Scrap Metal – Excavated Heavy Metal from the Era of Excess Review

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They say good ideas are generally followed by other good ideas. Well, the guys from RidingEasy Records had the luminous idea of getting unknown and rare and obscure Heavy Rock and Proto-Metal bands from late 1960s and early 1970s and gather them in a series of albums called Brown Acid which we reviewed a few of them. To be more precise two of them. The idea went so well that they had a bright deplyment of it; to release a series of albums of unknown and rare and obscure Heavy Metal bands from the early 1980s. Ok, that’s not the most relevant discovery from the Metal music world however even though many have been discovering, and giving them a second chance, the goldmine is yet to be explored as the fan will see by the great quality of the bands gathered here. By the way, please, do not confuse this Air Raid with the Air Raid that we reviewed here their 2017’s “Across the Line.” The Air Raid we’re talking about are from the Bay Area.

Scrap Metal “Excavated Heavy Metal from the Era of Excess” follows the same guidelines from Brown Acid. So, the fan may expect high adrenalized bands with songs that exceed in the so-called youth power. On the other hand, some of the songs don’t have that high standard production quality. However, to Metal fans production quality may be a two way street. In fact, lo-fi productions are extremely valued. However, this lo-fi production can’t avoid the band to be perfectly heard or understood. My dear fan may have noticed that the Extreme forms of Metal demand a higher level of instrument’s quality in order to the band to be perfectly heard and understood or, otherwise, all hell’s break loose and the music tuurns into a sonic mass that no one understand what’s going on.

The general view here with Scrap Metal “Excavated Heavy Metal from the Era of Excess” is of bands that could have had the change to stand out from the crowd but for a bunchful of reasons, or none, they didn’t. I mean, the quality of the music is great and it’s very difficult to me to pick only one. I have a thing for albums like this as my dear fan may have noticed for I wrote it many times. I’ll point out two bands that I have the impression to have heard before. They are 1982’s Hades with “Girls Will Be Girls” and Czar with “Iron Curtain.” Both represent pretty the general dynamic of the album. I particularly loved the guitar tone that Hades bring here. It’s at the same time exciting and raw. Raw in a way that the fan feel that the guitarist is giving everything he’s got. Czar bring the same spirit. Both bands have that typical sound of the drums when at rehearals. I mean, the sound of the snare drums is pretty high and metallic. A thing that disappears when the production and the quality of the equipment are good.

Alrighty, let’s hope Scrap Metal “Excavated Heavy Metal from the Era of Excess” to have as many volumes as Brown Acid have had so far. I invite the fan to check it out.

Scrap Metal “Excavated Heavy Metal from the Era of Excess” was released on November 26th via RidingEasy Records.

Track Listing:

  1. Rapid Tears – Headbang
  2. Air Raid – 69 in a 55
  3. Hades – Girls Will Be Girls
  4. Resless – The Power
  5. Don Cappa – Steel City Metal
  6. The Beast – Enemy Ace
  7. Dead Silence – Can’t Stop
  8. Hazardous Waste – Danger Zone
  9. Czar – Iron Curtain
  10. Real Steel – Viking Queen

Watch “The Beast – Enemy Ace” video here: