Number eight

My countdown of the ten best hard rock/metal albums continues with number eight. This honor goes to an album that I just heard for the first time this year. I heard of this band back in 1985 and even heard a song of theirs on a compilation, but didn't hear their 1985 debut until I bought it just a few months ago. So number eight goes to......


Artillery - Fear of tomorrow

Denmark's Artillery came onto the scene with an album that should have received far more notice than it did. However, being from Europe and being on a small label like Neat kept them from getting a lot of notice on this side of the Atlantic. In a year when many bands were trying to figure out the speed metal sound, Artillery released an album full of some of the heaviest music being played. Yes, 1985 was the year that Possessed released their debut and they brought blinding speed to the scene, but Artillery brought heaviness and I mean really heavy. Exodus and Celtic Frost may have been the closest bands to try to equal the heaviness that Artillery brought in 1985. Some of their songs are slower than I would have liked and the vocals of Flemming Ronsdorf take some getting used to, but they have enough songs where they bring the speed and heaviness that made me go "I wish I would have heard these guys 20 years ago". I also would be willing to bet that Slayer, Sodom and Kreator all heard this album and "borrowed" parts of Artillery's sound for their own because all three of those bands showed shades of be influenced by Artillery after 1985.

Three down and another week's worth to go. So up next is number seven and the hint is that this band released a studio lp and a live album in 1985. Since I don't allow myself to include live albums in my top ten lists then you know that it will be their studio album that I will be writing about tomorrow.