Savage Grace - Ride Into The Night (1987)

Can you imagine a band wanting this cover nowadays ? Savage Grace were one of those powerhouse of a bands who came up with some truly magical if a little sordid album covers. If anything, 'Ride...' has the archetype metal sleeve - women in distress, macho guys over-looking them, a a theme which features in several of their records, except for the bizarre 'The Dominatress.' 'Ride Into...' is a short EP that showcases the vocal talents of Christian Logue, who, despite having epic pipes, can at times grate on the soul. Even so, this is all pretty dramatic and melodic metal, the strongest tracks being the rushing energy of 'We March On,' which is a real tirade of burning guitars and crashing drums, whilst 'The Healing Hand' is equally stirring with its slow, tranquil intro which, after a minute, turns into a slab of molten metal complete with soaring solo, killer riff and rumbling bass. Very much straight-edged warrior metal very much of its time and yets till sounding fresh today. And that cover....! 7/10

Savage Grace - After The Fall From Grace (1985)

The cover says it all...but is it one of those great covers that hides a shoddy record ? Thankfully, no. Savage Grace hit the ground running, tour de force of a band who combine New Wave Of British Heavy Metal with a more melodic style of power metal. Epic, raging guitars, bolshy drums and lordy vocals that scream the place down. Despite only being just over thirty minutes in length, 'After The Fall...' is a speedy record in so many ways, from the solid icy opening 'Call To Arms' right through to the mystical closer 'Tales Of Mystery,' this is right up there with some of the best '80s metal. Christian Logue is an accomplished vocalist and a solid guitarist too, showcasing his talents on the thrashy 'We Came, We Saw, We Conquered' which comes complete with shouty, militant chanted chorus and reminds me of the Euro Gothic styling of Helloween. It's the sort of record that really sturs the dank dungeons and a record that belongs in most hardcore metal-head collections. 7.5/10

Cerebus - Too Late To Pray (1986)

The title starts with an almost elegant solo and then bang! A deep, dark sombre chug which bleeds into a whining Maiden-esque riff and tumbling drums. The guitars then cut in, the sound is dense, and we're at full tempo, when sudenly those high vocals coming screeching in, the teeth go on edge and the metal races through the veins. Cerebus are another of those obscure, blood n' thunder metal bands from the '80s who probably sold a handful of records. The stuffy production complements the even stuffier guitars, whilst the fluffy drums on opener 'Running Out Of Time' are as equally dense and lost as the slightly wobbly vocals. There's a touch of the garage about all this, real basement metal, especially with Scott Board's vocal screams, but it lacks the dragon slaying power of some bands, although the fiery 'Catch me If You Can' exists on a rumbling riff and runaway train of a drum. The album doesn't live up the darkness suggested by the cover art, but isn't that nearly always the case ? The bass lead groove of 'Talk Is Cheap' makes for a remarkably catchy listen despite the fact it's a rather self-ndulgent galloping intsrumental whilst 'Longing For Home', my fave track, at six minutes is reasonably epic, perfect for any late night swoon despite those tinny drums. 6.5/10

Wildfire - Brute Force & Ignorance (1983)

Well, this is an old and creaky Brit record with a heavy NWOBHM leaning, especially in the melodic vocals of Paul Mario Day who I believe at some point in the 1970s sang for Maiden. This is very much groove based early '80s metal, and what it lacks in evidence makes up for in its songwriting capability - 'Victim Of Love', 'Another Daymare', 'Redline', and 'Lovelight' all mediocre rockers which lack that killer instinct. I've certainly heard far worse, so it's one of those little gems soon washed away by far more accomplished and devilish bands. Hard to believe that Slayer and the likes were around back then! File nicely alongside 'Deathrow' by Touched. 5/10

Danger Danger - Dawn (1995)

File alongside Dangerous Toys, in the sense that these guys slipped into the '90s mire but by ringing out the changes and by beefing up their once cheesy sound. 'Dawn' is a half-cooked hard rock album, even if it lacks the showmanship of before - in other words - these type of bands can't really win to be honest, damned if they do, damned if they don't. By stripping away the bark Danger Danger have become a more moody, brooding, pensive and serious band, keen to write dark-tinged tracks, in the form of the harder 'Punching Bag' which is laced with grunge, as is the riff-heavy 'Helicopter.' The main issue I have however is that despite these type of bands showing a great deal of maturity, to cope with the grunge invasion they literally shed their skins and became a different band and I'm wondering why they just didn't change their name. There is an element of fakery to this, despite the fact that Paul Laine has a fair set of pipes, the whole experience describes a lost band who didn't have the ability of Skid Row to move with the times. Gone is the naughty naughty attitude, and gone is the old band logo, giving the whole experience a rather drab and stark feel, only 'Heaven's Fallin' brings the original band to mind, but even then this 'ballad' is given a roof of stormy clouds. 5/10

United - No IQ (1996)

Furious chugging thrash that emerged at exactly the wrong time, but even so, this takes the best moshing momtns of Anthrax and fuses them with a more primal sounding Pantera. In a sense fans of Sepultura and the likes may have enjoyed some of those harsher riffs and whilst the violent yelps, raps, and chants of Yoshiaki Furui give the album an even harder edge whilst his band rattle away at some speed to match his vocal frenzy. Bizarrely, and much to my surprise, these guys have released loads of albums, but has anyone heard of this fury before ? I'm guessing this fits into today's more clean sounding thrash acts, this doesn't mind wearing its heart on its sleeve, Slayer, early metallica, Pantera et al, although a track like 'Revenger' is ultra fast, full steam ahead angst with hardcore style vocal expression. 'No IQ' is the band's third opus. In other words, where the hell have they been all of our lives ? nice to hear thrash in the mid '90s that doesn't sound false. 6.5/10

Electric Boys - Freewheelin (1994)

Electric Boys always had something cool about them, those big, often psychedelic struttin' grooves and that voice - the type of smooth yet powerful pipes that remind me of Kik Tracee. These guys were pretty consistent even though they never made the big time, 'Freewheelin' is another solid opus that combines a bluesy soul with sugary sway. I guess being Swedish never enabled them to attack the USA or Britain for that matter and so, tragically they ended up alongside the genial Saigon Kick and the likes as also-rans and yet just one listen to this stonkin' opus makes me wonder why bands like Aerosmith got so big yet these boys floundered. Clearly Electric Boys didn't have the push, but their songs are so colourful, soulful and hearty, never once slipping into hair metal cheese, tracks like the bruising rock n' roll of 'Ready To Believe In Me,' the shuffling blues-baked 'The Groover,' and retro swagger of 'Mountains & Sunsets' shows a band in full flight, at their creative peak and yet one about to fall apart. I sense a band here who are pissed off, possibly at the music industry but it's great to hear them giving it another go. Hopefully the albums will be reissued because they are pretty hard to find on cd, this blighter wasn't even released in the Us, which is a shame because there's a Black Crowes swagger going on in parts, only meatier. 'Not My Cross To Bare' my favourite track on the album. Electric Boys, masters of being slick. 7.5/10