Forgotten Metal: Outstanding Metal Gems [Import]

Forgotten Metal: Outstanding Metal Gems [Import]

Track Listings

1. Hunters

2. Fire 03 Eye Of Tomorrow

3. Wastelands

4. Out Of Control 06 Killer

5. Ride On The Wind

6. Wings Of Steel

7. Neckbreaker

8. Shoot To Kill

9. Last Command

10. Eyes On Fire

11. The Return Of The Legend

12. Children Of Tomorrow

13. Suicidal Flight

14. Warriors Of The Wind

15. Eternal Recital

16. Catch The Windblow

17. Inquisition

Forgotten Metal: Outstanding Metal Gems,Leader,Unicorn,Axton Pryte,Revenge of True Metal,Heavy Metal

Average customer rating:

Weird goodies on Volume 3 of the OMG series...

Forgotten Metal: Outstanding Metal Gems
Solar Eagle , Matakopas , and Zen Venom
Manufacturer: Revenge of True Metal
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0009UWZPY
Release Date: 2005-05-02

Tracks:

See
Dimensional Charter
Tree Of Snakes
Lost Season
Strangers
Thoughts
For Your Life
Cruel Cruel You
Time Of Day
Night Stalker
Dreamer
Matakopas
Insane
From Another Planet
Brainwashed
Kiss Of Death
Fools Gold

Customer Reviews:

Weird goodies on Volume 3 of the OMG series..........2005-09-08

Hi Metal Fans! Earlier this year I discovered this series of triple threats from the Revenge Of True Metal(?) label and became immediately intreagued! There are 18 seperate discs in this series that chronicles some of the underground metal scenes most obscure recordings from the 1980's (mostly anyway...a few from the early 90's). Each one features 3 complete recodings by different heavy metal artists, making a total of 54 full-length LPs and EPs in all, so each one is jam packed with music!

I purchased a complete set of these and have now had time to listen to each one and, since these are expensive and many of you have no doubt never heard (or heard of!) a lot of the bands on these recordings, I thought I would help out and offer my reviews of each one and thereby recommend some of the better volumes in the series! Hope all my effort helps you pick the best ones!

The music on Volume 3 is by the groups SOLAR EAGLE, MATAKOPAS and ZEN VENOM.

First on Volume 3 is the 4 track EP from Canada's SOLAR EAGLE. The vocals break in almost immediately on song #1 and for me recall LIEGE LORD's "Master Control" album. Although musically this would not be the worst band to think of as a comparison, I think music wise SOLAR EAGLE is a bit more scattered than that. Most of the tracks aren't very tight although the riffing sounds fine. At some points along the way this kind of reminds me of poorly done technical metal, but I think it's more the unorganized song structures and time changes that bring this to mind. It's certainly a little different, and that's not always a good thing I know. In this case it's not terrible, but I didn't enjoy the offering from SOLAR EAGLE nearly as much as I did others in this outstanding series.

Next up on Volume 2 is the lone album from metal history given to us by New York's MATAKOPAS entitled "Coming Out Ahead", released in 1987. At first, given the name, I thought for sure this would be a Greek band, but in fact they are from The States, but no doubt all from proud Greek families that wanted fair representation in the underground metal community! As for the tunes, I harken back to my thoughts of earlier stuff from bands like MASS when I hear this one. Good guitar and no doubt metal through and through, but with good mainstream structure and nice choruses. This brand of metal is some of the easiest to just sit back and enjoy for me. Nothing overly done and I really did enjoy the vocals too. I can't put my finger on who singer Shane Parry reminds me of, but it's similar at least in styling to the work Jeff Scott Soto did with so many rock and metal bands. Although Parry doesn't share Soto's gruffier edge...still melodic as hell though, great! I liked the MATAKOPAS album presented here quite a lot. Sure to please many metal lovers everywhere.

Third and last on Volume 3 is an album called "From Another Planet" by the Aussie band ZEN VENOM, released in 1988. Without a doubt, this is one of the strangest sounding releases presented within the Outstanding Metal Gems series. The music is mostly metallic sounding in it's basic composition, but it gets quirky in a lot of places, and the vocals are really what gets me on this one. There is a little known band from the Christian metal genre called SCATRED FEW who's vocalist sounds just like ZEN VENOM's lead singer Ronn Haines. If you're not familiar with them, let's just say they went for more of a RAMONES meets metal approach with the vocal mix. Not a typical screamy or melodic sound at all, more like a laid back monotone sort of thing. Actually the closest thing I could think to compare ZEN VENON to in the metal kingdom overall is VOIVOD. Quirky, unexpected and a nice entry into the underground albums presented in the Outstanding Gems collection.

