Metal Mind
1985/2008 Re-issue
These guys were part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement and recorded two LPs and one EP. Yet their entire legacy seems to revolve quite a bit around the fact that Kerrang! magazine called them “the next big thing” and of course they failed to live up to that prediction. In fact that Kerrang! Claim seems to be the only thing most people ever said about this band and I could never find a decent description of their sound over the years. Now the album has been re-issued and I can finally judge for myself. The sound here has a definite Motorhead influence primarily from the Overkill/Bomber era plus there are several songs with a strong Judas Priest sound say from around the 1979-1981 period. The vocals are gritty and deep and the music is heavier than I would have figured, but fairly basic. The melodies make this almost as much a hard rock effort as it is a metal album, but the two styles work together well enough. This is very much a NWOBHM sound although for 1985 it’s a little dated because by that time I think most were moving beyond this approach. I enjoyed every song and this version includes two bonus tracks. My curiosity of this band had grown over the years largely due to the fact that no one would commit to saying much about them. The results are that it’s better than I figured it would be. However I can see why they didn’t make much of an impact, if this had come out in say 1982 instead of 1985 then I could have better understood someone thinking this band might make an impact. Another fine Metal Mind re-issue which includes bonus tracks and the booklet has pictures and a band biography.
I saw these guys open for Savatage way back when at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago. They sucked, to say the least, and didn't exactly endear themselves to the crowd by claiming that they "taught Motorhead". Garbage.
ReplyDeleteOk - if they said they taught Motorhead - thats a dumb thing to say, but I saw this band several times in London at the Marquee club. and believe me, they fuckin well rocked. An awesome guitar sound, base (I think) on extensive use of a Flanger pedal. A unique band who should have been huge, but were marketed wrong, and not pretty enough to make it in the US. Sadly missed.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the second album was kind of flat didn't help their cause any. I liked the debut alright, but I don't think that they were that unique. They rocked some, but by 1985 standards their sound was already a couple of years out of date.
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