Description

Black vinyl with insert and poster.

Iron Angel participated in the first wave of Teutonic thrash metal bands — a bustling musical community that also gave rise to such famed outfits as Kreator, Destruction, Sodom, Helloween, Running Wild, and many more, and arguably represented the largest concentration of bands exploiting this new genre outside the much vaunted San Francisco Bay Area. Iron Angel’s 1985 debut, Hellish Crossfire, is a living testament to the wild, untamed excitement that fueled the first wave of German thrash metal bands, of which the Hamburg quintet had been one of the earliest contenders. Quite like the first mini-album from cross-town rivals Helloween released that same year, Hellish Crossfire brewed up potent speed metal that was certainly a little rough around the edges, but excusably so given the band’s sheer enthusiasm and boundless, youthful energy whilst delivering it. And, sure enough, from the initial explosion of opener The Metallian through to the ultimate thrash out of Heavy Metal Soldiers, ten songs later, the boys in Iron Angel hardly ever paused for breath, with frontman Dirk Schroder leading the charge with a shrill but melodic style reminiscent of other extreme Euro-metal contemporaries like Accept’s Udo Dirkschneider, Artillery’s Flemming Ronsdorf and, once again, Helloween’s Kai Hansen. Its no wonder why this first effort’s popularity still exceeds it in the eyes of genre specialists, who prize its raw power above and beyond its flaws.

Track listing:
1. The Metallion
2. Sinner
3. Black Mass
4. The Church Of Lost Souls
5. Hunter In Chains
6. Rush Of Power
7. Legions Of Evil
8. Wife Of The Devil
9. Nightmare
10. Heavy Metal Soldiers