In total, I'm not totally into all the music at work here. SOLAR EAGLE was a weaker one for me and ZEN VENOM's stuff really requires an open mind and the right mood to enjoy. MATAKOPAS sort of saves this Volume from being really weak overall. But instead of a 2, I'll bump it to 3 out of five, keeping in mind that this is really more like a 2 1/2 that I'm giving the benefit of all my doubts. Get this one later on if you are collecting the entire series.

Average customer rating:

All three albums are classics!

Forgotten Metal: Outstanding Metal Gems
Graven Image , Tarantula , and Breaker
Manufacturer: Revenge of True Metal
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0009UWZT0

Customer Reviews:

All three albums are classics!.......2005-09-13

Hi Metal Fans! Earlier this year I discovered this series of triple threats from the Revenge Of True Metal(?) label and became immediately intreagued! There are 18 seperate discs in this series that chronicles some of the underground metal scenes most obscure recordings from the 1980's (mostly anyway...a few from the early 90's). Each one features 3 complete recodings by different heavy metal artists, making a total of 54 full-length LPs and EPs in all, so each one is jam packed with music!

I purchased a complete set of these and have now had time to listen to each one and, since these are expensive and many of you have no doubt never heard (or heard of!) a lot of the bands on these recordings, I thought I would help out and offer my reviews of each one and thereby recommend some of the better volumes in the series! Hope all my effort helps you pick the best ones!

The music on this Volume is by the groups GRAVEN IMAGE, TARANTULA and BREAKER.

First off on this CD we have the little 3-track self-titled EP from the U.S. band GRAVEN IMAGE. We only get a trio of songs here, but they are all excellent! The vocals, especially the choruses remind me of LIEGE LORD a bunch and the music is also really staggering! Some awesome melody and power produced in this handful of tracks that also have a bit of a dark edge to them. GRAVEN IMAGE were really great and I'm sorry there aren't more songs from them to enjoy here...but we gotta take what we can get, and take my word for it, GRAVEN IMAGE is a brief but very memorable listen!

Next we have Portugal natives TARANTULA and their self-titled metal wizardry from 1988. This one sounds a lot more like the power metal of today than many of the other bands on the Metal Gems lineup. There are keyboards playing a role in most of the songs, sometimes further in front than others, but not providing that enormously bombastic overtone that they can in modern groups like STRATOVARIUS and RHAPSODY. This is more like power metal ala early HELLOWEEN with the keys tossed in as a little spice. I'll admit that the whole project sounds quite amateur, but that seems to be part of the charm and fun! The production is thinnish and the back rhythms all sound as if they are emanating from a cave (or spider hole), but I don't care! It really doesn't distract from the inventive and well played melodic metal on this album. One of the greats!

Last and certainly not least is perhaps the best band on this Volume and maybe even the entire series. I simply loved the offering presented here by Canada's BREAKER. It's called "In Days Of Heavy Metal", and I was shocked to learn it was recorded way back in 1982! Talk about a real metal classic! This is it! At first you are greeted with more of a hard rock sound on "Living Free", and there's more than a little NWOBHM influence in this one as well, but it sounds way more up-to-date than the early 80's. The music turns on a dime in subject matter after the first track and heads off in a more 80's metal direction, but many of the same hard rockin' rhythms and vocals remain and keep that feeling omnipresent on every song...most noteably of which is the glorious 10+ minute epic title track that serves as the finisher. Wow! This is a fantastic tune! It's even broken down into three parts like so many of the big epic closing songs on power metal albums today, but this was way back in the glory days! I just can't say enough about this record and I'm not going to draw any comparisons to other groups on purpose with this one. These guys were truly unique and they deserve to be treated as such throughout metal history! Three big cheers for BREAKER! An absolutely awesome slice of metal history!

In closing, it looks like on Volume 11 we are finally back on track after suffering through some less than par installments in the Metal Gems series. GRAVEN IMAGE is a fantastic albeit short-lived listening experience in classic metal. TARANTULA helps us go back in time and look towards the future (as it was then anyway) with their pioneering sounds. And BREAKER, well....BREAKER's album just flat out rocks in every way possible! This one is the biggest karat amongst three big and heavy outstanding metal gems!

