Released on Mausoleum records back in ’84 this was Blacklace’s first album. They would release another a year later, then they were done. The band was built around brothers Anthony and Carlo Fragnito on bass and guitar respectively. The main focus however was female vocalist Maryann Scandiffo. At the time you could count on one hand the amount of bands that had contained ladies in their ranks.
The band were from New York and got some attention as three of the songs here were co-produced by Manowar’s Ross The Boss. The majority of the songs here are thrash influenced or just straight up metal, and opener March Of The Black Witch/Call Of The Wild is a full on speed fest that would hold its own with the bands around at the time. On The Attack has Iron Maiden influences and is my favourite of the metal tunes.
Mixed in there with the metal are a couple of tracks that would be aimed more at a hair metal audience namely Hots For You and Damn Cheater. Now, Damn Cheater is a really good tune and could be by a different band with a great riff and hook. Ironically after the split, half of the band reformed as Damn Cheater to give it a go as a hair band.
The highlight of the whole album do me is guitarist Carlo Fragnito, who is definitely a fretboard gymnast who rips in wherever he can.
7/10 from The Grooveman.
