Goddess of Love

It didn't take long for the infectious bug that was the NWOBHM to begin popping out imitators outside of the British Isles, though some of the smaller nations in Western Europe were a bit slower on the uptake than Germany, Sweden and select places in the Americas. Be this as it may, there was a Belgian answer in the works going back to the early 80s, particularly when noting the prolific output of Killer and FN Guns, and the early power metal adherence of Bad Lizard before Halloween had fully developed the European variant of said style. Of lesser note was the one album wonder via Masoleum Records that was Tormentor, auspiciously toting a name identical to one of the hit tracks from W.A.S.P.'s raw and vital debut outing, yet coming out with a sound that was far less dangerous by the standards of 1984. Despite the edgy moniker and their debut outing Goddess Of Love featuring art work that could pass for the extreme end of Judas Priest's 80s output, this band would find themselves playing it fairly safe by heavy metal standards and entering the fray as more of a throwback, rock-oriented affair with a smidge of metallic detailing that was definitely still popular by the mid-80s, but definitely not on the vanguard end of the spectrum.

In all fairness, prior to the release of seminal offerings such as the Helloween EP, power metal was more of a nebulous concept that was all but joined at the hip with traditional and speed-oriented bands, occasionally even dovetailing with the remnant progressive 70s rock sound that coexisted in the NWOBHM via White Spirit, Demon and a couple others. As such, it isn't wholly surprising that a 1984 upstart from Belgium would roll out a version of the style that had more to do with Alcatrazz and Rainbow than concurrent offerings out of Manowar or Helstar. All the same, Tormentor's execution does wind up a tad wanting when compared with the former two bands, largely by playing it a little too safe. Perhaps the greatest Achilles heel is found in vocalist Guido Wolfaert, who sounds like an airy and anti-climactic hybrid of Phil Mogg and Joe Lynn Turner, though lacking the personality of the former and the dynamic range of the latter. The songwriting behind him is reasonably on point and even yields a few classic sing-along moments, and both guitarist Jack Lardot and Keyboardist Joe Puertas manage a few charming mid-80s emulations of Blackmore vs. Lord with the former occasionally showing some Brian Tatler tendencies, but overall the voice leading the fray is maybe a slight cut above a number of flat-voiced front men out of the throngs of the generic end of the early 80s British metal scene.

From start to finish, this album features more of a festive atmosphere in line with a 70s rock romp than an outright forerunner to the nascent power metal scene of the mid-80s. Exceptional offerings that do their best to provide something beyond a typical hard rock package include the speedy, riff happy yet keyboard-steeped anthem "No They Ain't Gonna Catch Me", which gets pretty close to the harder-end of the Alcatrazz sound and features some of the more overt examples of this band's technical abilities in the guitar and keys department, along with the somewhat more driving and lyrically macabre "Night Of Shadows", which stands as the heaviest offering on here and runs along similar lines to a number of Ozzy Osbourne anthems with Randy Rhoads shredding the six-string. Much of the remaining material on here leans far more in the rock direction and ranges from being good catchy fun in the Joe Lynn Turner era of Rainbow sense like "Mean Advice" and "Goddess Of Love", to somewhat generic and overly saccharine-steeped like "Hell Is For Children" and the comically happy rocker "The Joker". Throw in some rather awkward and out of place interludes such as the weird ambient keyboard ditty "Infernal Downtrip" (an obvious nod to Night Of The Demon) and an almost synth-pop sounding short rocker in "Recompense" and the bag goes from mixed to slightly schizophrenic.

More often than not when a band vanishes after either a solitary LP or a brief smattering of singles/EPs, there is a likely reason for it that reaches a bit past the obvious culprits of being from a location less known for the style in question. Saturation of bands playing this style combined with being unable to fully commit to a more metallic edge in a time when the field was just beginning to polarize present a bigger piece of the puzzle, but overall Tormentor just fails to really close the deal and come up with an album that's a bit heavy on filler and wanting for more killer. It's actually a shame because between the relatively solid rhythm section and exemplary performances on the guitar and keyboard, there was potential for this band to put something together that could have rivaled White Spirit and maybe even No Parole For Rock 'N' Roll. Chalk it up to another in along succession of "could've beens" that cycled in and out of the equation throughout the 80s, with this one having the distinction of springing from a location that was less known for it at the time. It's worth a listen for the old school rank and file, but falls short of being something essential even within the niche of Deep Purple inspired, rock-leaning NWOBHM classicism.