The First Experience with the Unknown

Seen on this record is some pretty average Heavy Metal material, which mostly fails to do anything to stick out from the crowd, and is quite inconsistent. There is one exception, though, and that is the vocal performance. They (the vocals) are some of the 'harshest' for the year from which this was released, and whilst also being inconsistent when the vocalist is on, he is pretty damn good.

The main fault of this release is that half of the time the songs sound quite half assed and lack any real punch to them, from the uninspiring and unoriginal guitar riff seen on 'When the Wolf Cries' to the failed attempt at falsettos on 'The Holy War', which sound out of tune and are annoying more than anything else. The vocalist can sound like Paul Baloff at times, and shit at others. There are two good songs on here, those being 'Lady Killer' and 'Give Me Your Love'. These two songs have a good main riff, great vocal delivery and are quite catchy.

'The Holy War', while having a solid riff, is destroyed because of the aforementioned grating falsettos and bad vocals, which is quite a shame really and shows what a bad vocalist can do to a song. 'When The Wolf Cries', while not being as bad in the vocal department, is a plodding song which is somewhat sleep inducing.

Another problem with the EP is the production. I know it was their first (and only) release and they probably weren't the richest band on the planet, but I'd rather not have to turn the volume up or down each time a new track starts, as they are each recorded at a different volume. At times the vocals will be too loud in the mix, while at other they are not loud enough. It sort of 'varies' as the album goes on.

In conclusion, it is quite clear that this band certainly had potential, which is shown in 'Lady Killer' and 'Give Me Your Love'. As it stands, however, this is an inconsistent EP, with only half of the songs resembling anything enjoyable. I suppose if they didn't break up they would eventually iron out these problems and become a fairly good band. I would rate it lower, but because it was the bands first release it gets a 62.