MARTYR • For The Universe LP

Megaton Records 1985
I've said it before, and I'm sayin' it again, the Dutch new some shit about Metal back in the day, and you need look no further than MARTYR for the proof. Like countrymen EXISES, MARTYR deliver complex Metal with lots of disjointed time and tempo changes yet they retain a driving aggressive feel throughout. MAIDEN definitely comes to mind with all the gallopy triplet riffs and prominent bass playing, as do Euro Metal obscurios OSTROGOTH and SORTILEGE. This is a very good, and altogether too brief, record.
DOWNLOAD: Martyr-ForTheUniverse.rar (53.1 MB)

SEDUCER • Seducer LP

Universe Productions 1983
I don't know what the eff is going on, but I don't hate this record! I was sure it'd suck based on the band's tracks from the Holland Heavy Metal comp (even though they were better than SAD IRON... that ain't sayin' much!) and this righteously bad band photo (I can hear the guy up front now, the one who looks like Tony Orlando: "Hey guys check it out, I got this awesome goldtop Les Paul to match my gold lamé pants"). SEDUCER ain't Metal by any stretch, so if you can't stomach straight up Rock I'd move along and avoid this one. Imagine classic high octane TED NUGENT played at half time and with a quarter of the energy. Throw in a tiny bit of Southern Rock, some Russ Dwarf vocals, and a track that sounds like THE EAGLES' "Life In The Fast Lane", and you might be starting to get the picture. Yeah it's not great, but I expected much much worse.
DOWNLOAD: Seducer-Seducer.rar (60.91 MB)

GILGAMESJ • Take One EP

Rave-On Records 1984
The most awkward band name of all time! It was really bothering me, and so I had to find out just what the hell Gilgamesj meant - thank you Wikipedia. Gilgamesj (or Gilgamesh) was an ancient Sumerian king rumoured to be two thirds god and one third man. The ancient Dutch band GILGAMESJ, on the other hand, are two thirds deriviative and one third adequate. Take One isn't likely to knock you on your ass, but it's got some decent hard rockin' moments along with some blatant rip-offs (that opening riff is way too close to something - not sure if it's ACCEPT, or TANK, or what). Not nearly as killer as other early Rave-On releases (MERCYFUL FATE, SORTILEGE) but still cool, and the album cover rules.
DOWNLOAD: Gilgamesj-TakeOne.rar (32.37 MB)

SAD IRON • Total Damnation LP

Universe Productions 1983
This album is seriously making me reconsider my statement re: the Dutch in that EXISES post from a few weeks ago. This is bargain basement Metal of the lowest order - high on youthful exuberance but completely bereft of talent, production, song writing, tuning, and brain cells. Normally any combination of these wouldn't be reason for me to dislike a band, but in the case of SAD IRON there's just way too much mediocrity crammed into this mercifully short album. If sloppy neanderthalic proto-Thrash is yer thing, then maybe you'll dig "Total Damnation", but I found nothing (save for a couple of hilariously stupid lyrics) to get excited about. "Total Waste Of Time" is more apropos... no wait, "Total Waste Of Vinyl".
DOWNLOAD: SadIron-TotalDamnation.rar (69.01 MB)

EXISES • Exises LP

Medusa Records 1986
I wasn't too sure what to make of this record when I picked it up. The cover's got a kinda futuristic African tribal vibe, and I have no idea how that relates to a Dutch melodic Metal band... but whatever, that wasn't gonna stop me from wasting my money! EXISES are a weird band, very melodic, technical and commercial, yet still very much a Metal band. They incorporate each of these disparate elements without any of them sounding forced or compromised. The guitar player is fantastic. His playing and the band's anthemic songwriting call to mind early SAGA... add to that a touch of SAXON, a pinch of ACCEPT, and a smidge of RUSH and you'd be getting close to the EXISES sound. The Simmons drums really date this record, but somehow they still work by adding to that futuristic vibe the cover hints at. This is another surprisingly enjoyable record... I'm slowly starting to realize that the Dutch pretty much ruled at Metal in the 80's.
DOWNLOAD: Exises-Exises.rar (66.18 MB)

HOLLAND HEAVY METAL Vol. 1 LP

Headbang Records 1982
I picked up this little curiosity on my last trip to Ric's Collectibles. It features 2 Dutch bands recorded live in Brouwershoeck... which I'm assuming is somewhere in the Netherlands. First up is SAD IRON who deliver 5 tracks of simplistic MOTORHEAD influenced NWOBHM style Metal. They remind me a lot of their Belgian neighbours ACID - basic, no frills pre-thrash, that's punkish in it's simplicity. "Get Out, Get Off" has a kinda WITCHFINDER GENERAL vibe... it's not particularly doomy, but the the vocals have a Zeeb Parkes quality to 'em, and the band's just as sloppy. Side 2 contains 5 tracks by a band called SEDUCER, and to call them Metal is to stretch the definition. They're more of a bluesy hard rock outfit, with southern rock leanings. Since I don't know anything about southern rock, I can't make a direct comparison, but it sounds like the kinda shit you'd hear on classic rock radio... MOLLY HATCHET maybe. Compared to SAD IRON, SEDUCER come across as a more professional and polished band, but their style of generic hard rock isn't really my thing. They also benefit from a fuller sound cuz they have 2 guitar players. Amateurish as they may be, I prefer the SAD IRON tracks here, and am intrigued enough to search out their 2 full lengths.
DOWNLOAD: Holland Heavy Metal Vol 1.rar (80.73 MB)

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.