Average customer rating:

Not bad, but not the best in this fine series

Forgotten Metal: Outstanding Metal Gems
Leader , Unicorn , and Axton Pryte
Manufacturer: Revenge of True Metal
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0009UWZOK
Release Date: 2005-05-02

Tracks:

Hunters
Fire 03 Eye Of Tomorrow
Wastelands
Out Of Control 06 Killer
Ride On The Wind
Wings Of Steel
Neckbreaker
Shoot To Kill
Last Command
Eyes On Fire
The Return Of The Legend
Children Of Tomorrow
Suicidal Flight
Warriors Of The Wind
Eternal Recital
Catch The Windblow
Inquisition

Customer Reviews:

Not bad, but not the best in this fine series.......2005-09-08

Hi Metal Fans! Earlier this year I discovered this series of triple threats from the Revenge Of True Metal(?) label and became immediately intreagued! There are 18 seperate discs in this series that chronicles some of the underground metal scenes most obscure recordings from the 1980's (mostly anyway...a few from the early 90's). Each one features 3 complete recodings by different heavy metal artists, making a total of 54 full-length LPs and EPs in all, so each one is jam packed with music!

I purchased a complete set of these and have now had time to listen to each one and, since these are expensive and many of you have no doubt never heard (or heard of!) a lot of the bands on these recordings, I thought I would help out and offer my reviews of each one and thereby recommend some of the better volumes in the series! Hope all my effort helps you pick the best ones!

On Volume 4 there are albums by the bands LEADER, UNICORN and AXTON PRYTE.

First on the CD is the Dutch band LEADER and their 1988 LP release entitled "Out In The Wasteland". The music here varies in tempo on most songs from medium-paced to very fast. The speedier passages remind me of very early SEPULTURA and perhaps SODOM, but only in their rapid fire style and not at all vocally or in the overall sound of the guitars. There is a scrap of the group HADES lingering in here too, as the vocals and song frameworks seem to be similar in places. The production on this album is thin, so the bass and drums are lacking in depth and it loses a bit of punch overall but still remains enjoyable, as the lack of studio quality doesn't ruin the release in full. As for the vocals, they are a little on the high side and get somewhat majestic in the parts of the songs that slow down a bit and allow for this. For the most part I liked this effort by LEADER, but wasn't really blown away by it. All the songs sound a lot like the kind you'd find on most of the Metal Massacre series from Metal Blade.

Playing second on this release is yet another 4 track EP, this one by the German group UNICORN. The album is called "The Legend Returns" and it is from 1987. This has a killer melodic sound and I think they are highly reminiscent of GRAVE DIGGER circa "War Games", or maybe even more-so the DIGGER album "Stronger Than Ever". The first song "The Last Command" sounds like it was lifted directly from this album. Some nice leads on this album and some bigger choruses. The vocalist is o.k. when he doesn't sing in falsetto...but when he does it reminds me of a KING DIAMOND that's holding back, so his range is poor, but he fills the bill just fine. Some of the tracks with the large choruses have a primitve MANOWAR feel to them also. This one was good. I don't really have anything bad to say about it, but again wasn't really floored by the performances.

The finale on Volume 3 is from a group that hailed from France called AXTON PRYTE. Their 5 track mini album on this release is called "The Lab" and was released in 1986. A bit of a raw sounding group with some more melodic guitar parts in the middle of everything. This isn't bad, some pretty standard sounding 80's metal with non-intricate songs and some layered choruses. It's difficult to tell if the production value hurts this one a little or if the band really just didn't have a lot of moxie. In either case, it's fair but relatively forgettable for me wihtin the volumes of albums in the entire Metal Gems collection.

So in closing, we've got some decent music here, but I don't look to this one as often as I do the others in the series. UNICORN seems to be my favorite amongst the three, but I wish the LEADER album was an EP and the UNICORN was a full-length one instead, and the AXTON PRYTE stuff just didn't seem to stick in my mind that much at all. Therefore, I can only grade this a 2 out of 5, but again keep in mind that if I could give half-stars through Amazon's grading system, this no doubt would be a 2 1/2. It's a little better than 2 stars, but not fully deserving of 3. Start with others in the series before buying Volume 3.

Average customer rating:

DDT on CD!!
a Trio of North American metal bands for the ages...

