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░ ██ ██ Artist: Sudden Death ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: All or Nothing █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 1987 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2015-10-18 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Heavy Metal ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: MPB-Records ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Album ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ First thought: Nice font. Is it necessarily a █
█ ôheavy metalö font? Sure, if itÆs a NWOBHM 7ö; but █
█ wait just a hot sec, the band name is spelled █
█ correctly and this is CD and itÆs not adorned with █
█ strangely amateurish artwork. Second thought: Red █
█ on black-Sudden Death All or Nothing-was still a █
█ good combination, even in heavy metal in 1987. █
█ Third thought: Shoulda paid one of their friends █
█ for some sort of childish drawing to adorn the █
█ cover. █
█ ItÆs German, itÆs from æ87 and it was produced by █
█ Harris Johns. But itÆs not thrash, not really even █
█ ôthrashy.ö This is Balls to the Wall again. Maybe? █
█ And Blackout. Sorta? And Branded And Exiled. █
█ Kinda? And Headhunter. A little? The guitars are █
█ certainly ôcrunchy,ö and far heavier than what █
█ Accept, Sinner and the Scorps were doing by this █
█ time; these hirsute gentlemen donÆt look like they █
█ wouldÆve gotten on the same stage as a █
█ synth-playing heavy metal band. Arno Schamberg is █
█ gravelly on the mic, splitting the difference █
█ twixt Udo, RockÆn Rolf and Boltendahl but with too █
█ few actual vocal melodies to make the lyrics █
█ especially catchy (yes, there was indeed a time in █
█ heavy metal past when vocal melodies mattered-ah, █
█ sweet memory). For Æ87, thereÆs just a surprising █
█ lack of polish across the board; not that everyone █
█ was a Pyromania-c by then, but the standard █
█ definition of heavy metal had certainly shifted █
█ away from this sound in most developed countries. █
█ So the former paragraph is not a ringing █
█ endorsement, even if itÆs also not harsh █
█ criticism, leading one to think All or Nothing █
█ toes closely the ôAverageö line. Except it █
█ doesnÆt. Sudden Death combine (what should be) █
█ tired heavy metal clichΘs (were they really █
█ unaware their fellow Germans in Scorpions had █
█ already written a song called ôBackstage Queen?ö █
█ in 1976?!) with so much earnestness that the █
█ result approaches brilliance. To wit: the first █
█ two songs, ôBloody Conclusion,ö and ôKiller,ö are █
█ as good an opening salvo as any traditional metal █
█ band released in Æ87-and probably Æ88 and Æ89. █
█ ôKillerö in particular is a killer, a tantivy █
█ rocker that wouldÆve been called speed metal (the █
█ road not taken) if speed metal hadnÆt already █
█ moved on to faster, shinier territory (see: Keeper █
█ of the Seven Keys Part I, released the same year, █
█ for the road taken). But that riff, that riff: █
█ Motorhead and Venom fans in particular will █
█ recognize its sublime genius. █
█ Well then. Is it better than Heavy Metal Breakdown █
█ or Gates to Purgatory or Mean Machine or Walpurgis █
█ Night or Danger Zone? Not really, and it came far █
█ too late for a fair comparison. All or Nothing █
█ references a full half-decade of Teutonic metal, █
█ but does so with such loving reverence itÆs hard █
█ to actively dislike the generic feel of mid-paced █
█ pounders like ôDust in the Windö (Kansas, anyone?) █
█ and ôNightrider.ö Was it already an anachronism by █
█ 1987? Probably, but there are far graver charges █
█ to be leveled against 80s metal albums than that █
█ (see: Dangerous Charm for instance). █
█ An educated guess tells me the exploding thrash █
█ metal scene doomed Sudden Death; they disappeared █
█ with only this one album to their credit, so who █
█ knows what greatness or terribleness we missed out █
█ on. The desire for ôextremesö made most innocuous █
█ ônon-extremeö albums like All or Nothing █
█ expendable, especially one from a bunch of █
█ unknowns on a private label. As it stands, the █
█ album is an interesting addendum to one of the █
█ most fertile times in one of the most fertile █
█ places in metal history; even if it arrived a few █
█ years late to the scene. █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ 1. Bloody Conclusion 2:39 ░
░ 2. Killer 4:32 ░
░ 3. Dust in the Wind 7:29 ░
░ 4. Loaded Brain 6:35 ░
░ 5. Backstage Queen 3:04 ░
░ 6. All or Nothing 5:58 ░
░ 7. Nightrider 5:41 ░
░ 8. I Want It 3:47 ░
░ 39:45 ░
░ ▒ ▒
▓ █ ░ ▓ ░
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