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Crossfire > Second Attack > Reviews
Crossfire - Second Attack

Enter the skull face gate! - 93%

hells_unicorn, March 27th, 2021
Written based on this version: 2012, CD, Mausoleum Records (Reissue, Remastered, Digipak)

Belgian speed metal trailblazers Crossfire have become something of a historical footnote since the end of the 1980s, perhaps being best remembered for front man Peter De Wint's studio work with such noted acts as W.A.S.P., Twisted Sister, Glenn Hughes and several others. It's a royal shame considering the sheer power and raw talent that was on display from the very onset of their career, as their 1983 debut See You In Hell presented a fairly developed brand of speed metal fervor with a side-order of traditional, rocking sensibilities that set them apart from the slightly earlier NWOBHM craze and the nascent thrash metal scene. Then again, at the time the band must have been making some waves within the European scene as Mausoleum Records saw fit to green light a sophomore studio release a couple years later, right in the thick of the raging German speed metal craze of 1985. With such noted bands as Running Wild, Grave Digger, Iron Angel and so many others upping the aggression ante and drifting ever closer to the thrash metal sound, it would behoove any band that had ventured outside of the traditional heavy metal box to any degree to take notice, and take notice Crossfire did.

This quintet's thunderous second LP, appropriately dubbed Second Attack, can best be understood as a refined and improved version of what See You In Hell sought out to accomplish 2 years prior. Even the album art itself depicts the same glowing skull face at the summit of an Aztec pyramid, but now from a much closer perspective that reveals a far more menacing setting, and the music reflects this notion all but to a fault. The production work is of a much meatier character, with the tone of the guitars having a sharper attack and the whole arrangement sounding like it's far closer to one's ears than before. De Wint's vocals are of a far more focused and dynamic character, as the signature primal scream that he employed relentlessly before is now contrasted with some more restrained and tuneful moments, thus heightening the impact of the former. But the biggest change of the lot is the bombastic, in your face tone of Marc Van Caelenberge's lead guitar work, which still retains that mixture of NWOBHM influences, but has far more bite to the tone, employing a greater degree of wild shredding passages and whammy bar noise for a sound that predicts the approach that Tipton and Downing would take years later on Ram It Down.

In essence, this album is about as close as a speed metal album can get to becoming a full on thrash album without fully closing the deal, and at times it really sounds like it wants to dispense with the Judas Priest elements and go into full on Tankard territory. The opening barrage of mad frenzied speed that is the title anthem "Second Attack" rides a riff that almost sounds like it could have appeared on Zombie Attack and is chock full of flashy lead guitar wizardry that is borderline incessant, as if Marc is fighting De Wint for control of the entire song, and the resulting interchanges are nothing short of riveting. Other high octane crushers such as "Feeling Down" and "Atomic War" get fairly close to the same fever pitch level, albeit with a somewhat less thrashing riff assault and a greater separation between wild lead guitar fills. On the other hand, this album proves to be even more menacing when the tempo is brought down, with a doom-infused anthem to make Sabbath proud in "Master Of Evil" and a haunting turned angry ballad in "Running For Love" that almost sounds like how Accept would interpret Dio's "Shame On The Night", but with a greater degree of input from the guitar, almost like a coked up answer to Tony Iommi.

Basically everything about this album screams unsung classic, which is ultimately what this album proves to be for anyone with the urge for some mid-80s German-inspired aggression, albeit of Belgian origin. Even when the band would seem to be reverting back to their earlier hard rocking roots, the ode to burning up the road "Highway Driver" listens more like a hard-hitting, shred happy take on Judas Priest and Iron Maiden circa 1982-84 rather than the lighter fair of the rocking late 70s. Ditto the somewhat more upbeat "Scream And Shout", which has a riff set too heavy for its party hearty, celebration of all things metal lyrics, unless the basis of comparison would be something between Black Sabbath's Born Again and Grave Digger's Heavy Metal Breakdown. It would seem to defy all logic that this band didn't become bigger than they ultimately were, but then again, the saturation of great heavy metal in the mid-80s would find the likes of Iron Angel, Angel Dust and several other promising bands in the same style only fielding two studio albums before fading into obscurity, though the two aforementioned bands did make a comeback years afterward. It's a pity that Crossfire didn't see an auspicious rebirth at some point in the 2000s or 2010s, but two great albums are more than what many bands can boast of from said era, and both should be heard by any fan of the mid-80s German speed metal sound.

