Artillery-Fear of tomorrow

Metal Mind
1985/2008 Re-issue



Ahh Denmark's Artillery, a band who were in many ways ahead of the pack when they fired out their debut back in 1985. Many early thrash bands were still trying to figure out their style yet these guys had the heavy hitting, pulse pounding sound down very well. They were certainly ahead of the game when they released "Fear of tomorrow" because Artillery had cranked out a few demos before this and they obviously knew what they wanted to do. Now I was never as big on the vocals of Flemming Ronsdorf because his voice lacked some power and distinction that I think would have helped their cause. Still this was a powerful blast with tracks "The Almighty" and "Out of the sky" really laying the groundwork for heavy thrash. In many ways I think these guys slightly beyond many other acts at the time this came out. The problem was that they didn't get the notice they deserved and by 1986 so many bands were jumping into the thrash style and the whole scene was moving very quickly. Still "Fear of tomorrow" was a relatively creative release that should have shook the scene like thunder. Indeed I still believe that bands like Sodom, Kreator and perhaps even Slayer heard this album and were influenced by it. What's more that it holds up reasonably well for a 23 year old album and indeed the newer wave of thrash bands would do well to take lesson in aggression and pacing from Artillery's debut. This re-issue includes seven bonus tracks that all demo tracks from various points in the band's career. It also includes a lyric booklet that also background information on the demo tracks.