HAWAIIOne Nation Underground Shrapnel (1983)Rating: 7/10 This album has to be the ultimate in power metal. Revving up at 100 mph with ‘Living In Sin’, this album just gets faster and faster, heavier and heavier. There are a couple of exceptions; ‘Silent Nightmare’ and ‘Escape The Night’ are only average medium paced rockers (by Hawaii’s […]

LITA FORD – Pin-Up Parlez Dave Reynolds Metal Forces, Issue 2 (1983) Lita Ford Pic: The Ruffian American rock music has had more than its fare share of hype and spectacle. In 1976, a five-piece Californian rock group hit the headlines. It wasn’t the fact that the band in question, The Runaways, were an all-girl […]

BLACK SABBATHBorn Again Vertigo (1983)Rating: 8/10 To be quite honest I was pretty apprehensive about this album. I mean, Gillan ‘n’ Sabbath… had to be a joke, right? Wrong. As soon as the stylus hit the wax I was shocked. Born Again is a very good album. Alright, so Gillan may not be the perfect […]

EARTHSHAKEREarthshaker Music For Nations (1983)Rating: 8/10 As you might have guessed from this Japanese band’s name, they are heavily influenced by Y&T. But don’t be fooled into thinking that Earthshaker are just a copy band, far from it. In fact, they possess a very original sound, apart from the odd splash of Van Halen thrown […]

TOKYO BLADETokyo Blade Powerstation (1983)Rating: 9/10 Whatever happened to the NWOBHM? To many people’s ears it’s truly dead and buried. Well, if this is true then Tokyo Blade will certainly be at the forefront of the NWOBHM-revival with this storming debut album. As with many of today’s young heavy metal hopefuls the material on show […]

MERCYFUL FATE – Down To The Bones Bernard Doe Metal Forces, Issue 2 (1983) Mercyful Fate (l-r): Kim Ruzz, Michael Denner, Timi Grabber, Hank Shermann and King Diamond Without doubt, a lot of bullshit has been written and spoken about Danish metal band Mercyful Fate in recent months. Consequently, it was with a sense of […]

MALTESE FALCON Maltese Falcon (1983) This young Copenhagen-based band’s second demo sees them deserting the black metal image that Maltese Falcon created with their first effort. However, although their image may have changed, the music certainly hasn’t; still being delivered in a raw, hard’n’heavy fashion. ‘Headbanger’ is by far the best track, showing early Black […]

LE MANSOn The Streets Shrapnel (1983)Rating: 8/10 Of all the recent Shrapnel releases I must admit that this was probably the album that I was least looking forward to hearing. However, to my surprise On The Streets turns out to be a really good package of hard rock tunes, that owes a lot to the […]

DIAMOND HEAD – Canterbury Tales Steve Hammonds Metal Forces, Issue 2 (1983) Diamond Head (l-r): Sean Harris, Brian Tatler, Merv Goldsworthy and Robbie France A lot has been said about Diamond Head’s past; small gigs to festivals, independent LPs to a record contract with MCA. Their first major label LP, Borrowed Time, was released last […]

HADES Hades (1983) Not so long ago a tape dropped through my letterbox from Hades, the New Jersey metal band, containing two newly recorded numbers. The note with the cassette stated thus: “If this tape doesn’t make you think Hades are a band to be reckoned with, I guess you don’t love metal!” Well, I […]