Depraved to Black

For all practical purposes, the mid-80s speed metal upstarts formerly known as Avenger have always been the same winning team that helped keep Germany on the metallic map in subsequent years. After all, what's in a name anyway, apart from potential litigation from similarly named NWOBHM outfits who get the jump on you by a year or so? Barring a more primordial sound that could be a bit more closely associated with the earliest offerings of Running Wild (during the pre-Jolly Roger days) and Grave Digger (prior to the robotic Donald Duck emerging), the band that would produce 1985's Prayers Of Steel and the shorter follow up EP Depraved To Black would be the same basic beast that kicked the late 80s' ass under the Rage moniker. All of that being said, this shorter stint under the the less unique Avenger name did carry the distinction of being a fairly early entry into the highly consequential early days of German speed, and for only featuring two unique studio offerings, Depraved To Black proves a formidable opus.

The lion's share of this four song excursion is an exercise in unfettered, high octane fury that showcases just why Rage would become a key player in the emerging German metal scene just prior to the rise of Helloween's more melodic niche as established on the Keepers albums. Peter "Peavey" Wagner sports fairly rugged yet high flying vocal display that's pretty similar to the handiwork of Iron Angel's own Dirk Schröder, while the relentless battery of the iconic kit man Jorg Michael gives things a more chaotic character relative to much of fast yet more vintage metallic mayhem that had been heard out of Germany between 1983 and 1985. The dual guitar assault of Jochen Schröder and Thomas Grüning are perhaps the only point where things come off as a tad conventional, but the blurring speed metal riff work and chaotic shred solos, while not wildly far off from territory that had been hit previously by Exciter and Grave Digger, definitely get the job done. Combined with a production job that's fairly chunky by mid-80s standards, this is one of those offerings that foreshadows bigger and better things on the horizon.

Relative to the somewhat more nuanced and balanced presentation that rounded out this band's preceding LP, this time around things have definitely been tilted towards the faster end of the spectrum. The opening crusher "Down To The Bone" is a textbook exercise in kicking the afterburners into full gear in a manner reminiscent of early Grave Digger, but with an even heavier riff set that occasionally blurs the lines between speed metal and the primitive side of the thrash spectrum. The other unique studio offering and title track "Depraved To Black" is a bit closer to an amped up take on Judas Priest's lighter brand of full speed mayhem, coming off like a rawer and slightly faster take on "Freewheel Burning", though it hits this creepy little down-tempo bridge segment that could almost pass for something off Overkill's Feel The Fire, complete with a rapid succession of glass-shattering banshee howls out of Wagner. The B-sides consist of two live offerings off the Prayers Of Steel album and are a competently realized, though the somewhat static character of said album's mid-paced title offering makes things drag a bit, but the closing cooker "Faster Than Hell" brings things back to a needed fever pitch and closes things off with another brilliant homage to the mighty Priest.

To the rabid speed metal consumer with a taste for that vintage German variant, both this EP and its predecessor provide a solid, if somewhat less focused version of where they'd end up following their change in name. Each one is worth hearing, though from a qualitative standpoint this offering is a tad stronger insofar as the original material goes. It presents an unrestrained version of the same winning formula that made mid-80s classics like Hellish Crossfire and Heavy Metal Breakdown staples of the sub-genre, and also provides an interesting historical precedent for the iconic drum work out of Jorg Michael that has since entertained the masses on all ends of the power metal spectrum. It's a tad cliche to assert that these guys would get better given the deserved praise that the subsequent early era of Rage would enjoy, but this shouldn't be overlooked as it stands tall in by its own right and showcases the chops of the same quartet of musicians that would produce the immortal Reign Of Fear.