Strike While the Iron's Hot

The opening track (“The Bone March/Tower Of London”), reminds me a lot of Crimson Glory and Medieval Steel due to the very powerful vocal performance. It is a pure heavy metal song and one can understand from the first minute what’s going on with this band. Somewhere in the middle of the song a breakdown and a very melodic solo takes you to the time that heavy metal bands were playing live just for fun sake and their fans! Also here during the solo a very strong Iron Maiden (Paul DiAnno era) cloud of influence is above our heads! Great opening for a great album!

Again an Iron Maiden influenced song, this time from the era of Powerslave, entitled “Rock Hard”, is just what the title tells you to do. Old school heavy metal and my head can’t stop headbanging! A very catchy opening riff puts you in the mood right away and when it’s time for the solo all Hell (or beer?) breaks loose! Also when the refrain is on, the whole band is doing backing vocals and it’s just awesome! I could wait for the song to be over so I can listen further to this album! I am singing the opening riff 3 days now…

Next song, “Louder Than Hell”…not a Manowar cover but believe me it’s true heavy metal alright! It brought me in mind bands like Heavy Load and Grim Reaper. Not the best song of the album but it’s going down really good with all the other songs. Strong point, the vocals! Louder Than Hell indeed!

I couldn’t expect what was going to come out of my speakers when the blacksmith’s hammer started pounding his anvil! “The Blacksmith” is the title of this song and when the drums started playing, a strong Manowar feeling came down my spine and I wasn’t wrong at all! Influenced by Warriors and Warlords, this is an incredible song! I believe that there’s nothing more to say about this song. Just metal, steel and fire!

This next song takes us to the full length album entitled “Fire From Within”, released in 1989. The song is called “The Beast” and it starts with some eerie sounds that you can hear only in your nightmares. The scenery though changes pretty fast when the guitar and drums begin playing. After a fast drum roll, a song almost speed metal begins and takes you a bit into Kill ‘Em All (Metallica), Overkill (Feel The Fire) and Anthrax (Fistful Of Metal). Melodic vocal lines and catchy guitar riffs are opening the album with a very good outcome so that you will not at all get bored for what is to come! Aleister Crowley is the theme of the lyrics (aka The Beast). I couldn’t even imagine that he could fit so good in a traditional heavy metal song like this one.

“House” is a mid-tempo track that took me a lot into Metallica and Anthrax. Heavy guitars and REALLY heavy drum pounding until the middle of the song, where it turns into classic early 80’s thrash metal! Headbang till your neck bleeds! No need for a lot of words about this song. A mighty hail to bay area!

Next song, “Louder Than Hell” re-recorded with a new lineup and much better sound for the full length album. I must say that I liked it more that the previous one. The vocals are very different and more appropriate for the song. One of their “hits” I could dare to say!

The album goes on with a mid to slow tempo song entitled “A Taste Of Darkness”. Heavy guitars again and a very melodic refrain, that it stuck in my head and I was singing it for a couple of days after I listened to it. King Diamond is a strong influence in this song, something that most of the times it’s not at all easy to do. A breakdown somewhere in the middle for a guitar riff more thrashy, that changes the mood a bit. It’s going down with double hell-ish vocals talking about evil and darkness as the title says. Not bad at all!

Again a re-recorded song taken from the first EP, “The Bone March/Tower Of London”. Again I liked a lot more than the first version. This version shows the true potentials of the song and once again the vocals fit the best they can to deliver a heavy metal milestone to your head! The guitars are also much more worked on.

“Welcome to the Theatre of the Vampire…Death waits for you everywhere” are the opening words of this song, called “Theatres Des Vampires”. An 8 minute song which begins with a guitar lead full of melody and sadness, but changes into a fast song which will not let you sit comfortably in your chair to listen to it. The refrain of the song will stay in your head for a long time. After the solo, comes a moment of peace and relaxation but the satanic laughter and the shouts in the background are not at all peaceful, in addition to the bell that is ringing. It is as the Devil himself is talking to you, to give you his commands, so he can reign in this God forsaken world. Again a solo full of squeals, tremolo and shouts/screams in the background and Satan leaves you alone…finally…or so you think…

“Hell To Pay” and I will dare to make a comparison with Lizzy Borden…I don’t know why but it’s the first thing that came into my mind. A ballad-ish song heavy enough to pass you the chills in your spine. Great vocals, maybe the best performance until now! The most melodic song of this album, with great almost clean guitars and beautiful solos!

“Fug It” is a 25 second song (if I can called it a song), taken straight out of bay area. Thrash metal…Nothing more…

Last song of the album is called “Black Attack”. A classic heavy metal song, with strong vocals and guitars and pretty good changes in riffs and mood. It takes you from classic heavy metal into speed metal and then back to classic. The refrain is again sang by the whole band, which gives the old school feeling to the song. I think it’s a very good ending for this album.