Figuring out how to shift out of first gear - 85%

Gutterscream, July 13th, 2006
Written based on this version: 1985, 12" vinyl, Mausoleum Records

By ’85, Crossfire started pumping some muscle to stride with the thrash crowd that was well on its way to bursting at the shirt seams. Mind you, Krokus and Accept were fairly heavy for the times, heavy rock on Dianabol or something a little stronger, and it was what it was especially for a period that didn’t really know any better, but right around the bend more potent drugs were coming.

Second Attack is like the band’s ’83 debut that walked into the gym sometime in ’84 thinking it was pretty brawny, looked around at a bunch of Krauts and Americans mangling the equipment, and found that the only machine yet untouched is a calf-raiser in the corner. The mid-years Krokus and Accept are still swinging, but now there’s a little Running Wild and Living Death in there to process the advanced formula of latter day tangy traditional, maybe an iota of party rock tucked away behind some pent up angst that exhales stuff like the speed zoned “Atomic War”, bombastic “Second Attack”, and wrongfully-titled, caffeinated “Feeling Down”. All good stuff, catchy and involved without being over-evolved, much more fiercely paced than the debut while scampering into thrash/speed territory in a four-song charge, and Peter De Wint (the guy wearing Olivia Newton John's awful red headband on the back cover) still burns Udo and Marc Storace at both ends with possibly a sniffle of David Wayne in there without actually realizing it, his screeches a few yelps more dynamic to go with the band’s now beefier sound.

It’s not all momentum, though. Evil-tinged “Master of Evil”, chorus-heavy “Highway Driver” and power tear-jerking start of “Running For Love” drop things down a notch or two in their own ways, the first a methodical semi-plodder, the middle a fairly straight arrow of traditional any-band style, and the three-faced finale that goes from sugary slurs to anger ballad to indistinct galloper within its stride, two of which are on the second side of this seven-songer, but since you can get this and the debut on one cd nowadays, non-record buyers can’t care less?

Unfortunately, the mix fails to acknowledge anything bassy even when solos siphon a rhythm guitar from the fold (allowing Marc VanCaelenberge’s fitting solos to stand out more, which I’m sure doesn’t bother him), the whole deal quite trebly and thin and ultimately makes the music work harder for its buck.

More enjoyable that the debut, Second Attack offers up something more vascular and heady without veering miles from their See You in Hell-prescribed style. It’s not uncommon, however, to see them riding the unpaved shoulder. Still think they’re nothing special? Believe me, there are more forgettable early-mid eighties bands out there, even if they're still dressing like it's '83.

Improvement on the debut, still no classic - 45%

DetlefVanBerg, October 31st, 2005

I've owned this album on vinyl for 17 years. Beyond the first odd spins, I don't recall a single instance of being sober while listening to it. Whether or not that can be considered a recommendation, I don't know.

Second Attack was an immense improvement on the Crossfire debut See you in Hell. While the majority of the tunes on offer here are still patently mediocre, the band is tighter, the songs delivered with more conviction and Peter de Wint sounds less like a barnyard animal.

It still doesn't add up to all that much. Crossfire were still derivative, they still sounded like a thrashier, weaker Accept (with added Black Sabbath touches on the slower tunes), and the songs that make you take notice were the naff ones. Like Demon of Evil on the debut, Atomic War is the only real standout song here and like Demon, it's a standout because it's so bad. The title track also deserves a mention for a dodgy "Watch your ears and save your neck, we're up to our Second Attack!" chant. Two songs on the B-side, Master of Evil and Scream and Shout, sound more like Dio-period Sabs than Accept and are the best ones on offer here. Solid filler material on a stronger album, but pretty much lost on Second Attack.

One godawful-but-fun song, one forgettable one with a great fistbanging chant, two decent tunes and lots of by-the-book 80's underground metal boredom makes for a fine album to piss away a night with...but not one that I'd like to revisit sober. A good one for 80's underground metal fanatics who aren't too critical about their metal.