Episode 11 – When Gods Collide (right click to download)

By this point in time you’ve probably got used to expecting a certain track record from SATAN MADE ME DO IT episodes. It’s not hard to tell we are particularly fond of all things crushing, be it thrash, black or death metal. But that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten all about metal’s less “extreme” sounds. We love ‘em… for the most part (get your folk fix somewhere else!). The reason why it took so long to make a heavy/NWOBHM/speed/power metal episode is simple: we just couldn’t make our minds about which bands should be included and which bands should be left out. Still, this ISN’T a be-all, end-all episode, and we’ll do this again eventually for sure. Hell, maybe we’ll transform this “When Gods Collide” title (a reference to the Thor track, of course) as a brand for all things less severe on SATAN MADE ME DO IT. Time shall tell.

Whatever the case may be the rules remain unchanged. Want to hear a SATAN MADE ME DO IT episode? First: Thanks! Second: Crank things up to 11 and PLAY IT LOUD! Going forward new episodes we’ll be published every other Friday. So more to come on the 8th of August.

Click for show notes and a complete tracklist.

Episode 11 – When Gods Collide

GATHER THE HORDE! Heathen’s Rage is all but a classic act; just one of many 80s bands that time seems to have forgotten all about… or not really. The truth is the Internet brought us a lot of things, including an easier way to get in touch with tunes from the old days. Heathen’s Rage is another one of those acts that sprouted the attention of a new generation of listeners long after their (apparent) demise. Back in the 80s they released two demos and an EP. Now they are recording their very first full length album! Funny how things work. Anyway, we can’t say we are terribly excited about their 2015 LP, but as for the 1986 demo… still sounds great to one of us (not a typo ahah). Demo/rehearsal quality as expected and that’s just fine!  Highlight goes to the vocals, which possess a very rage-filled NWOBHM “ambience” (that last vocal bit is especially epic!). Still, this is mostly a speed metal track. A terrific speed metal track!

Destroyer’s “Evil Place” is a gem of a single. We don’t really know what happened to the band after their 1981 release which makes things all the more special. Once again we were left awestruck by the vocals. He sounds like a young British James Hetfield. Actually, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine these tracks belonging to the legendary “No Life ‘til Leather” demo.

We move on to Def Leppard, with “Rock Brigade”. This may come as unexpected for some of you, especially the ones who rather would go deaf than listen to their post-“Pyromania” albums, and tend to look at Joe Elliott like he’s some kind of leper (yes, we still can’t avoid these kind of adolescent jokes which only make any kind of sense to non-English speakers). Encyclopedia Metallum even seems to feel the need to justify itself for the fact that the band is part of their archives by stating that “Def Leppard are only listed in the Archives because of their first three albums being considered NWOBHM”. We kind of understand it, although it’s a bit lame. And, NO, we DON’T feel any guilty pleasure when we spin their 1980 debut album, because it’s good, simple as that (anyway, SATAN MADE ME DO IT don’t have anything to do with guilt, it’s all about the pleasure).

Another underrated band is Picture, from the Netherlands. Ok, so they’re not the best band ever, but fuck you if you think they don’t have at least a handful of great songs. “Eternal Dark” could have been a better metal anthem than pathetic-Fear-of-the-fucking-Dark, for instance. Just the intro… man, this is GOOD SHIT! Alas, the world of metal is not always fair.

Power metal underwent painful transformations. We’ve talked about this before. Things tend to lose a lot of their qualities when musicians start using their technical proficiencies to serve themselves instead of, well, music (ANTI-DRAGONFORCE-BRIGADE)! Thor’s “Only the Strong” is one of power metal’s greatest moments, and the “When Gods Collide” track one of power metal’s greatest hymns. Jon Mikl Thor is also the greatest. You know, in general.

Witch Cross’s “Fit for Fight” album is quite simply flawless. We mean fucking perfect. Seriously, heavy metal doesn’t get better than this, and we will go to your house and kick your ass backwards if so suspect you’ve been bashing this Danish jewel. ‘Tis Satan’s will.

Canadian rockers Fable come on stage with a 1974 pearl predating NWOBHM. We don’t know much about these guys; except that outfits like Sir Lord Baltimore, Cream or Black Sabbath have been cited as influences and they seem to be clearly positioned between their more psychedelic roots and NWOBHM. And they sound groovy as hell. On to Survivor (not the ones you’re probably thinking of) with “Kristallnacht”, from the hard to get album “All Your Pretty Moves”. What can we say? This song creep us out and make us goosebumps it’s so good. And it’s not just the nazi-related song theme. Just listen to the guitar intro/motif. The whole song structure is beautifully crafted. And the Judas Priestly feel of it all. Fucking goosebumps, man.

We couldn’t decide between Brocas Helm and Manilla Road, but ultimately chose to go with the former. “Into Battle” made a pretty convincing case with its TOTAL FUCKING METAL intro. UGH! These guys’ music takes you straight to the battlefield and the clashing of swords. By the end of it all you’ll be seeing corpses being mangled by bloodthirsty ravens. We urge to listen to everything Brocas Helm has put out.

“He comes forth spanning starways” – one half of SATAN MADE ME DO IT is no friend of Top 5s and the like, but can’t help but believe Cloven Hoof’s “Return of the Passover” to be among the most world destroyer tracks of all time; a 9 minute long NWOBHM beast of a track that feeds on flower filled graves of puny metal acts. Onward! We’ll never stop hunting the posers of the Earth!

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Tracklist

1. City of Hell | Heathen’s Rage (USA) | Heathen’s Rage, 1986 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heathens-Rage/248852215129242
2. Stand and Deliver | Destroyer (UK) | Evil Place, 1981 http://www.discogs.com/artist/1165678-Destroyer-10
3. Rock Brigade | Def Leppard (UK) | On Through The Night, 1980 http://www.defleppard.com/
4. Eternal Dark | Picture (NED) | Eternal Dark, 1983 http://pictureofficial.com/
5. When Gods Collide | Thor (CAN) | Only the Strong, 1985 http://www.thorcentral.com/
6. Fight the Fire | Witch Cross (DNK) | Fit for Fight, 1984 http://witchcross.dk/index.html
7. Lady of the Night | Fable (CAN) | Get the “L” Outta Here!, 1974 http://www.fablerockband.com/
8. Kristallnacht | Survivor (USA) | All Your Pretty Moves, 1979 http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Survivor/All_Your_Pretty_Moves/246419
9. Into Battle | Brocas Helm (USA) | Into Battle, 1984 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brocas-Helm/166922780317
10. Return of the Passover | Cloven Hoof (UK) | Cloven Hoof, 1984 http://www.clovenhoof.net/