Spitting Fire

If you like pure naked speed, Revenge might be your band. Really few others at this advanced stage of my little middle-aged metal escapade still give me that weak-at-the-knees levitating feeling. Furthermore Spitting Fire yielded three of my favorite 2017 songs. Spitting Fire is the album that prompted me to acquire the Revenge back catalogue. I liked a number of tracks in those previous efforts and Esteban's voice was in better shape; he reached higher notes. Yet, Spitting Fire really represents the pinnacle of the band's creativity and song writing.

Prime examples of this new and improved Revenge are "Heavy Metal Friends," the opener and "Wild til Death." On this song, a memorable intro. builds tension into a faster, catchy, verse and refrain. Then on to a well crafted guitar solo showcasing Night Crawler's prowess.

Harmony. Development. Complexity. Those are not exactly words that one would associate with Revenge's back to basics old school sound. But yes you have it here on songs like "Thirst for Avenge," one of the slightly more relaxed numbers. (Of course relaxed for Revenge is quite relative. Speed haters will still need to look elsewhere.) Here you have a track benefiting from a stellar production and different guitar pedal effects.

Tracks that mainly display unadulterated head rush speed include the whiplash inducing "Sadistic Cruelty" and "Rise of -the Braves," Even here there is a moody section in the middle.
A blood-curdling scream from Esteban ushers in a slow building two guitar-solo accentuated by double kicks. By the close, NIght Crawler's hot lead guitar sure does spit some serious fire!

"Thy Axes Scream," another track in the ultra-speedy camp, is a bit riffier with a meaner vocal delivery. An involved guitar solo crowns the song.

The album's title track, another unadultrated speedster, is on the chaotic end of things with an aura of good plain fun. Chunky, slower moving power chords in the middle provide some counterforce to the song's relentless breakneck pace. The guitar solo just tumbles out like an acrobat taking on a down escalator. A haunting lyric with good vocal inflection make this track shine.

My least favorite number is the rerecorded rather cookie-cutter title track from Revenge's 2003 demo, Infernal Angels. More tone color and vocal are both inserted in the Spitting Fire version, but its position of last on the album sure make it one to easily skip for me.

Beyond liberating speed, I can't even explain Spitting Fire's appeal. Let's just say its solidness is arresting in our musical world where mediocrity is the norm. Give a listsn and you'll be likely to agree.