "Athletic rock" they call it, and it doesn't lack for muscle, energy or power— all smashing axes and wild drums and brain-crushing dementia—although it could take a teensy bit more melody and class. Tracks like "Run Silent, Run Deep" do neither. A late '70s sound—barbaric riffs with solos for relief.

SAVATAGE

(Par Records)

This is Black Sabbath meets Rush. You know what happened when Ozzy Osbourne met Sara Lee, and when Savatage met Geddy Lee the result is no less corpulent. Very heavy stuff with a chainsaw-in-frontloading-washer sound and tracks like "Twisted Sister" and "Scream Murder." It even comes in nauseatingly blue vinyl.

SEVERED HEAD

(Plastic Canvas Records)

Plastic Canvas's only release, from what I can gather, but how can you top a band with a name like that? It's a single— "Heavy Metal" b/w "Killing The Kldz," a fine sentiment and the best of the two—with a picture on the sleeve of a skull with wires and plugs coming out of its head and lasers out of its eye sockets. There's two girls in the band and they make nice punkish crashing, throbbing noises.

SHARKS

(Shark Records)

Saw them once and the only memorable thing about them was the set of shark's teeth poking out of the black drumkit. But their single's something to get your molars into-. "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" — the words of the chummy Christmas tune added to Judas Priest's "Heading Out To The Highway," no lie!—b/w "I'm Electric" (not the Diamond Head song). Machine-gun drums, throaty vocals and degenerate guitar. Road Warrior Christmas music.

SLAYER

Show No Mercy

(Metal Blade)

SLAYER #2

Prepare To Die

(Rainforest Records)

Two bands, same name, similar covers—Slayer #l has a fulllength beastie with a ram's head on its sleeve,Slayer #2 has a ram's head oozing blood. Slayer #l are from L.A. and wear eye makeup ala Mick-Ronson-meets-MotleyCrue. Slayer #2 are from Texas and I have no idea what they look like, as the only other pic is of a warrior merman wielding an axe. #1 has tunes like "Die By The Sword," "Final Command" and "The Antichrist." #2 has tunes like "Prepare To Die," "Final Holocaust" and "Ride The Demon Out." Confusing, eh? #1 's an album, #2's an EP, both are gothic and messy. #1 sounds like Venommeets-Metallica, very heavy. #2 has some nice hellish growling-and-gurgling beastic noises and psychopathic vocals and goes by in a blur. I liked it a lot when I played it at 33 by mistake.

STEELER

(Shrapnel)

L.A.'s Steeler were one of the first to put out an independent metal single back in '81. Originally from Nashville, there's still no band more representative of the L.A. HM Sound—American Def Leppard with Judas Priest vocals and Van Halen get-down-andparty-style. There's been a lot of line-up changes, but the best—unfortunately defunct—is on this album, featuring the Swedish-born guitar hero (now in Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz) Yngwie Malmsteen, who sounds somewhere between Ulrich Roth, Randy Rhoads and especially Ritchie Blackmore, a first-class musician and well worthy of the "Yngwie Is God" spray-painting around the city. Otherwise it's just well-meaning, enthusiastic stuff, the best track: the anthemic "Born To Rock".

THOR

Unchained

(Mongol Horde)

Manowar meets the Monkees. They put out an album years ago, and are down to a sixtrack mini-LP. "Anger" and "Rock The City" are pretty good examples of pop metal. But with a name like that, they could leave your ears a little bit more thor...

WARLORD Deliver Us

(Metal Blade)

Shame the production sounds like shit, because this is a good band: epic, classy, mysterious, dramatic, gothic, catchy, professional but totally metal. The band—who have fab names like Destroyer, Thunder Child and The Raven—seem to have come out of nowhere (N. Hollywood) as a ready-made, completely-formed class act. Expert musicianship and classical-Rainbow sort of songs sharing the grave with more conventional, commercial stuff.

WILD DOGS

(Shrapnel)

There's a few bands who live up to their names. Styx is one of them—they sound wet as hell. Wild Dogs is another one. Boys in leather on the cover, draped in chains and studs and leather. The singer, a particular beauty, looks like Rob Halford inflated with a bicycle pump. And the music is as loud and lunatic and ugly as the photo promises. Extremely heavy, Rods-y stuff, full of Purple-Priest rip-offs, but they make them their own. It's well played, comfortingly nasty, hard and frenzied with tons of screaming guitar. Not for people with high foreheads, but a tasty little opus nonetheless.

SOME ADDRESSES

METAL

BLADE

RECORDS

22458 Venture Blvd.

Suite E, Woodland Hills, CA 91364

MONGOL

HORDE

RECORDS

Box J,

Island Park, NY I 1588

MEGAFORCE

RECORDS

60 York St.,

Old Bridge, NJ 08857

PAR RECORDS

Box 1264,

Dunedin, FL 33528

SHRAPNEL

RECORDS

P.O. Box P,

Novato, CA 94948

BULLET

RECORDS

P.O. Box 459,

Lawton Rd., Alsager, Stroke-On-Trent,

England STT 2EU

MUTHA

do Ronnie Ace,

76 McLaren St,

Redband, NJ 07701

ENIGMA

20445 Gramercy Place, P.O. Box 2896,

Torrance, CA 90509

IN ROCK RECORDS

c/o Fireball, P.O. Box 588, Freepost, NY 11520

CREEM CLOSE-UP METAL