Devastation

So due to my recent re-discovery of The Sound Of The Beast, I've been excavating that magical 1982-1984 period in which all disparate strains of black, death, power, doom and good old fashioned classic heavy metal exploded outward, diverging with the power of an atom being split. As the shards from the initial metal detonation spurred by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal hurtled onward and upward, genres would soon become rigidly codified. Excellent and powerful music would result, but I've always had a particular fascination with this period, when the lines were still blurry and scene politics not as dogmatic. It's especially interesting to note that by 1984, the great steel lords like Saxon, Iron Maiden, Motorhead and Judas Priest and American counterparts like Manowar were all still firing on all cylinders, while most of the bands who would shape the direction of heavy metal over the next 15 plus years were already in place, either as underground tape-trading fixtures or fresh-faced fusiliers recording debut albums and playing local shows, and even a few groups of teenagers thrashing about in smokey beer-soaked practice pads.

Here is a list of some favourites, new and old, that have been getting extra spins at the altar recently.

Anvil - Metal On Metal Canadian power metal legends best known for appearing in a documentary which portrayed them as a real-life Spinal Tap. Fortunately, a new generation has re-discovered these guys, and fallen in love with ridiculous anthems like the title track and the groupie-slaying sleeze tributes "Tag Team" and "Jackhammer." The leather bondage gear and musical vibrators that were synonymous with their stage dress only adds to their perverted appeal.

Bathory - Bathory Although later they became notable for pioneering the ultra-epic micro genre of viking metal, Sweden's Bathory began life as ultra-crude Venom wannabes. I mean that in a good way. This was a vital step in the creation of black metal.

Exciter - Heavy Metal Maniac A great missing link between classic heavy metal and mid-80s thrash, this Ontario band worked much of the same ground as early Metallica, thrashing with wild-eyed abandon and displaying a love for Sabbath's heavy riffage and Motorhead's breakneck speed. For a year or two at least, these two bands were neck and neck, though these guys never really topped themselves after this. Standout track is the ultraheavy "Iron Dogs," but there isnt a weak track here. An overlooked classic.

Iron Maiden - Number Of The Beast
Not much needs to be said about this record. Iron Maiden's first record with Bruce Dickinson saw them leaving their punked-up pub-metal roots in the dust in favour of elaborate, classical compositions and fantastical (rather than macabre) lyrical themes that would define the career of one of the greatest bands of all time.

Judas Priest- Screaming For Vengence
This was Priest at their commerical peak. Touring the world with Iron Maiden in tow, the twin titans created legions of fans everywhere they went. Some of Priest's catchiest songs can be found here, with Downing and Tipton's trademark dual lead guitars carving molten chunks of sound with laser precision. Everythime I hear "You've Got Another Thing Coming" on the radio on our local classic rock stations, I always crank the volume.

Manowar - Into Glory Ride The manliest men who ever manned. Manowar would carry the flame for true heavy metal for decades, but this is one of their best efforts. In particular, "Gloves of Metal" ranks as one of the grestest fist-in-the-air, call-to-arms metal anthems of all time.

Mercyful Fate - Melissa
The arcane, mystical aura of Denmark's Mercyful Fate is matched by their highly accomplished musical feats on spellbinding compositions like "Into The Coven," "Satan's Fall" and the mesmerizing title track. Kind Diamond 's unbelieveable falsetto is in fine form here, and their phenomenoal musicianship and gothic sensibility would have a powerful influence on everyone from Metallica to Mayhem.

Metallica - Kill 'em All
Metallica kick-started a new era in metal with their heavy chugging rythms, giving birth to the thrash metal aesthetic fully formed on their debut. Unlike later albums though, this is pure, unrefined work by a band obsessed with heavy metal, with each song coming loaded by at least six or seven riffs and as many shredding guitar solos. Hetfield's vocals are a little high and screechy, but the band gets by on enthusiasm and sheer conviction. They would never sound like this again, and Kill 'em All captures a young and hungry band on the cusp of greatness.

Motorhead - Another Perfect Day
Easily the most underappreciated Motorhead album. Former Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson stopped by to inject his fluid, melodic style into the Motorhead machine, and the results have polarized fans ever since. For me, tracks like "Shine" deserve to be ranked among the very best the band had to offer, though if one were to ever categorize a Motorhead album as conventional, this would be it.

Saxon - The Power & The Glory This was Saxon's commercial peak, and great ragers like "Redline" that channeled the drive of their early biker metal roots were bolstered by the elaborate slow build of "The Eagle Has Landed." Things were getting slicker production-wise for them, but on this album, and to a lesser extent 1984's Crusader, Saxon still ranked among the best that Britain had to offer.

Slayer - Show No Mercy Dave Lombaro's shockingly fast drumming and the ultra-evil imagery of Tom Arya's psychotic screams distinguished Slayer very early on. Unlike other speedfreaks like D.R.I. or C.O.C. Slayer was equally interested in the technically accomplisehed tendencies of classic heavy metal. Their chops were raw, but song structures were not being simplified, simply sped up to vaporization speed while still retaining the instrumental breaks and complex bridges. A radical and extremely influential debut.

Venom - At War With Satan
The final of Venom's essential proto-black metal template-setting albums, At War With Satan's epic title track is effectively metal's answer to Milton's Paradise Lost. This is far from the basement-value ineptitude of Welcome To Hell. Here, they prefigure all the baroque tendencies that some angry scandanavian teenagers would ride to infamy in the coming decade.

Warlock - Burn The Witches Germany's Warlock did a raw, energetic take on power metal with a thrashy edge, and threw the soaring vocals of metal-goddess Doro over top. The effect is all shredding, wailing guitars, flying hair and relentless drumming crystalized into pure unadulterated heavy metal.