Formed in’ 78, and hailing from my adopted home town of Ottawa, this is the band’s first full length album on Shrapnel. They also appeared on compilation US Metal Vol2. They were quite an influential band as they are considered to be one of the first speed metal bands. All the clichés are here that you would associate with metal bands of this period, but I think it’s part of the fun. You can hear that they desperately wanted to be a part of the embryonic thrash scene at the time. They are loads better than some of the second wave of NWOBHM bands that were so bad. These guys deserved their shot.
So the tracks that I think are a cut above are Mistress Of Evil, Under Attack, and Cry Of The Banshee. As with most bands that didn’t quite make the big time, they have had their share of line up changes and drama. They no longer have any original members, as John Ricci quit in 2018. If you are a collector of early thrash albums, then this should be in your collection.
8/10 from The Grooveman.
