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Old 07-01-2015, 03:19 AM   #971 (permalink)
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17. Iron Angel Hellish Crossfire 1985 (SPV)
Speed Metal

We’re out here trying to tame the devil.


The Lowdown

No sooner had speed metal burst onto the metal scene a few years earlier, it’s success as a commercial metal genre had been quickly superseded by the more aggressive thrash metal sound, but as always a a number of diehard speed metal bands would continue the cause. 1985 was a poor year as I’ve already stated for metal compared to the previous four years of the 1980s, but the year would be saved by its thrash based releases and its energetic speed metal cousin, as some of the best speed metal albums were put out this year. As I’ve stated a number of times already, Germany was a real hotbead of European metal at this time with two of its bands in the Scorpions and Accept reaching worldwide status, which did wonders for the non-British based European metal scene as a whole. Most of these German metal bands would cover the metal spectrum in terms of style (of which I’ve featured quite a few) but most only really found success within their own domestic scene. Now despite being a fan of the German metal scene of the 1980s, I recognize that a lot of them were hit and miss, for example as in one really good album that was usually preceded or followed by a much weaker one and Hamburg based band Iron Angel were one such band. Hellish Crossfire though was probably one the very best albums from what could be termed as ‘the first wave of German thrash, speed and power metal bands’ at this time and as an album it’s certainly stronger than the debut sets from both Kreator and Helloween, two bands of course that would be far better known than Iron Angel. As an album Hellish Crossfire ushers in a dark sounding fusion of both speed and thrash metal and it does this with an incredible amount of viperish energy. The album opens of with the pulsating “Metallian” one of the meanest metal sounding tracks of the year and from here on it delivers a level of consistency as the band dish out an almost rough around the edges Judas Priest speed metal sound across most of its tracks. Singer Dirk Schroder might not be for everybody vocally, but he does have that Udo Dirkschenieder of Accept vocal approach and there’s also an evil slant to his voice that reminds me of Mille Petroza of Kreator as well. Other standout tracks include the frenzied attack of “Black Mass” and “Hunter of Chains” whose main riff sounds like Jimmy Page....well on speed, in fact most of the song sounds like an amalgamation of classic metal tracks anyway. “Rush of Power” is another favourite and “Nightmare” is probably one of the more diverse tracks on the album, especially with its more tranquil opening section but then it’s business as usual. The two killer factors on this album though, are that pulsating guitar duo of both Peter Wittke and Sven Struven, and they have the whole thing underpinned by bassist Thorsten Lohmann. Secondly the aforementioned dark vibe of the album, forewarns us of the soon to come black metal scene from a bit further north, all in all Hellish Crossfire is a fairly vital speed metal release from this time. Finally you’ve just gotta dig that album cover as the band keep things nice and cheesy, which certainly keeps in line of probably what was expected.

Dirk Schroder – Vocals
Peter Wittke – Guitar
Sven Struven – Guitar
Thorsten Lohmann – Bass
Mike Matthes - Drums

Production- Horst Muller

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Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Last edited by Unknown Soldier; 07-01-2015 at 09:50 AM.
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