Artist: Turbo
Label: Histria Cult Records
Release: 2009
Length: 14:31
Rating: 3/5
Turbo! In the second half of the eighties, 1987 to be exact, they took shape in their first incarnation as a trio: Dragan Dončič – Fujo on drums, Brane Rihar on guitar and Miro Mutvar (now in The Drinkers) on bass. The band’s goal was to push the limits of what heavy metal in Slovenia had reached up to then: play even faster, play even louder, and plant some shocking stage escalations along the way. After leaving Lene kosti in 1987, vocalist Milan Krušič joined the first Turbo and they became a four-piece.
It was a great springboard for the singer to carry over into a new band the elements of the modern outlook that defined heavy metal in the developed world in the eighties, and the most fruitful creative stretch of his home band Lene kosti in the mid-eighties. As mentioned, the band wanted to deliver the fastest and loudest heavy metal ever heard on the territory of the late Yugoslavia. Krušič crowned his lush imagination, which took in direct stage provocation in the form of a proper shock “horror” therapy, by upgrading the lyrics, drawing on occultism and walking the razor’s edge of tempting the devil. He developed that during his time in Lene kosti, and with Turbo he more or less put the final stamp on this stage theater.
The EP “Beginning” is really the band’s first manifesto, the one it took its first steps with before the first lineup fell apart, was quickly rebuilt as a second lineup, and went on to release two studio albums. It has four tracks. The most interesting of them is surely Master Of Warrior, which opens the EP. It’s marked by two rhythms and the curious fact that the basic guitar phrase barely changes over the course of the song. The band bet everything on noisiness and perhaps forgot about some much-needed guitar flourishes or nicer-shaped transitions, and the lack of wit in the guitar playing certainly shows that Rihar was no great musical talent who could craft lead riffs with real punch and lasting under-the-skin penetration, like the unforgettable riffs of Lene kosti or Pomaranča. The main thing that holds the band together and keeps the EP credible is singer Milan Krušič. Already in Master Of Warrior he lifts the less interesting instrumental dynamics into a thoroughly catchy, inviting story that hooks the listener right away. Krušič is versatile. In his clean approach he sounds unique and ominous, then in the next beat he attacks with a guttural growl that, in the highest registers, really brings the needed shock element of doom and obscurity, while also giving the song itself some dynamic movement. In Madhouse we get a similar feel, the band sounds even louder, and Krušič squeezes out a bestial maximum and roars right at the edge of human capability. Krušič’s vocals are what a heavy metal fan comes for when they meet early Turbo. Charisma and originality, plus 100% focus and total immersion, delivering destructive, unbridled energy. That’s Milan Krušič’s approach, and believe me, he can’t and won’t hide it.
Black Star, or Tiha noč, is included on the EP twice, in English and Slovenian versions. Here the guys stage a “horror show” that channels the old days of Black Sabbath, especially in the opening, ominous tangle, where the sound effects (devil’s laughter, an owl’s hoot) as well as the organ were contributed by Borut Činč, the well-known Buldožer man, at whose studio the Turbo guys recorded these four tracks between 08/26/1988 and 08/28/1988. The opening section, led by the sound of the organ, is marked by Milan Krušič’s clean, relentless, accusing and ominous vocals. The song breaks and flows into another simple riff that carries it onward. The rhythm shifts three times, then a less compatible transition breaks the mood and sends the song into a new round. Once again Krušič is the key element that gives both versions their credibility and unique charm. The Slovenian version is especially successful thanks to its excellent lines, which Count Nosferatu himself could identify with in the realm of his cellar chambers, flirting with glasses of fine human blood.
The EP “Beginning” came out in a run of just 60 copies. Better late than never. The recordings were taken from the original cassette tapes and are therefore of slightly lower quality, which takes nothing away from their authenticity! The release is meant for true fans as well as collectors of records that shaped the face of heavy metal in the eighties. In other words, the era of the first generation of Slovenian heavy metal. Turbo played only six gigs in this lineup. And those gigs were marked, besides energetic stage performances, above all by bloody (beef) brains stuck in the center of a cross intersection, dousing in blood, juggling skulls, theatrical drinking of blood from skulls, etc… In short, a short-lived incarnation of the first Turbo that nonetheless left an indelible mark with its take on heavy metal, as the developed world understood it at the time. “Beginning” is the missing piece in the mosaic of eighties heavy metal in Slovenia and really a must-have addition to your heavy metal collection.
Lineup
Milan Krušič – vocals
Brane Rihar – guitar
Miro Mutvar – bass
Dragan Dončić (Fujo) – drums
Production
Borut Činč
Tracklist
1. Master Of Warrior
2. Black Star
3. Madhouse
4. Tiha noč
