Kruiz

I still can't decide which album is better: this or "Walls of Jericho". The comparisons are pretty inevitable, in that they're both full-on speed metal assaults, with bits of thrash here and there. In fact, this album is thrashier, almost as much as Paradox "Product of Imagination".

There are definitely some moments here that make this just a bit different than the average German speed metal album. The riff style for instance - while classically derived, it's definitely more Tchaikovsky than Wagner. Yes, you really can notice those things, especially on "Knight of the Road" and "The Avenger".

Other highlights include "In Flames", which was the radio hit (!) with an MTV video (!!) - it's heavily derived from Defenders of the Faith, and has a solo that has KK Downing "Jawbreaker" written all over it. Valeri Gaina is a highly accomplished guitarist, he alternates between Tipton and Downing, Weikath and Hansen, quite nicely. The best song here is probably "Possessed", which is an eight minute epic number with some totally Dark Angel moments - this song can definitely be called thrash metal.

There are 8 English-language songs on here (it is Kruiz's only English-language album), and one Russian: another version of In Flames, that is musically identical but has Russian lyrics. It sounds better in Russian. In fact, the 1988 Kruiz "Iron Rock" demo has 5 more Russian versions of songs that are on here, and those are worth checking out too.

Overall, a great speed metal album. One highly overlooked, and definitely one of the best of all time.