Godzilla

You know how every Schwarzenegger film poster looks like a Sodom album, and vice versa? You'd think this phenomenon would inspire all of Austria to write some quality heavy metal, especially when the album in question has a picture of Predator on it. I was really excited to hear the auditory equivalent of that "You son of a BITCH" handshake. But alas; history has made it clear that at least in terms of classic heavy metal, England and Germany hogged much of Europe's talent pool. Plucky third parties like Belgium, France, and Austria? Not so much.

Production is an absolute swamp, with a staticky snarl enveloping the guitar and spiking snare hits. This could be forgiven if there was a single trace of songwriting ambition to mitigate it; just look at Repression's Animal Raw for example. Sadly, a significant number of riffs are shallow and parochial in creative scope, sounding as though they decided to write a companion piece to 1979's Saxon, but decided at the last minute that writing unique solos, bridges, and leads would be too much work. The result is an album that runs a similar gamut of proto-speed rock 'n' roll, boogie, and pallid pop rock, but all played through a filter of crude simplicity and blunt-force repetition.

Vocals are the closest thing to a saving grace, leading the charge with a charismatic, punkish howl that's a bit Di'Anno-y, I guess. Sadly, even this aspect is occasionally undermined by a mystifying over-reliance on vocal harmonies. Unsurprisingly, he's at his best during the album's no-nonsense forays into speed metal such as 'Yell O'Hell' and 'Don't Stop the Boogie'. So, I guess Godzilla deserves some credit for attempting to write a speed metal album. But don't let the coolness of that sentence get your hopes up.