It took me twenty years to track down this British band and their debut album. I recall hearing one track on 'The Friday Rock Show' hosted by legendary gruff-voiced DJ Tommy Vance, and I was intrigued immediately. Strangely, after that, I never managed to purchase the record but all this time later I can safely say it was worth the wait. Back in the '80s there was something about the album cover which by today's standards would be mocked, in fact it looked like a cover of a horror book for kids, a yawning dark house symbolising some gateway to the fiery pits. However, the album itself is a decent thrash record, somewhere between iron Maiden, Judas Priest (who would naturally be influences at the time) and also, rather surprisingly, Anthrax. The opening riffs of 'Look Into The Mirror' are reasonably heavy, at times there's a Bay Area crunch to the record, I guess I was expecting something a little darker and mystical, 'Welcome To Hellhouse' is simply an adequate stab at power metal, vocally Phillip de Sade is nothing out of the ordinary but he does a fine job of bringing the music to the fore, 'Love It To Death' is pure San Francisco thrash on its chanting chorus.
All in all, it won't blow your mind but it's one of those records that you can kind of predict anyway. It is still very British despite some of the US influenced chugging, and it's worth tracking down.
7/10
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