Forgotten Metal: Outstanding Metal Gems
DDT , Madd Hatter , and Dark Knight
Manufacturer: Revenge of True Metal
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0009UWZS6
Release Date: 2005-05-02

Tracks:

Let The Screw...
Bitches
Metal On Ashes
Wasted
Where Were You
My Money
You're In The Real World
Better Dead (Than Red)
In My Nightmare
Fight The Dragon
Change The Heart
Goodbye Forever
Radical Mass
Nowhere Fast
Grass (Is Greener)
Cabin Fever
When All Else Fails
Return Of The Dark Knight

Customer Reviews:

DDT on CD!!.......2006-09-10

I never knew this release by DDT ever made it to CD until recently. I actually still have this vinyl EP (I'm looking at it right now). These guys are from Magog (Quebec) and were fairly popular in the Magog/Sherbrooke metal circles. I was too young to see them live myself, as they only played in local clubs. By the time I was old enough to go to clubs, they had pretty much stopped playing. One of my friends brother knew a couple of the band members, so that's how I got turned on to DDT.

I have to say that I'm very happy to have found this on CD. I haven't listened to this in years and it brings back a lot of fond teenage memories. To this day, the songs "Let the Screw" and "Bitches" are still some of my all time favorites! In case anybody cares, they actually shot a video for the song "Let the Screw" that aired a few times on MusiquePlus. I've tried finding it on youtube and other sites but never found it. I give this CD 5 stars just because of DDT!

a Trio of North American metal bands for the ages..........2005-09-08

Hi Metal Fans! Earlier this year I discovered this series of triple threats from the Revenge Of True Metal(?) label and became immediately intreagued! There are 18 seperate discs in this series that chronicles some of the underground metal scenes most obscure recordings from the 1980's (mostly anyway...a few from the early 90's). Each one features 3 complete recodings by different heavy metal artists, making a total of 54 full-length LPs and EPs in all, so each one is jam packed with music!

I purchased a complete set of these and have now had time to listen to each one and, since these are expensive and many of you have no doubt never heard (or heard of!) a lot of the bands on these recordings, I thought I would help out and offer my reviews of each one and thereby recommend some of the better volumes in the series! Hope all my effort helps you pick the best ones!

The music featured on Volume 5 is by the bands D.D.T., MADD HATTER and DARK KNIGHT.

Starting off the disc is a 5-track album by Canadian metal act D.D.T. called "Let The Screw...", recorded in 1984. I found this to be totally inspired by the band ACCEPT. The song titles, subject matter, vocals, song structures and for the most part all the instrumentation reminds me a great deal of the legendary Germans. There is perhaps a bit of the band's own unique sound realized on this effort as well, and I can't seem to help but think that JUDAS PRIEST had a little something to do with influencing the guys in this outfit too. There are some speedier metal moments on this one also, and the song "Metal On Ashes" made me think of 80's groups like TORCH. But really it's the reference to ACCEPT I couldn't shake throughout. They were never my favorite band in the world, but it's nice to enjoy a fairly straight forward metal release from the past. This one is pretty good.

Up next on the CD is a group from Houston, Texas, USA called MADD HATTER. Their self-titled release includes 9 songs and to me sways over into the hard rock genre a bit more. This made me think of some of the harder edged 80's groups that also strattled this line like KEEL or Joe Stump's 80's band TRASH BROADWAY. Imagine if you will a group of Neanderthals covering MOTLEY CRUE or perhaps think if MASI recorded their first two albums in your parent's garage, that's close if not it in a nut shell! There was also a particular amount of clutter in the guitar work that seemed to make me think of ANVIL for some reason. The vocals are a little coarse around the edges and make an attempt at being melodic but never really get there 100%. So there was definately an attempt at mainstream metal here to an extent and I liked some of the grooves on this LP. They even tossed in a few keyboard parts here and there that don't seem to fit but do make for an interesting listening experience. File this whole affair under "not bad" and try to spin it three or more times to find the more memorable moments.

At last on Volume 5 we find the self-titled 4 song effort from the group DARK KNIGHT. Although no information is provided in the booklet for this release, I'm fairly certain this is a US band and the release is from 1984. Let me say first off that this band would have sounded much better with a larger quality production behind it. This group plays a metal style that really makes me think of some of the bands in the NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) movement. TRESPASS, VARDIS and HOLLOW GROUND are a few that I think of, but I suppose you could make a case for JAGUAR, WITCHFYNDE and perhaps a bit of VIRGIN STEELE as points of musical reference too. It's got a really dark and dense sound about it, even with the sub-par production. Not totally gloomy doomy like Sabbath or anything, just a bit morose and mysterious. The vocals sound like they could easily be British, which might be part of the reason I think of the NWOBHM stuff, but truly, tracks like "Cabin Fever" and "When All Else Fails" sound exactly like the stuff any of these groups I mentioned above were producing in the early 80's. A good and important release that shouldn't be overlooked.

