FAITHFUL BREATHGold ’N’ Glory Mausoleum (1984)Rating: 8/10 To be honest I wasn’t expecting too much from these German metallers after their previous abysmal efforts, but Gold ’N’ Glory turns out to be a pleasant surprise. The material here has much more commercial appeal to anything on their previous albums, giving Faithful Breath an almost Accept-ish […]

WYZARDFuture Knights EP Pazazu (1984)Rating: 8/10 Wyzard are a young four-piece metal band from San Antonio, Texas and Future Knights is their debut vinyl release. Each of the four tracks on this mini-album – ‘Future Knights’, ‘Renegade’, ‘Crystal City’ and ‘Knights Of Metal’ – are pure out-and-out metal delivered in a fast ’n’ furious style. […]

TOKYO BLADE – Blade Runner Dave Reynolds Metal Forces, Issue 4 (1984) Andy Boulton Tokyo Blade. The name means little to a British metal fan. Why? Because your average UK headbanger is only concerned with the new Iron Maiden, AC/DC or Whitesnake album. The Tokyo Blade legend means sweet FA. But in Europe it’s a […]

EXCITER – Stand Up And Fight Bernard Doe Metal Forces, Issue 4 (1984) John Ricci and Allan Johnson Pic: Wayne Archibald Together with Metallica, Ottawa’s Exciter have been one of the bands responsible for the current trend of power metal now sweeping the headbanging globe. So, it seemed fitting that both bands would make their […]

DARK WIZARDDevil’s Victim Mausoleum (1984)Rating: 7/10 We reviewed Dark Wizard’s demo in issue #3 of Metal Forces and now the Dutch rockers have released this five-track mini-album. Side one opens up with the fast paced ‘Trip Of Doom’ followed by ‘Big Typhoon’, which after a poor bluesy type intro picks up speed to a frenzied […]

JAG PANZERAmple Destruction Iron Works (1984)Rating: 8/10 Having dealt the initial blow with their promising debut EP last year, Colorado’s Jag Panzer return for the kill with this full-length album. Since they recorded the Tyrants EP the band have definitely matured, musically helped a lot by the addition of a second guitarist, Joey Taffola. Jag […]

GRIFFIN Griffin (1983) From the San Francisco Bay Area comes yet another metal band to claim its place among the ranks of the heavy. Griffin is a five-piece outfit: Billy McKay (vocals), Mike ‘Yaz’ Jastremski (guitar), Rick Cooper (guitar), Tom Sprayberry (bass) and Rick Wagner (drums). The group’s major influences range from classical to metal […]