Speedway

What is more reasonable than having a close look on your own archive when it comes to writing a review for this website? Not much, I think. So here we have a probably almost forgotten album that has already celebrated its 33rd anniversary. Warhead from Belgium deserve respect, because they were among the very early European speed metal bands. They made a short yet important contribution in order to establish the then newly arising sound in the Old World. Their songs did not strive for complexity; a duration of less than 27 minutes speak volumes in this context. But energy, speed and straightness formed an exciting debut work and I still enjoy its tunes from time to time.

Okay, the vocals sound a little bit old-fashioned. Even back in 1984, they already had an antiquated touch. Nevertheless, the vigorous voice has a certain charisma and the same applies for the pronounced riffing. Already the beginning of the opener builds up tension and the explosive high velocity outburst after the intro part knows no limit. Driven by the powerful double bass, Warhead present coherent verses and a catchy chorus. Everything is kept simple, but the album does not have a primitive touch. The musicians are rather focused on the essentials and they do not want to poison their pure metallic brew. Sometimes the chorus crowns the song ("Kill the Witch"), sometimes it's rather the instrumental part after the chorus ("Driver") or the expressive intro ("Devil's Child"). Anyway, all songs reflect the liveliness and spontaneity of the debutants. In addition, they profit from a surprisingly good production. Just compare the technical execution of this album with that of another product from 1984, the debut of Living Death. It is like day and night - the transparency, the sharpness of the guitars and the clarity of "Speedway" make the difference.

The "epic" piece of the album with a duration of more than four minutes is "Attack of the Shark". Rasping guitars carry the mid-paced, pretty melodic parts, but rapid sections are also included. However, Warhead withstand the temptation of adding balladic elements. Doublessly, this was anything else but a matter of course in 1984. Regrettably, they did not remain steadfast in this respect on their second album, but that's another story. "Speedway" is an homogeneous work. Its songs do not surprise with hidden traits and they fail to offer a noteworthy depth. But we can assume that this was not the intention of the crew. And one can call an album with this playtime insubstantial, but each and every song does not deserve this attribute. Instead, they mirror the mentality of carefree pioneers. Therefore, things are quite easy. If you want to decode mathematical formulas, avoid this album, but if like to have some generic speed metal entertainment, feel free to lend an ear to "Speedway".

The debut album of Belgian speed metal band Warhead, ''Speedway'', is truly one of those albums that are rare nowadays - gritty, dirty, and full of vigor and passion for metal. It's a good effort that will certainly make you headbang insanely. Still, despite that, I feel like the music, even though being hard rocking, is very empty and won't leave any special impression on the listener after the songs end.

There are several reasons why I think that this album after all is disappointing. First, the songs are very unvaried; they all sound the same, just with slightly different riffs. Speaking of riffs, they are fairly solid, but nothing spectacular is to be found. No riff that will crush your head and make you think ''wow, is this GOOD or what?!''. Riffs and solos are good, nothing more, nothing less. Then there's the singer, Patrick ''The Beast'' Van Londerzele. His gruff voice suits this kind of music very well, but the voice production is done very badly, so his singing is very indistinct and you can't figure out what is he singing about. He could be saying the weather forecast and I wouldn't notice any difference. The only exception is the chorus of ''Driver'', which is, surprise surprise, the word ''driver'' repeated four times. Unfortunately, these things reflect very much on the quality and overall feeling. That's a pity, because with slightly better riffs and vocal production this could've been one hell of an album.

But it would be very wrong if you say that this is crap, because ''Speedway'' has some great moments. The title track is great, a pure '80s no-guts-no-glory anthem much like ''Driver'', which is the catchiest song here with unforgettable though simple chorus (''Driver! Driver!''). In ''Devil's Child'' you hear some doomy and atmospheric elements, and this song definitely is the one that intrigued me the most. Really interesting piece. ''First Light of the Apocalypse'' is an excellent way to close the album with a couple of riffs that are probably the best and most convincing on this entire record. ''Kill the Witch'' sounds too much like the title track in my opinion, but it's good and convincing enough, so the final verdict is ''passable''.

The rest is a pile of fillers: ''Attack of the Shark'' and ''The Alliance'' are plodding and generic speed metal, while ''Attack and Kill'' is an utterly boring and intolerable instrumental even though it lasts for less than three minutes. Guys, just leave instrumentals to bands who are pros in writing them, OK?

