Track of Doom

I find it unfortunate that the Netherlands' 80s traditional metal scene is often overshadowed by those of other countries: sure, it's not comparable to that of the US or the UK, but I find it to be just as deserving of attention as the Swedish scene or the French scene, and pretty close to the German one, too. Digging into it pretty quickly turns up greats like Vault, Vortex, Martyr, Dark Wizard, or the subject of today's review, Angus. In fact, given how few bands really emerged in the scene, relative to many others, the percentage of quality bands is pretty astounding; it seems like close to 50% of them are at least pretty decent, and of course many better than that. Angus' debut album Track of Doom really should have been a lot bigger; it has all the hallmarks of a classic album, with killer riffs, out of this world leads, an utterly talented and charismatic vocalist, and even a top-notch production. Of course, this is hardly the worst example in overlooked Dutch metal releases, as Vault's Sword of Steel as just as good, yet never even made it out of demo territory. Despite the fact that the German scene next door seemed to have a thriving metal scene with plenty of popular bands, it seems the funding, the audience, or both were lacking in the 1980s Netherlands. However, for those of us given the privilege of hearing it now with the advent of high-speed internet, it's quite a treat indeed.

Besides the great music, the album also happens to have fantastic cover art - who the fuck doesn't want to see dueling barbarian centaurs during a thunderstorm? It's hard to get much more fucking metal than that. It's also a spot-on visual representation of the mood presented in the album; one of savage, uncompromising speed and utterly over-the-top aggression and adventure. Right out of the gate the appropriately-titled instrumental "The Centaur" ambushes the listener with a barrage of swirling leads and epic, galloping riffs. The fact that this is the very first song on their very first album characterizes the mentality they wanted to put forward with brilliant clarity; this band was going to be about insane riffs and leads, a full-force, untainted vision of true heavy metal vigor and exuberance, and anyone who wants anything less ought to head someplace else. This vision doesn't become any weaker with subsequent tracks, and the listener is presented with slab after slab of huge, meaty metal with "When Giants Collide," the title track, and "Heavyweight Warrior." Vocalist Edgar Lois complements the insanity of the guitars with his rough, mean, yet clear and intelligible vocals, usually sticking to a roaring midrange that's accompanied by occasional shrieks. Essentially, this is a more refined version of Conan the Barbarian - certainly sharing similarities to Omen's own JD Kimball, though Lois's approach is slightly cleaner and more polished (not much, though). If The Netherland's Omen doesn't suggest to you that this is something you might want to look into, it's clearly not for you.

The only track that sways slightly from the brutal race is "Finally Out," whose softer intro would be better off eschewed for more crazy guitar antics, though it's by no means bad, and I find the vocal lines slightly less enthralling than in the other songs, though it's still a very enjoyable song and not one that should be skipped; just that I don't find myself wanting to sing along with every chorus and air guitar to every solo. Choruses, by the way, are something this album does very, very well, another similarity and their own debut, Battle Cry. I dare you to just try not to sing along to lines like "The gates are open for you and for me, please don't worry, war you'll never see!" or "Sweet woman can you give me some wine, alcohol is nice and I love to feel fine!" In the case of "Heavyweight Warrior" it's perhaps the verses that are more memorable, and maybe my favorite line from the album is "The heavyweight warriors are ready...for their ATTAAAAAAAACK!" All in all, this is a professional, memorable, non-stop riff monster of a release, and any traditional or USPM fan in their right mind should stop what they're doing right now and play this album from stop to finish, then do it again, and maybe one more time for good measure. It really is that good.