So as we look back at yet another three album collection from Metal Gems, I can't help but think that even though none of these releases are super extraordinary, there is quality obscure metal presented here once again. D.D.T. had some surprises and the MADD HATTER was also a welcome change-up with some of it's half-baked-sleazy L.A. overtones. Plus the DARK KNIGHT release is really a special one I feel. Good enough for 3 stars? Hmmmm....I'm not sure, I'd probably give this one 2 1/2 again, but in the interest of the whole number scale at Amazon, I'll bump the whole deal up to three.

Average customer rating:

Forgotten Metal: Outstanding Metal Gems
Child Saint , Proud Existance , and Shelder
Manufacturer: Revenge of True Jp
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0009UWZRM
Release Date: 2005-05-02

Average customer rating:

Fast Start to a Great Series of Recordings!

Forgotten Metal: Outstanding Metal Gems
Exodo , Inherent Sin , and Ironhawk
Manufacturer: Revenge of True Metal
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Latin Music | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0009UWZSQ
Release Date: 2005-05-02

Customer Reviews:

Fast Start to a Great Series of Recordings!.......2005-09-08

Hi Metal Fans! Earlier this year I discovered this series of triple threats from the Revenge Of True Metal(?) label and became immediately intreagued! There are 18 seperate discs in this series that chronicles some of the underground metal scenes most obscure recordings from the 1980's (mostly anyway...a few from the early 90's). Each one features 3 complete recodings by different heavy metal artists, making a total of 54 full-length LPs and EPs in all, so each one is jam packed with music!

I purchased a complete set of these and have now had time to listen to each one and, since these are expensive and many of you have no doubt never heard (or heard of!) a lot of the bands on these recordings, I thought I would help out and offer my reviews of each one and thereby recommend some of the better volumes in the series! Hope all my effort helps you pick the best ones!

Volume 1 features albums by the bands EXODO, IRON HAWK and INHERENT SIN.

EXODO is a band from Spain and the album on Volume 1 called "The New Babylon" was recorded in 1988. This is an 8 song LP that has that great classic metal sound! This one reminds me of the Aussie group WARRIOR quite a bit. Some great guitar work and a nice big sound for a small label production of this era I thought. I even hear some HELLOWEEN in the soloing! Some good choruses and early Tate-ish vocals top off this nice LP to get the cd started. I should mention too that there is one song not included on the title listings on the back of the cd here. Song number three is called "Sex" and is actually one of the best songs on the album I think. So please make a note of this when you purchase Volume 1.

Next we have the German group INHERENT SIN's 4 track EP called "Children Of The Night" from the year 1989. This is a great forgotten metal treasure! Leaning more towards hard rock at times than metal in the song structure and choruses, I really loved this one a bunch! The singer reminds me a lot of the guy from Stormwitch and this band also employs a full-time keyboardist which adds some richly woven sonic curtains behind the lead guitar and backbeats. Again we also have some brilliant solos on this EP too! There were just so many talented musicians and bands that never came to light during this period...it's so nice that someone dug out these lost gems and put them in the spotlight. Chalk up another "thank God it's on CD" mark for INHERENT SIN! Awesome stuff!

Lastly on this CD we have a band from the United States called IRONHAWK. Their 4 song EP entitled "To The Point!" is presented here as part of the collection of music on Volume 1. It was recorded in 1983 and showcases some terrific sounding guitar of it's own. You might say this is the prototypical 80's metal band. Soaring vocals mixed with speedy leads and crunching bass and drums. They may have been shooting for a little bit of IRON MAIDEN in their sound, and the song structure of at least one track ("Locked Away") is rather complex. There are also unexpectedly giagantic choruses in the songs "Dreams Of Fortune" and "Cry Out" which gives the album more of an accessable sound. Overall we have another winner! Great music for the metalhead who transcends time and space!

In conclusion, Volume 1 is one of the best in the series. Three very solid and mega-rare albums for you to enjoy! Have fun!

Average customer rating:

A tragedy and a comedy of metal all on one cd!

