The Second Coming

Obviously being from New Jersey and knowing that the state had quite a few metal bands formed in the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century, I was curious to find out of New Jersey had any bands that made a significant contribution to the metal underground in the 1980s. When I began this search (and a search that is still going on for me), the first band that came up was Attacker. It was not until rather recently that I got to listen to some Attacker, when I found Sentinel Steel had put up their reissue of Attacker's sophomore effort, The Second Coming.

The Second Coming is one great album at that. This is one album that if you're into stuff such as Helloween, Nasty Savage, early Blind Guardian, Agent Steel, or Helstar you must have. Basically it's a typical late 1980s proto power metal/speed metal effort that draws considerable influence from thrash and does it very well. So it's nothing incredibly unique, ground breaking, or out of this world but at what it has to offer, The Second Coming it's very well done and has a lot going for it.

Right from opener Lords of Thunder, which is probably has the most thrash metal influence out of any song on the album, you can get a feel for what's going on. Every song has mostly power metal running through it that one can find on 1980s Helloween albums. You got Ingo Schwittenberg style omnipresent double bass work that for it's time is rather fast and riffs that don't change chords a lot. However, they are more choppy and a bit more technical then anything Helloween ever had to offer, and that's good. Attacker easily prevented themselves from sounding like "Just another 80s speed metal band" by not only being fast but keeping the epic level on just enough to the point where it would not get out of control and doing the same for the thrash aspects here as well. The tracks are all rather easy to tell apart most of the time, so you're not left scratching your head at when a song begins or ends. They aren't very progressive, having a few central riffs running through them at all times with a few rhythmic changes here and there that are nothing crazy but do the job nicely.

One of the greatest things about this album is singer John Leone (RIP), who arguably is one of the best melodic metal singers ever. This guy has a real voice to behold and he shows it off amazingly. One of the greatest things about Leone's vocal performance is that his vocals do not sound forced at all. They sound perfectly blended with the band and sound honestly like he's having fun, which is something I cannot say I have heard on many metal albums at all. I cannot really compare Leone's vocals to many metal vocalists. Occasionally he sounds like a more gritty version of King Diamond, but those moments are not too prevalent and he most of the time sounds like himself. Vocal pattern wise though he is more like Kai Hansen when he sang on early Helloween recordings, and for John that works very well. He holds out a lot of notes, and when he holds them out he does it very well and doesn't sound very monotonous or breaking up, maintaining a very high degree of clarity all throughout. The last good thing about him is that he keeps the falsetto for only a few key moments and does not use it every second he can. So when you do hear the falsetto it sounds just plain awesome and most of the time he's singing in the mid register and that works out just great for him.

All the strings are done to a stellar degree.Guitar work by Pat Marinelli and Tom D'Amico is really good. They make quite a few good riffs, arguably the best being Lords of Thunder and their highly melodic rhythmic work throughout the album is a highlight. There are some nicely utilized odd metered riffs in The Second Coming as well, which are rather interesting to here. Not a lot of guitar harmonies are used here, so Attacker doesn't draw too much from Iron Maiden and many of the riffs are a lot more gritty and thrash like. It's not power/thrash, but just a bit more thrash oriented then your average power metal effort. They make sure the lead work is very melodic and flowing, greatly using the whammy bar but not abusing it to the point where it just becomes monotonous. Backing them up is Lou Ciarlo, who's bass work is rather simple but more then gets the job done. No bass solos from this guy but he doesn't just pick root notes and uses some triads and chords that stand out very nicely. This is especially on the track Revelations of Evil, where Lou arguably gives his best performance.

Mike Sabitini's drum work is very well done, utilizing Ingo Schwitenberg style omnipresent double bass work and some thrash metal rapid kicks as well as rather jazz influenced drumming. They are also always in a forward state of momentum, never seeming to really stop but not going overkill. They're reserved when required, but I cannot say that there are any moments where Sabitini would have been required to reserve himself and when he needs to he does it very well. The jazz aspect though is arguably the most unique thing about Sabitini, considering that jazz never really takes much of a precedent in power metal ever and he utilizes it fairly well on The Second Coming.

Lyrics are all aggression based. Though the way it's portrayed is creatively varied throughout each track. Lords of Thunder deals with the chaos surrounding the coming of gods. The Madness is about an odd Jekyll and Hyde scenario dealing with a serial killer, and the cleverly named Emanon deals with belligerent nations. Interesting theme and the lyrics get the point across nicely, so they are well done.

Knob twiddling on the part of famed thrash metal producer Alex Perialas is done spectacularly. Everything is in the mix and nothing overpowers anything else. Pat and Tom's guitars are full of power and grit, sounding very full yet not to the point where everything is subdued by them. Lou's bass is easily heard among everything and is not simple low end frequencies but has a real fat bass tone. Mike's drums sound very organic and everything is very prominent. The bass drums do not click but have a rather light thump that is easily very prevalent in the mix. Finally John's vocals get all the justice they deserve, making everything incredibly clear sounding and very professional.

The points that are taken away from The Second Coming mainly have to do with issues of technicality. It's not that The Second Coming is "instrumental wankery" or that it's mindless, single tempo stuff with nothing theorized. The problem is that Attacker tries to technical, using lots of odd metered riffs and the jazzy drumming and a lot of the time it just doesn't work completely. They do a good job at making sure plenty of the time it does work out (to some degree) but they do not work out sometimes. In songs such as Zero Hour, Emanon, Captives of Babylon, and Revelations of Evil Pat and Tom try using occasional odd metered riffs that just sort of seem like interruptions and not done well. The same applies for Mike's drumming. I do admire Attacker for trying to be out of the box and make sure they had their own sound, and in many ways it worked out. But also in many ways it's just kind of annoying and not done well, so tha takes away from the experience. But all in all, Attacker's The Second coming is a nice slab of proto power metal with a speed metal flair to it that shows where it came from nicely. Well recorded and executed fairly well, Attacker's last recording of the 80s is definitely worth seeking out and one that should not be missed by any means.