Description
2022 re-issue on orange and red mixed vinyl with gatefold cover and one bonus track. Limited 150 copies
An early speed/heavy metal act from Wigan, England that was founded in 1982. The same year they managed to get their track ‘Premonition’ on the Ebony Records compilation album ‘Metal Maniaxe’. However the band never got signed to Ebony or Neat records as the labels thought their music wasn’t suitable for the British market. Instead the Roadrunner label in Holland signed them and released their only full length album ‘Chasing The Storm’ on the 12th of June 1985. At the time, the British Metal press had grown tired of NWOBHM, and had virtually killed off any chance for the budding Power/Speed Metal scene to ever take off in the UK. Many once powerful NWOBHM bands had since been lured by the prospect of making it big in the States, and had altered their musical style to suit. Notable culprits include Jaguar, Raven and Blind Fury (a.k.a. Satan). Trojan and their ilk were unfairly ignored in the UK, but at least the European press was more accommodating. Both Satan and Jaguar had gone down a storm over there, their debuts hitting the stores in 1983. However by 1985, Thrash Metal had become more dominant and Speed Metal bands such as Exciter had lost some of their initial impact. ‘Chasing The Storm’ is an album very much in the early Exciter mould, also drawing comparisons with Jaguar’s ‘Power Games’ and Satan’s ‘Court In The Act’. The absence of a second guitarist was more evident than it would have been a few years previously, although guitarist and founding member Pete Wadeson it must be said, was a master of his craft. The vocals were handled by Dave Kenyon, who, while certainly a talented frontman, tended to be a bit one dimensional in terms of melodic diversity. Check out the title track and ‘Icehouse’ track two tracks with strong verse and chorus with decent riffs accompanying. Among the finest example of British Speed Metal and a proof that the Germans weren’t the only ones producing this kind of music at the time.
Track listing:
1. Chasing The Storm
2. Tonight We’ve Got It Made
3. Only The Strong Survive
4. Hypnotized
5. Backstabber
6. Bring On The Night
7. Icehouse
8. Take No Prisoners
9. Hot N Ready
10. Help Me
11. Aggressor