Forgotten Metal: Outstanding Metal Gems
Crypt
Manufacturer: Revenge of True Metal
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0009UWZRW
Release Date: 2005-05-02

Tracks:

Metallust Fever
Castaways
Wings Of Omen
Darker Than Hell
Die Sister Die
Reich Master
March Of The Living Dead
Stick To Your Guts
Runnin' For My Life
Bring Me The Night
Think Twice
Angel In Leather
Keeper Of The Flame
Sausage Commercial
Iron Beast
Armageddon
Chainsaw
Save Their Souls

Customer Reviews:

A tragedy and a comedy of metal all on one cd!.......2005-09-10

Hi Metal Fans! Earlier this year I discovered this series of triple threats from the Revenge Of True Metal(?) label and became immediately intreagued! There are 18 seperate discs in this series that chronicles some of the underground metal scenes most obscure recordings from the 1980's (mostly anyway...a few from the early 90's). Each one features 3 complete recodings by different heavy metal artists, making a total of 54 full-length LPs and EPs in all, so each one is jam packed with music!

I purchased a complete set of these and have now had time to listen to each one and, since these are expensive and many of you have no doubt never heard (or heard of!) a lot of the bands on these recordings, I thought I would help out and offer my reviews of each one and thereby recommend some of the better volumes in the series! Hope all my effort helps you pick the best ones!

The music on Volume 10 is by the groups CRYPT, WHITE HOTT and KRATOS.

A Canadian band called CRYPT opens Volume 10 with their 1987 release called "Stick To Your Guts". This one makes many of the typical 80's metal moves and is hurt by production quality that isn't the most stellar. The music ranges from mid-paced to up-tempo and I did rather like the vocalist, he reminded me of the lead singer from HADES somewhat. As the album progresses, I did notice my fingers and/or toes tapping a bit more, so they do step up and deliver some memorable and driving rhythms. Also the leads play nicely on top of the backbeat too. With better production and a little more practice, I'll bet this could have been a killer metal album for the ages! And it's already a good one for certain. I liked it more than many of the others in the Metal Gems series, and I think you'd agree.

Next up is the 6 track mini-LP by the Iowa (USA) group WHITE HOTT called "Angel In Leather". This band looks and sounds a lot more like a "hair metal" act than a true metal band. Plenty of radio-friendly guitar riffs and signature trademarks of the more accessable metal genres. A ton of bands could easily draw comparisons, so just imagine anything out of this mold and you're gonna be close. WHITE HOTT did at least try to make thier release a little more interesting with a couple of minor and rather insignificant twists. I got a kick out of the opening portion of their song called "Bring Me The Night". Only a band from Iowa would include the sound effects of a beast (or something?) crunching through a cornfield at midnight! Despite the ominous overtones in the beginning however, the song itself is actually more terrifying. Pretty slow and forgettable. Who could also forget the band's closing number on the album entitled "Sausage Commercial". I know, "what the...Sausage what!?" Well, let's just say that it is an actual commercial the band wrote and recorded, and it is probably about what you're thinking it is! It also has a country (yes, I said country!) twang to it! Hmmmm.... So just to review in short, here we have a "party metal" group of sorts that's not overly happy sounding about the whole thing, who throw in lost sound excerpts from the movie "Pumpkinhead" and made a sausage advertisement for the folks at "Hee-Haw" that is thankfully included on the album. Folks, I've run out of things to say!

Moving on the final installment on Volume 10 we come to the dreadfully obscure U.S. group KRATOS and their 1984 EP "Iron Beast". Oh wow, this one was really painful. Bad production and song compositions coupled with lacklustre instrumental performances and hiddeous lead vocals make this a really forgettable, if not downright laughable affair. This is patterened after true metal I suppose and shares influences with a few NWOBHM acts as well. They also win the award for humorously awful record jacket with "Iron Beast" too. My God, it looks like a giant Fraggle in a leotard on the L.A. freeway! Honestly, since there's no button on my keyboard to insert a "blow chunks" reference without using the 26 letters of the English alphabet, I'll just close by using that to form the closest thing I can to relay my sentiments about this album....UUUUGGGGHHHHHAAAAAWWWWW(*splat*)!

So let's see how we did. We felt sorry for CRYPT, these guys really were pretty talented I thought. WHITE HOTT was a nice departure to mainstream metal in a few spots and also made me wish I had friends in the Midwest to spend Halloween with. And finally while reviewing KRATOS, we vomitted...a lot! Actually though, I still have to give this a 2 star rating instead of 1. CRYPT is worth getting and WHITE HOTT is different enough from everything else that it also stands out. As for KRATOS, well, there's always room for an extra gag reflex in our lives...right?

Forgotten Metal: Outstanding Metal Gems, Vol. 6

Average customer rating:

Stormtrooper good, but skip Volume 6 and read my advice below!

