Scarred for Life

Before I begin, I want to state that the fact that this album (at the time of writing) has only 2 reviews with an average of 69% is completely baffling to me. Did those people hear this album? Now that that's out of the way, I'll be more serious.

This album rules. Everything from the masterful musicianship, virtuosic vocals, killer album artwork, and overall production quality is just spot on for what I think of when I hear people mention 80's metal. Yes, the production suffers at times, as was the case for several Enigma releases (see Soldiers Under Command & Know Your Enemy) but that does not hinder the performance of this album in the slightest.

Mike Vescera, who would later front Japanese metal band Loudness in 1989 and Yngwie Malmsteen's backing band from 1994-1995, screams up a storm with every note ringing out with ferocious power. The guitarists, Art Maco and Bruce Vitale play with a certain intensity that's both melodic and technical, adding a lot of polish and flair to each individual track. The bass has some great parts too and the drumming (while generally cookie-cutter) includes some awesome fills here and there. Overall, incredible musicianship on this album and that needs to be commended if nothing else.

The songs themselves are fantastic, too. Great lyrics (very power metal-esque in nature) with some satirical wit thrown about are present in nearly every track, but especially come to light during the title track Scarred for Life and side-A closer Bang 'Em till They Bleed. As mentioned prior, the guitar, bass, and drums on each track are magnificent.

To finish this review, I want to say that this album has flaws, but very few. Those minor flaws are overshadowed by literally everything else good about this album and as a result of that, I've come to love this record a lot. It's really, really damn good. If you like USPM, this is an album worth checking out!

Favorite Tracks: Intro / Scarred for Life, Winner Takes All, Bang 'Em till They Bleed, Taking Your Chances, My Lai 31568 / Take No Prisoners

“…the metal clergy made…the role for you to play…to fight with endless honor…bang ‘em till they bleed…”

In the three years since their Marshall Law ep drew its line in the sand, the same five guys jumped from Metal Blade to Enigma Records, buffed up a more professional physique while slowing things down a bit, and with their debut full-lengther prepared to show us they’re not Scarred for Life from the hiatus.

If ya wanna know what these guys were listening to in those lost years that could’ve influenced their return sound, don’t count on it being a whole lot of speed metal and practically no thrash. More like, I dunno, lots of acts doing this classed-up traditional thing – Lizzy Borden, Sacred Rite, Fates Warning, Helstar, Ruffians, Y. Malmsteen, mellower Leatherwolf and Hades – which didn’t guarantee material with its own original face too often simply due to its basic, ground-level formula. In these terms, Obsession are like one of the many blue ripples in metal’s swimming pool blending in with the liner with fairly standard musicianship (which for this style usually translates as above-average), moderately pushed aggression when it’s not merely mild, centered songwriting, and a set ‘o lungs that might be scratched up a bit in areas while rarely deflating below a high/mid-tenor.

This is a style that more than just about anything requires infectious songwriting, ‘cos with this particular sound championed by so many you really have to keep it interesting. That’s what they did for around half of their ’83 ep. Granted, doing it with two of a four-songer is a far cry from half of ten, but it’s what separates men from boys and careers from hobbies.

Those considered more dazzling are “Bang ‘em Till They Bleed” and, I guess, “Take No Prisoners” and “Run into the Night” – mostly speedier numbers that are, however, more docile than Savage Grace, Metal Church, and Flotz & Jetz, which may seem like a deliberately-placed derogatory comparison, but is 99% meant to merely discern the level of ‘speedier’ we’re talkin’ about. Contrasting the speed is respectable album finale “Tomorrow Hides No Lies”, the lengthy favor-gainer with crowds receptive to melancholy, epic white-fistedness and I’d say secondarily to those who swoon in power ballad throes. The rest, all basically mid-paced stuff, find some catchy wiggle room here and there, but unfortunately need either more wiggle or more room as they seem to share an overall similar identity and have problems marking personal territory well enough.

I’m afraid to say that a comment I’ve leveled onto the band itself in the past is the same for Scarred for Life - out of sight, out of mind.

Oddly, according to the sleeve (but not the album’s label), “Shadows of Steel”, a song from their ’83 demo, is scheduled as album finale and is even embellished with an explanatory asterix. No song, no explanation, no nuthin’.

This is pretty much straightforward 80s metal. If you've heard Malice, you've heard this. It's got the shrieky vocalist, the twin guitars, the total Defenders of the Faith worship - and it is pretty well executed, though the band tends to go for power over speed a bit too often, and sometimes it is the vocals that carry the work, not the guitars.

We start with "Scarred for Life" - the highlight of the album. Generally midpaced power metal, with some great riff work that is nice and fun to headbang to. "Winner Take All" is similar, though a bit less interesting, and "Losing my Mind" and "In the End" are pretty much more of the same 80s metal. "Bang them 'til they Bleed" is another highlight. This is speed metal. It has been written that any power metal album must have at least one speed metal song on here - this is it. Nicely done.

"Take no Prisoners" is another decent power-metal song, though it demonstrates what tends to be the problem with this album sometimes - in the chorus, it is definitely the vocals that carry the melody far more than the guitars. The guitars tend to get a bit lost. "Taking My Chances" is also very nice, and "Run into the Night" is nothing surprising. "Tomorrow Hides no Lies" is a ballad - a bit repetitive, and not all that interesting, but not really bad.

There isn't much bad to be found on this album - the production tends to accentuate the vocals a bit, and sometimes the musical ideas are a lot of the same, without much variety, and occasionally the band just tries to overpower you with a single riff idea per song without much variety in the guitar work, but hey, it's pretty good 80s metal, and worth getting.