Label: Metal Blade Records
Release date: 09.09.1984
Production: Fates Warning
Album length: 42.26 min
Genre: US Speed Metal / Heavy Metal / Progressive Metal
Just when it looked like Iron Maiden had set standards for heavy metal in the first half of the eighties that nobody would top for a good while, bands like Queensrÿche and Fates Warning came along and showed there was a way to go far, far beyond Iron Maiden. The American oddballs Fats Warning complicated things so that they sounded even faster, more aggressive and more alive than their celebrated role models. In short, dirty! Unlike Iron Maiden’s polished sound, the Fates Warning production kept that real rebellious, garage-y, live sound. They only “fixed” the guitar tone, cutting down the noise.
The band has an outstanding feel for drama (e.g. the ending of the title track). The songs are colorful and complexly structured (“Misfit”, Shadowfax”, “Soldier Boy”). The power riffing is backed by first-rate harmonies in thirds (typically American, though), the transitions get extra guitar flourishes, and the rhythm section cuts like it’s got money on it. The drums pull off a few seriously technical fills. Constant rhythm changes are always there. The bass is an equal partner (in the style of eighties production) and follows the drums in lockstep. The sound is full! The vocals are strong, energetic and fully committed. They stand out with top-notch screams, a fantastic ability to adapt to the song structures and shifts in vocal tone, which makes for a high-powered atmosphere. “Damnation” is a grandiose song full of epic feel that points toward the band’s later stylistic development into progressive metal waters (a turn that first becomes most obvious on the record “Awaken The Guardian”).
Through this fantastic blast of raw aggression and pure old school U.S. speed metal, you can feel the total enthusiasm of a band that, with its arrival on the metal scene and its unique approach, showed from the debut onward that there were still undiscovered, untouched musical dimensions in the world of metal. And this was only the birth.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
rating: 7.5 / 10
Tracklist:
1. Buried Alive (4:39)
2. The Calling (5:03)
3. Kiss Of Death (4:39)
4. Night On Bröcken (5:30)
5. S.E.K. (1:20)
6. Misfit (5:06)
7. Shadowfax (3:16)
8. Damnation (6:26)
9. Soldier Boy (6:25)
bonus tracks on the 2002 reissue of the album
10. Last Call
11. The Calling
12. Kiss Of Death
13. Flight Of Icarus
Lineup:
John Arch – vocals
Jim Matheos – guitar
Victor Arduini – guitar
Joe DiBiase – bass
Steve Zimmerman – drums
