I didn’t know what to think of this band with a hilariously un-metal band name, which was a good thing, as this record surprised me.

The opening sample is one of those things that suggests that you are about to listen to a pretty interesting album, and that made me exciting. But this isn’t the first ’80s metal band to lure me in with something weird to start, and then went to more mainstream music.

Sure enough, this is heavily NWOBHM-influenced early ’80s heavy metal, with a lead singer who sounds perhaps a bit too much like Brian Johnston. (Though it’s more like Brian Johnston, and Bon Scott, sound like this guy.)

This is their fourth album and I have no idea if they had been playing like this before it was cool, or whether they had copped from Maiden and Priest and Motorhead once they heard them. And that information is what would let me tell you whether or not these guys were a big deal.

Because listening to a 1982 record that appears to be heavily influenced by bands who were recording in 1979 or earlier…well, it really depends who influenced who as to whether this is well done but a little derivative, or if these guys were true pioneers. I have no idea.

But the actual music is varied enough that it stands out among a lot of these bands. These guys seem willing to try more styles within the genre, find a happy medium between more old school metal and the new, faster stuff.

I like it for the most part, just don’t know whether or not they’re really charting their own path.

7/10

All music composed by Wolf Hoffmann, Stefan Kaufmann, Udo Dirkschneider, Peter Baltes. Lyrics noted below.

1. “Fast as a Shark” Hoffmann, Kaufmann, Dirkschneider, Baltes 3:49
2. “Restless and Wild” Robert A. Smith-Diesel and Accept 4:12
3. “Ahead Of The Pack” Hoffmann, Kaufmann, Dirkschneider, Baltes 3:24
4. “Shake Your Heads” Hoffmann, Kaufmann, Dirkschneider, Baltes 4:17
5. “Neon Nights” Deaffy, Smith-Diesel and Accept 6:01
6. “Get Ready” Smith-Diesel and Accept 3:41
7. “Demon’s Night” Hoffmann, Kaufmann, Dirkschneider, Baltes 4:27
8. “Flash Rockin’ Man” Hoffmann, Kaufmann, Dirkschneider, Baltes 4:28
9. “Don’t Go Stealing My Soul Away” Smith-Diesel and Accept 3:15
10. “Princess Of The Dawn” Deaffy, Smith-Diesel and Accept 6:15