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│ METAL CLASSICS ARCHIVE │
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│ P R E S E N T S │
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│ + Iron Angel - Hellish Crossfire + │
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│ │
│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Information ║ │
│╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Release Date.ene-07-2013 Encoder......L3.97 -V2 --vbr-new ║ │
│║ Genre........Metal Graber.......EAC ║ │
│║ Year.........2004 Khz/Bitrate..44,1/ Br ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Ripper.......The_Patriarch Songs........16 ║ │
│║ Covers.......Yes Url... myspace.com/ironangel666 ║ │
│║ ║ │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Notes ║ │
│╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Artist : Iron Angel Rating : You Decide! ║ │
│║ Album : Hellish Crossfire Label : Steamhammer ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Description : ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Though the album had been licensed and released ║ │
│║ in North America, Hellish Crossfire was one I ║ │
│║ had a hard time tracking down when I was a youth ║ │
│║ and getting heavily into the German thrash ║ │
│║ sound. The best I could do was a tape trading ║ │
│║ with some of their demos on a blank, but I ║ │
│║ finally got my hands on the Iron Angel debut a ║ │
│║ few years after its release, when I was in high ║ │
│║ school, and needless to say I was very ║ │
│║ impressed. I had seen the band's name mentioned ║ │
│║ in a number of articles, interviews, thanks ║ │
│║ lists, and so forth, and figured them to be some ║ │
│║ lost messiah of the genre, and while they're not ║ │
│║ deserving of quite that level of praise, this ║ │
│║ was a damn fine debut which occupied a curious ║ │
│║ niche between the more straight up power and ║ │
│║ speed metal sounds of Avenger (pre-Rage), ║ │
│║ Running Wild, Accept and Grave Digger, and the ║ │
│║ more aggressive thrashing pioneers Metallica, ║ │
│║ Artillery and Destruction. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Sound excellent? Well, in execution, it is. "The ║ │
│║ Metallian" has long been the star of this debut, ║ │
│║ and the band's career, and you won't get much of ║ │
│║ an argument from me. The blazing, thick rhythm ║ │
│║ guitars and the echoing, pinched tone of Dirk ║ │
│║ Schr÷der's vocals as he sails into the ║ │
│║ predictable but unforgettable chorus are ║ │
│║ impressive, and that riff that comes in directly ║ │
│║ after the chorus? Wonderful. But that's not the ║ │
│║ only gem here, and tracks like "Sinner 666", ║ │
│║ "Hunter in Chains", and "Legions of Evil" all ║ │
│║ remind me so much of what I loved about early ║ │
│║ Rage, Grave Digger and Running Wild, that ║ │
│║ impulsive steel rocking tone dowsed in reverb, ║ │
│║ sharp hooks digging their way well beneath your ║ │
│║ skin as they strike veins of blood and silver. ║ │
│║ "Wife of the Devil", "Heavy Metal Soldier" and ║ │
│║ "The Church of Lost Souls" all spit forth ║ │
│║ ruthless German speed and Schr÷der's delightful, ║ │
│║ playful torment shifting between nasal mid range ║ │
│║ to higher, manic shrieking. A few tunes like ║ │
│║ "Nightmare" do get left behind in the dust, but ║ │
│║ as a whole, there's a good 35 minutes here of ║ │
│║ razor bliss. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Hellish Crossfire would unfortunately not share ║ │
│║ the same fate as Destruction, Rage, Kreator or ║ │
│║ Sodom, and after one more full-length, which ║ │
│║ adopted a heavier use of the non-thrash ║ │
│║ elements, the band would fold, only to reappear ║ │
│║ through compilations and a brief reunion in the ║ │
│║ 21st century. It's a shame, because this debut ║ │
│║ is easily the measure of most German bands' ║ │
│║ early works, and the potential was through the ║ │
│║ roof here. I've heard delusional ranting that ║ │
│║ Dirk's vocals are an obstacle to appreciating ║ │
│║ the band, but I'm heavily inclined to disagree. ║ │
│║ Unlike the early Living Death albums (Thorsten ║ │
│║ Bergmann presiding), Schr÷der uses his ║ │
│║ eccentricity as a weapon, a vorpal sword that ║ │
│║ cuts straight through the riffing to your ║ │
│║ memory, and I've never once felt annoyed by him. ║ │
│║ Iron Angel isn't perfect, but if you're a fan of ║ │
│║ any of the prototypical German thrash or power ║ │
│║ metal (Helloween, Scanner, Rage), you owe it to ║ │
│║ yourself to invest in one of the undisputed ║ │
│║ mid-80s speed metal sleeper hits. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Tracklist ║ │
│╚═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════ │
│ │
│ 01 - The Metallian [04:17] │
│ 02 - Sinner 666 [02:51] │
│ 03 - Black Mass [05:49] │
│ 04 - The Church of the Last Souls [03:12] │
│ 05 - Hunter in Chains [04:38] │
│ 06 - Rush of Power [03:25] │
│ 07 - Legions of Evil [04:54] │
│ 08 - Wife of the Devil [03:48] │
│ 09 - Nightmare [05:26] │
│ 10 - Heavy Metal Soldier [03:06] │
│ 11 - Open the Gate _ Devil's Gate (Demo) [05:02] │
│ 12 - Rush of Power (Demo) [03:39] │
│ 13 - Maniac of the Night (Demo) [04:37] │
│ 14 - Sea of Flames (Demo) [03:09] │
│ 15 - Wife of the Devil (Demo) [04:09] │
│ 16 - Hounds of Hell (Demo) [06:29] │
│ │
│ Total Length : [68:31 minn │
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│ ╔═════════════════════╗ │
│ ║ Greetings To: ║ │
│ ╚═════════════════════╝ │
│ │
│ Too all people who contributes to make this │
│ archive of good music in a exceptional conditions │
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│ │
│ │
│■ ■│
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