Built for Speed

Built for Speed is unfortunately the only full-length of the German underground speed metal warriors Speedbreaker. On one hand, it is a great shame that this band decided to call it quits after their debut record. On the other, it is a respectable and honorable decision to end it, if the band's integrity and DNA is at stake. We will never know the truth of that, but perhaps it is better that they ended it. In any event, what's sure is that Built for Speed is a very unique record. It came in the middle of the 2010s, which wasn't really the golden age of speed metal. Despite that, it's one of the greatest manifestations of this style that I've ever heard.

If you bothered to pay attention to the band's name, and to the album's title, then yes, congratulations, you guessed it. This is a speed metal album. But things aren't that simple, my friends. This isn't just any speed metal album, and what this is especially not is another one of those severely Blind Guardian-esque, derivative imitations. This is something way more original and authentic than that. Speedbreaker decided to take a completely different route, and instead of choosing sophistication and refinement, they chose savagery, attitude, rebelliousness, meanness, and force. This is no place for fantasy realms, or cutesy, beautiful mythological explorations. This is the underground speed metal scene in Germany, and you better be prepared for street fighting in all leather gear, as the lyrics suggest.

Musically, the album is very void-filling. There aren't a lot of bands that play this very ballsy and ignorant, nasty type of speed metal. Speedbreaker's music is first heavy and only then melodic. It is a mixture of aggression and at the same time, melodic containment of all the compositions so that they work remarkably well on these high tempos. The pace is fast, the riffs are mean and ignorant as hell (particularly in Fire in the Sky), and the vocals really take it over the top. The vocalist's voice is raspy, scratching, and rough, which he also knows how to use. A little bit more UGHHs and ARRGGHHHs would have done the album even better, but he already does those enough times for us to get the idea. Nonetheless, the compositions are all excellent, and for the most part, they are remarkably simple. Except for the title song, which is a relatively impressive instrumental, the band makes little effort to write something complicated. They don't need to, either. All these songs are great as they are, even if they aren't technical. They are fast, mean, ferocious, attitude-filled, and rebellious, and next to all that, we get a bunch of truly catchy hooks and melodies as well. What's not to like?

The production is actually very well done, and much better than what an album like this should sound like. We are used to all kinds of sound shenanigans from these underground bands, and one could get the impression that in our modern days (even though this album came out almost 10 years ago), they're never gonna get it right except for a couple of notable exceptions. The guitars here have a very clear and smooth sound, while the drums are pounding loud and heavy. This works well with the bass that's hidden in the background, but not muted. The bass has a very deep and smooth sound to stay separated from the rest of the mix. These guys did a remarkable job, and while production isn't the most important thing when you listen to a record like this, and you can get away with a garbage sound sometimes in this style, it really does help. It makes the experience so much better.

Built for Speed is one hell of a relief for those like me, who love speed metal in the style of Master of Disguise or Gates to Purgatory. The guys created something very special here, and even though they are never going to see the publicity they deserve, the speed metal cult maniacs will spin this record around and around until the end of time, because it is among the very best creations in this genre. It encompasses everything speed metal needs to have. Fast tempos, aggression, melodies, (not very technical but more than sufficient) guitar solos, and sing-along choruses. While it's good in terms of musical technicality, it is magnificently satisfying that the band put more emphasis on being hooligans and rebels.