I hate when I listen to an album that had potential to be a masterpiece, but eventually turns out to be average. ''Speedway'' is one of those albums. Nonetheless, I would recommend it to any speed/thrash metal freak since there's definitely a lot of good stuff to be found here, and the album's length is only 27 minutes, which is ultra-short. You might like it and even love it. For me, there are always Riot and Overkill...

Note: Errors checked and corrected.

This is just awesome. Warhead were an old-guard Belgian Speed Metal band who pumped out short, fast killers like this album, which is very aptly entitled Speedway. No pretension, no gimmicks, just twenty-odd minutes of barbed metal riffing, grisly bass antics and gruff, shouted vocals that give the music that attitude that the 80s bands always had in spades if they were worth their shit. The production is raw and uncompromising, having that old school crunch to the production that any classic metal fan will dig, and the music sits somewhere where fans of Thrash, Speed and Traditional Metal will all find something to enjoy within its juicy tendrils.

Weak spots? Not here. They kick off with the title track, and if you don’t instantly love this band upon hearing the vocalist warble and wail his way through those titular lines, you will never get them. “Kill the Witch” slays even harder, and then the band ups the ante even more with the double-whammy assault of “Driver,” which is the catchiest on here, and the steel boot-to-face lambasting that they chose to title “Devil’s Child.” Awesome, just awesome. The last four songs don’t escalate in quality like the first four do, but they’re still really good, with kick-ass riffs and energetic performances to boot.

This is just a great gem of the old school. There’s nothing wrong with it, and if you like metal at all, this album will put a great big smile on your face. And being so short, there’s no excuse not to listen to it, either. It’s like twenty minutes, how can you not find that much time in your schedule for this slab of steel? There’s no excuse. Get it or be forever a poser.

Originally written for http://www.metalcrypt.com

With an album cover that seems to throw metallic vengeance on Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell, Speedway could catch and hold attention during record rack flippage and was one of those discs that seemed to be all over the place despite its underground lineage. Came across it plenty of times, but regrettably for the lp something higher on the ‘ol want list was forever in stock and readily available. Admittedly, even if there were nothing else noteworthy to buy, I’d still leave it behind, and if anything Warhead has Mausoleum Records to thank for that. While the label was already a fairly large stronghold by ’84, its catalog haunted me with what I felt were sketchy artists based on ones that had sharked me the past, like Hazzard and Living Death, and eight bucks wasn’t easy to come by for a mid-teenager. Chalk it up to learned wariness. Finally after bypassing it for, like, the sixth or seventh time and finding it for around half price, there was a cave in.

Speedway is a title that wasn’t chosen fifteen seconds before the cover went to print, for Belgium’s Warhead set coordinates for speed metal gritty and unpolished. With blinders often affixed, the quartet rub hands and embark upon collision course velocity that pulls into rest areas about as infrequently as it demonstrates any noticeable technical diversity. Patrick “The Beast” drones with constant constipated vibrato throughout the gig, gyrating ceaselessly in the annoying realm, his vocals crossing the chords of maybe Ape of Oz and Messiah Marcolin if he'd been gargling low-grade motor oil for a few years.

Strapped into the front seat, “Kill the Witch”, the title cut, “Driver”, and the latter half of “Devil’s Child” are twin bass and open riffage skidding along in one-dimensional grace. Since these first four tracks fly by like point-and-shoot guidance missiles, it takes imagination to expect anything different from the rest of the album. “First Light of the Apocalypse” and instrumental “Attack and Kill” are a little less cannonball-straight and less rumbling in rotation, however each still finds a way to hang onto the lp’s mostly gung-ho approach. “Attack of the Shark” actually manages to split velocity times down the middle, meanwhile “The Alliance” is an orphan song that finally fails to endanger any kind of land-speed record, but what comes with it is over three unfortunate minutes of tedium.

Thanks to Jos ‘speed rat’ Kloek and his cement n’ melted anvil production, the album motors naval-deep in heaviness as its almost single lane delivery tears up buckets of asphalt with each moment that ticks by. What this does is punctuate the album with an exclamation point, making Speedway’s lack of musical penmanship and originality a little headier for the ride if anything.

In atmosphere and creativity, there isn't much to these eight tracks, however the speed merchant in me half-heartedly flails the checkered flag in its second (almost third) rate honor. The other hand covers a yawn.