Damn the Night

I have lived each and every day of the eighties. It was a great decade and sometimes I wish I could go back in time, in particular after every new look in the mirror. Nevertheless, I also admit that sometimes the wallpapers were ugly during these years, not as hideous and glaring as they had been in the seventies, but still dubious. In this light, the artwork of Lions Breed’s first, last and only album scores with authenticity. However, the artwork (and my small pocket money) was probably the reason why I did not buy a copy of “Damn the Night”. I mean, a girl in black tights gets stimulated by a Flying V – is this a kind of joke? Anyway, it was a big mistake to leave the different outposts of paradise, usually known as record stores, without having bought this work (yes, the internet was not yet invented. Glorious analogue times!)

The only track I knew was “Live and Let Die”. It made me think of James Bond, but the song itself lacked action. I liked its riff, but this traditional mid-tempo number did not satisfy my appetite for thrash metal, simply because it was no thrash… And in polarizing times where no thrasher wanted to be caught in the act while listening to traditional or even “poser” sounds, this marked a severe disadvantage. Nevertheless, I was a fool, because the song has a decent chorus that keeps sticking in the mind. Frankly speaking, today I wonder that I spent my last Deutschmarks for Atlain’s debut, but not for that of Lions Breed, because both formations sound confusingly similar. They preferred the same degree of heaviness at the interface of speed and traditional metal and their singers Ulrich Rohmann (Lions Breed) and Peter Müller (Atlain) seemed to use the same vocal cords. They have the same high-pitched approach and they use it competently. Rohmann’s minimally more melodic voice has charisma, even though it does not sound very masculine from today’s perspective. But as mentioned before, we are speaking about an album of the eighties and this kind of vocals was absolutely socially accepted. Only Living Death’s Toto went one step too far, but that’s another story.

Today I know that “Live and Let Die” is an unspectacular yet strong piece of metal, but it is not among the highlights of the manageable catalogue of Lions Breed. Other songs take the crown. In chronological order: “Heavy Current” is an up-tempo opener that has a shady flair and Rohmann’s voice sounds like a siren when singing the song’s name. No useless breaks disturb the smooth flow of the track. