BLACKOUT • Evil Game LP

Roadrunner Records 1984
This is an album that I've passed over in the record bins literally hundreds of times. It seemed to be one of those records that was in every store, and I never ever considered giving it a chance. Back in the day I assumed this would be dated and boring... and I was kinda right. In 1987 this woulda sounded totally out of date compared to bands like WHIPLASH, KREATOR, VOIVOD, etc. Today however, bands that sit on the fence between Metal and Hard Rock are pretty much all that I care about, and this album is a perfect example of that. The songs are catchy and melodic giving this record some commercial appeal, but they`re still heavy enough to be truly Metal. The song that made me realize the greatness of this record is `Bleeding Moon`. The chorus kills, and the moody verses set it up perfectly. This is followed up by the equally stunning `Demon Eye Woman` which starts with a Van Halen-ish opening riff that leads to another great chorus: "Demon eye woman - makes you gonna scream LOUD!" Fucking brilliant. Damn, I wish I had bought this one back in the day.