Dragonslayer – Best Of
*Written for the 9th MA reviews challenge
This thrilling little compilation found its way onto my computer recently and has been seriously rocking me out ever since. Dragonslayer was never really a big name in the NWOBHM scene, yet were adept at songwriting and rocked incredibly hard. I guess in a scene with so many great bands, there’s only limited top-tier slots available – and those were snapped up by Venom, Maiden, Avenger and Tank pretty smartly. What we have here is a collection of an awesome bands complete works; a veritable feast of lesser-known, tough and heavy NWOBHM cuts that will no doubt please any fan of the genre. Very solid, with plenty of balls – I recommend this to anyone into the revered New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Look out for the awesome self titled ‘The Slayer’ and the heavy epic ‘Dragon Drums’ amongst others. Killer stuff.
Okay, so this stuff is heavy, gallopy and features awesome epic lyrical themes and some nice crunchy guitars. The aforementioned ‘Dragon Drums’ kicks plenty of ass, with the hallmark, high pitched shrieks of Tony Maxwell mixing well with the gallopy riffage of Odins, and thumping drums of Dave Philips. An awesome guitar lead rips out at about 2: 40, combining with the vocals it ends up being a bit akin to early Anvil, or a rougher version of Moore era Riot. Overall the sound is very classic NWOBHM; crunchy riffs, totally headbang-able, but definitely with a twist of their own sound in the mix. Riffs like those in ‘Blind Terror’ make you want to raise fists, and bang heads – HARD, especially with legit lyrics like “Satan’s got a hold of me – and now he wont let go-o!” etc. Sweet.
As far as band comparisons go – you get a bit of Maiden in there, the aforementioned Anvil at times, and I guess its close enough to Bitches Sin, Rhabstallion and stuff like that overall. The Maiden comes through in songs like the aforementioned ‘Blind Terror’ with very prominent, flirtatious bass coming through (a la Steve Harris). A LOT of crunchiness and gallopiness carries this feel through. ‘Lies In Your Eyes’ is a speedy number that carries with it an air of Judas Priest mixed with Anvil. Vocals by the impressive Tony Maxwell here need to be credited; he really sounds a little like The Metal God himself at times. You get a little more of this vocal comparison in the pretty decent semi-ballad ‘Lady of the Night’ – which slays most competitors in this category. Just solid, original songwriting. Decent job.
You get some killer standout tracks on the album. ‘Satan’s Soldiers’ springs to mind here for sure. A nice desponded feel comes through in this sadder feeling number. Simple riffs, epic lyrics and a strong vocal performance realy do the trick. Cool, and very ‘metal’ lyrics feature heavily, as does one badass mutha of a guitar lead. Top marks to Odins for his axemanship here. The dark feel in this one leads to some Black Sabbathy feeling at times, especially in the cool intro/bridge sections. This is a tough heavy metal track. Another heavy one is ‘The Battle Is On’ where some definite Riot/Priest sound is evident. Headbanging central over here, even though this one is a bit of a slower number. Of course you get some classic traditional battle-related metal lyrics; you know the drill – warriors, battles etc.
To conclude, this is an excellent NWOBHM album; heavy, tough, with strong vocals, good songwriting, plenty of songs, comparable sound to the above-mentioned greats and plenty of re-playability. If you’re looking for that next NWOBHM band to get into, go no further than this classy re-release. It’s the best new NWOBHM record I’ve heard in a fair while, as most stuff I’ve acquired recently couldn’t hang woth this level of badass-rocking-ness. Tracks like ‘Run Like Hell’ sound like Iron Maiden, with a slight bit more raw traditional NWOBHMness to them. A killer blend really. Strong vocalist that at times sounds like Halford a bit, and plenty of crunchy riffs. Get this one and enjoy some loud headbanging in the mornings before heading off. Highly recommended.
-DeathRiderDoom