Phantom Blue - Built To Perform (1993)

Now this is some serious female metal that never got its just rewards. The bands self titled debut was a real head clanger and the follow up even better. Believe me, put this on any stereo and to any metalhead and this should go down a treat but, like so many other decent bands, Pahntom Blue just never got enough credit. The band featured the guitar talents of Michelle Meldrum who passed away a few years ago, and as beefy, supersonic metal goes this is about as hard and heavy as it gets. 1993 clearly wasn't 'cool' enough for these gals, but when you hear Gigi's vocalsw the last thing you want to do is revert back to those depressing grunge albums. 'A Little Evil' is dense in its riffage whilst 'Time To Run' kicks into action with an Eeastern guitar feel before the crunch comes in. Phantom Blue stood out, despite the sound being nothing more than heavy metal, but because of the attitude and musicianship this was a case of take no prisoners, just a bloody shame the career was so short but thank goodness for this record and Michelle's monstrous Meldrum records. 8/10