Forgotten Metal: Outstanding Metal Gems, Vol. 6
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Revenge of True Metal
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0009UWZQI
Release Date: 2005-05-02

Tracks:

Reaper
Armies Of The Night
Steamroller
Search And Destroy
Beast Within
Live Or Die
Lonely Mountain
Wings Of Steel
New King Rising
Freedom Shore
Sea Of Fate
Lords Of Chaos
Mist Of Avalon
Eyes Of The Night
Ready For Action
No Escape
Comin' And Goin'

Customer Reviews:

Stormtrooper good, but skip Volume 6 and read my advice below!.......2005-09-08

Hi Metal Fans! Earlier this year I discovered this series of triple threats from the Revenge Of True Metal(?) label and became immediately intreagued! There are 18 seperate discs in this series that chronicles some of the underground metal scenes most obscure recordings from the 1980's (mostly anyway...a few from the early 90's). Each one features 3 complete recodings by different heavy metal artists, making a total of 54 full-length LPs and EPs in all, so each one is jam packed with music!

I purchased a complete set of these and have now had time to listen to each one and, since these are expensive and many of you have no doubt never heard (or heard of!) a lot of the bands on these recordings, I thought I would help out and offer my reviews of each one and thereby recommend some of the better volumes in the series! Hope all my effort helps you pick the best ones!

There are albums on Volume 6 by the bands STORMTROOPER, AVALON and EMMY STRUT.

The initial offering on Metal Gems Volume 6 is by the group STORMTROOPER and is called "Armies Of The Night". It was released in 1986 and the band is from the United States. Definately a band playing on the heavier side of the genre. I found immediate comparisons to INFERNAL MAJESTY and SAVAGE GRACE. The vocals are very growly and aggressive, albeit not quite like today's death metal bands. It's not Cookie Monster style, but more like Animal at his most intense maybe. The group, while very heavy, manages to create some really memorable choruses and chops along the way, and as things progressed I couldn't help but think of other metal acts like TYRANT, NUM SKULL and even SLAYER when the solos took over. This one is really heavy, but also very good! If you really want to hear a lot of this band, I should mention that this album was also released in 2004 by the British label High Vaultage and included a ton of rare bonus tracks. Here however, it's just the contents of the original "Armies Of The Night" release that are present.

OK, so there are like a thousand bands named AVALON, right? And in fact, this is one of two different bands with that name that are amongst the 54 albums offered in total over the 18 volumes of the Metal Gems series. This "AVALON" is from the United States and their release on Volume 6 is entitled "Live Or Die". It's a full-length album with 8 tracks in all. I can't seem to find any other bands to compare this one to off hand. But I know I wasn't overly impressed by this one. It sounds to me like the individual instruments are all broken apart from each other too much and there is never a real fluidity created by the band. This is another one that doesn't have the strongest production, but it's really not all that bad, it's just that the band isn't that great. The vocals aren't anything that wonderful either, mostly just some ruffian yawlps and screaming. I don't know, maybe I'm being too critical of this one, but the whole deal just seems way too "programmed" from the outset. There are a few shinging spots of guitar soloing which is nice, but I'm afraid it's just not enought to save this one from being a bit of a turkey. Hey, they can't all be winners, right?

As for the third release offered on Volume 6, it comes to us from the U.S. group EMMY STRUT and is a self-titled release with 4 tracks, released in 1985. Unlike the album by RAY GUNN, which is on Metal Gems Volume 2, EMMY STRUT is not a person's name. However this 4-man band does feature two siblings in the person of vocalist Scott Thompson and his bassist brother Mark Thompson. Scott's vocals remind me of a poor-man's Ozzie Osbourne or perhaps the vocalist from TENSION. This one is more in the greasy hard rock vein than the pure metal one for sure. The songs are basic and sound as if they were hairtrigger composed both lyrically and musically. Nothing all that interesting going on here at all. There are a million metal bands with records like this one. I wish I could say better things about EMMY STRUT, and I would have if they could have been a bit more original. This stuff isn't bad at all, it's just been done many times over again is all.

So in conclusion, I'm afraid the STORMTROOPER is really the only thing worth having here, and I would purchase the High Vaultage re-issue of this one on it's own with the bonus material and skip getting Volume 6 at all. EMMY STRUT just isn't that interesting and the AVALON wasn't good at all to me. For my rating therefore, I'm going to completely ignore the presence of the STORMTROOPER recording and just give this what it deserves based on the other two albums...1 lonely star! Avoid this one unless you simply must have them all!

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Three bands...three different metal music sounds to enjoy!

