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Parasite > Parasite > Reviews
Parasite - Parasite

Riding the night winds through turbulent seas. - 85%

hells_unicorn, May 9th, 2019
Written based on this version: 1984, 12" vinyl, Hellrec

Sweden was no stranger to the burgeoning heavy metal scene of the early 80s, arguably being almost as consequential of a contributor to its growth by 1984 as Germany, though a tad less prolific. While the early pioneers of said nation in Heavy Load, E.F. Band and Glory Bell's Band had already fielded full length material a few years prior, the mid-80s was when Sweden's output really hit its stride, and among the many short-lived and largely forgotten contributors was Parasite. Having toiled in the underground since 1981 and had a rough go at trying to secure studio time or label interest, this quartet only managed a short EP bearing their name, but within its sub-20 minute duration stands a rather unique take on early 80s heavy metal that could be best understood as a missing link between the old NWOBHM prior to the hegemony of the keyboard-steeped, Joe Lynn Turner era of Rainbow styled commercial rock/metal of the mid-80s and the upcoming European power metal sound that would rise from the German speed metal craze.

Though this was recorded and unleashed in the thick of the 1984 metal craze that saw the likes of Gotham City and Mercy putting out seminal debuts, this eponymous EP has more of a '81-'82 vibe to it. Part of this may owe to the humble and rustic production quality, which features a guitar tone that's maybe a tad heavier than what Ritchie Blackmore took to Rainbow's Long Live Rock 'N' Roll, and a vocal display out of bassist/helmsman Paul Zanichell that is a bit more reminiscent of that mid-ranged, every man vocal approach that typified the early 80s British sound. Having said that, the lead guitar work on here's heavy affinity for the blues/rock base sound of Blackmore's Deep Purple and Rainbow days provides an interesting foil for the drumming of future thrash metal powerhouse Hexenhaus kit man Johan Billerhag's fast-paced beats and thunderous execution. The friction and synchronicity established between these seemingly contradictory elements sees an album that is, through and through, a traditional metal album that manages to find itself very close to power metal territory.

The commonalities that this ends up sharing with the sort of melodic power sound that would be later exemplified by Helloween and Stratovarius were most likely accidental, but they exist nonetheless. Starting on a dreamy, neo-classical tinged keyboard intro "In The Beginning", it's pretty easy to trace an affinity with Ozzy Osbourne's early work given the similarity to the intro to "Mr. Crowley", which segues into a cruising melodic masterpiece in "Burning". The riff set and vocal work definitely points to an early 80s reinterpretation to a late 70s speeder like Rainbow's "Kill The King", but the melodic contour, driving speed metal drumming and particularly the format of the chorus is about as close to a direct ancestor to the 1988-1992 handiwork of Kai Hansen and Timo Tolkki. Following suit is a more mid-paced beast in "Nightwinds" that starts off in a dreary acoustic landscape like something out of a Manowar song, but ends up returning to a melodic power kind of vibe at a cruising upper-mid pace. "Chalice Of The Soul" takes things in more of a galloping, Maiden-like direction, whereas the closer "Lonely Eagle" reprises the "Nightwinds" formula with a more drawn out acoustic segment.

There is a certain degree of disappointment that naturally comes with finding something this unique, especially as early on in metal's history as it was, only to find that the band didn't manage any follow up material. Then again, from the standpoint of 1984 Parasite function as sort of a platypus in the broader scheme of metal's evolutionary trajectory, and it isn't all that surprising to see half of this band fully abandoning metal for hard rock territory while Billerhag would end up getting his thrash on a few years after with Hexenhaus. At the time this was likely viewed as a quirky retread of already covered territory, which probably accounts for this band's issues garnering any larger label interest. It is definitely geared towards the old guard heavy metal fan that doesn't mind taking their Heavy Load and Tank with an occasional aside of Manilla Road and pre-1979 Rainbow, and despite its fairly rough and low-fi packaging, showcases an accomplished blend of fast paced goodness and dreamy melodic hooks by a band that was clearly hungry for new horizons at the time.

Mostly unspectacular, but worthwhile Swedish metal - 79%

failsafeman, March 4th, 2008

Here we’ve got a short 4-song EP from the Swedish band Parasite, and this was the closest to an album they ever got. The band plays a style of Swedish metal that was rather late for 1984, that being the same year countrymen Gotham City put out their much more advanced album The Unknown, and the same year Omen put out their debut over in the US. Hell, even NWOBHM latecomers Cloven Hoof were more timely with their lengthy odes to Satan, having released their debut that year as well. But enough contextualizing; what’s the music like? Well, imagine Saxon’s “Princess of the Night” with a different singer and more guitar harmonizing by way of Angel Witch, with a hard rock tinge (I think I hear some BÖC in there). Keep in mind that they strategically avoid the silly rock nonsense that plagued Swedish heavy metal, and that’s Parasite’s sound in a nutshell. But what makes this worthwhile? The answer is, of course, the atmosphere. “Nightwinds” would be a very appropriate name for the EP, as the whole thing has a very dream-like, laid-back quality to it, despite all being pretty fast. The songs are also very repetitive, but in this case that actually works in their favor. The mid-range vocals also have this slight echo put on them, which again works well to strengthen the atmosphere.

A couple of problems hold the EP back from being better. The first of these is the production, mainly in the mixing; the drums are just plain too loud relative to the rest. It’s not so bad as to be terribly distracting, but it definitely detracts from the atmosphere somewhat. The other, more significant problem is that not all of the songs work as well as they could. The first and last songs are noticeably weaker than the middle two; “Burnin’” is enjoyable throughout but lacks a bit in the atmosphere, while “Lonely Eagle” is the opposite in that it has great atmosphere during the chorus but is boring otherwise. In both these cases the repetition doesn’t really help. However, “Nightwinds” and “Chalice of the Soul” are both excellent songs. The former begins with the sound of wind and a bit of guitar before the simple harmonized main riff comes in and captures the feeling of the title perfectly. There’s also a bit of cool leadwork in the middle that reminds me of what Existence would later expand upon with Reign of Violence. This one really comes closest to being as good as “Princess of the Night”, with some cool fantasy lyrics instead of a train as the main theme (“Lookin’ for revenge in the cold winter night!”). Though you hear that main riff at least nine thousand times, it somehow manages to not get stale. The next song, “Chalice of the Soul”, is also excellent, but not quite as strong as the previous. Again it relies on the same sort of riff, and the verses display perfectly that dream-like quality I referenced earlier. Unfortunately the chorus is not as good, and the drums being too loud definitely weakens it. The dual-guitar lead part towards the end is quite good, though, and screams NWOBHM even more than usual Swedish dual-guitar leads do.

Anyway, this little EP is quite worth your time if you like this kind of thing; at first listen I dismissed it as derivative and boring, but still let it hang around and would give it another try at intervals. By degrees my estimation of it crept up, until finally the atmosphere really set in. Not at all groundbreaking for 1984, but a good display of an older sound nonetheless. If only all the songs were as good as the middle two!