Retro Reviews - October 2024!

For reasons outside the scope of this blog, I've been jamming a lot of albums from 1984 as they're celebrating a 40th Anniversary.  This includes a bunch of metal album debuts that I've never heard of before, so I figured I'd pull them together into another Retro Reviews article for fun!  Here's some of the stuff I've been checking out lately.

Fates Warning - Night on Bröcken

While this band is known for being pioneers of progressive metal, I've never really heard them before.  I get the impression that this album is not the best place to start, as even the band's guitarist is reportedly not a fan of this work.  From what I read, this was sort of a demo that got upgraded to an album, so it didn't get the polish it deserved. However, every band has to start somewhere, and this isn't necessarily a bad one, sitting in the space between NWOBHM and melodic thrash that defines so much of 80s US power metal.

I see a lot of folks say this sounds a lot like Iron Maiden, and I do hear it here and there, but the riffing and singing feels closer to Judas Priest to me (with a chunk of Metal Church for good measure).  The production is a little flat (perhaps because it was first a demo), but I can tell the performances are solid, and there is some decent guitar work in both the licks and solos.  The two instrumentals provide some variety, but they feel more like finger exercises than songs.  The dark fantasy and horror lyrics do come across as more cheesy than shocking, but otherwise, they're mostly fine, though sometimes it feels John Arch is rushing through them to get them to fit in the phrasing.  

I don't know if this is vital listening, as it is pretty standard stuff for the time, but it also doesn't make any real mistakes, either.  Fans of deeper classic metal cuts will probably dig it, but prog metal fans will likely see it as merely a stepping stone to what the band would become.  As for myself, I liked "Misfit" not only for having some good energy, but for telling an interesting story as well.  Overall, I'd say it's a cut above the standard for 1984, but not by much.

Armored Saint - March of the Saint

Another band I mainly know by reputation (and that singer John Bush joined Anthrax later), Armored Saint fall into that US Power Metal style that was really starting to build by this time.  

I read that the production was shinier than the band wanted, as the producer treated them as more of a glam band.  However, a chunk of this material wouldn't be out of place on Ratt first album, particularly the songs "Can U Deliver," "Seducer," "Envy," and the power balled "Take a Turn."  That doesn't mean the songs are bad, just not perhaps what I expected with cover art like that.  For what it's worth, the clean production makes the performances very clear, the band clearly have a lot of synergy, the guitars carry the energy well with their riffs and noodly licks, and the harmonies on John Bush's voice are great.  The title track is a good opener, starting with some Mussorgsky before into a metal anthem, "Munity on the World" has decent metal gallop, and "Glory Hunter" has some early-Manowar-like epicness.  

Overall, the album kinda falls into the cracks.  Too polished and catchy for the underground and too gritty and sleazy for mainstream.  However, solid performances and tight song-writing keep this one just above average, especially as the album improves quite a bit in the second half.  It certainly makes me curious about the rest of their albums, as I know they didn't pursue MTV-style success.  A good start, even if some of the songs are a bit forgettable.

Hexx - No Escape

At first, this may seem like another also-ran from a decade full of bands trying to make it big.  Hexx never did get much attention at the time, but this album turns out to be pretty satisfying.  Once again, it feels like a blend of glam (I thought of Ratt again) and US power metal, like Metal Church, but I feel like the songs are well-written and the band's performance is tight and solid.

While they would not have him for long, the singer Dennis Manzo actually reminds me of Joey Tempest from Europe, and I mean that in a good way.  He has a soaring quality that really elevates these songs.  They aren't bad, but perhaps average for the era, but the execution is spot on.

As for standout tracks, "Invader" has some very good energy, "The Other Side" sounds like something from a classic Dio album, and "Beware, the Darkness" gets into more of a story-telling vibe with the dynamics.  The rest of the album is solid, but it is quite short, barely clocking at over 30 minutes.  Still, I think it's a shame that this album didn't get more attention at the time as others did, but that makes it all the more unique of a find, I suppose.  Definitely a gem if you're a fan of old-school metal!