Forgotten Metal: Outstanding Metal Gems
Tyrant's Reign , Ray Gunn , and Ivory Tiger
Manufacturer: Revenge of True Jp
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0009UWZR2
Release Date: 2006-06-22

Customer Reviews:

Three bands...three different metal music sounds to enjoy!.......2005-09-08

Hi Metal Fans! Earlier this year I discovered this series of triple threats from the Revenge Of True Metal(?) label and became immediately intreagued! There are 18 seperate discs in this series that chronicles some of the underground metal scenes most obscure recordings from the 1980's (mostly anyway...a few from the early 90's). Each one features 3 complete recodings by different heavy metal artists, making a total of 54 full-length LPs and EPs in all, so each one is jam packed with music!

I purchased a complete set of these and have now had time to listen to each one and, since these are expensive and many of you have no doubt never heard (or heard of!) a lot of the bands on these recordings, I thought I would help out and offer my reviews of each one and thereby recommend some of the better volumes in the series! Hope all my effort helps you pick the best ones!

Volume 2 features music by the bands TYRANT'S REIGN, RAY GUNN and IVORY TIGER.

First up on Volume 2 is the metal group TYRANT'S REIGN and their 1987 LP called "Year Of The Tyrants". This band hails from Illinois, USA and remind me of a number of different groups in the metal genre. The music is somewhat chunky, but never overly disorganized. After hearing the singer I immediately think of groups like DETENTE who have a huge high-pitched screamer at the vocal helm. Musically they aren't too far away from DETENTE either, but I also seem to think of bands like TYRANT and for some reason NASTY SAVAGE, although TYRANT'S REIGN is much more power and speed than the chorusy and more mainstream stuff that NASTY SAVAGE put out in the mid to late 80's. In all I liked the effort from this group quite a bit. I'm still in awe of how many super guitarists were around in the 80's working in the underground that never got any credit. TYRANT'S REIGN have two of their own in Karl Miller and Chris Nelken. If you like the heavier bands of the early MetalBlade and Medusa era, you'll love TYRANT'S REIGN. They'd have made a great fit for that family of labels back then! This group has actually reformed in the past year and in 2004 put out a self-titled CD with new material and a few updated songs from their 1987 release as well!

Next on Volume 2 is the self-titled album by RAY GUNN released in 1987. Yes, Ray Gunn is a person's name and doubles as the entire group's monnicker as well. Gunn plays lead guitar in this band, which instantly makes you expect a heaping of licks and solos within the landscape of the record's 9 tracks. In fact we do get a bunch of nice guitar to enjoy, but I was impressed by the quality of the group built around Ray and his, well...Gunn! The vocals are very reminiscent of early David Wayne (METAL CHURCH) and to me these guys also sounded a great deal like some Christian metal acts of the same time frame. Especially bands like RECON and SACRED WARRIOR come to mind! This band would have made a super fit for the Shrapnel label. Too bad they didn't stick around to make more great metal music for us all. But at least we can now savour the delights of their one full-length LP on Volume 2 of the Outstanding Metal Gems series!

Finally to finish up on Volume 3 we get the "Metal Mountain" 4 track EP from US metalurgists IVORY TIGER. This album was recorded in 1985 and serves as the only official entry into the annuls of metal history for the band. No one really specifically comes to mind at first when I hear these guys. The vocals are quite varied from front-man Bob Hoffman. Sometimes screechy and screamy and at others more melodic and mournful. Musically the band has a thick underbelly with a deep heavy sound in the bass and leads. I suppose MANILLA ROAD isn't out of the question as a comparative, but there are certainly other classic metal influences at work here too. Not bad at all, plus the cover art wins best and worst of the other two competitors on Volume 2. It's an oil painting (I think?) of a white tiger on a snowy plain mounted by what looks like Carmen Elektra playing an extra in the movie "Children Of The Damned". Bob Ross was definately not the coach of this guy's work, as this reminds me so much of many of the things that were hung in my high school showcase outside the art department. So much fun in so many ways are these old underground works. I love them for many different reasons!

All in all a pretty varied set of music in Volume 2. From TYRANT'S REIGN'S heavier sounds to RAY GUNN's more melodic stylings to the true metal sounds of IVORY TIGER, I can definately recommend Volume 2. It's not the best in the series, but there are weaker ones you could choose for certain.

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Forgotten Metal: Outstanding Metal Gems
Heathens Rage , Mainiax , and Thatcher
Manufacturer: Revenge of True Metal
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0009UWZTA
Release Date: 2005-05-02

Music Track: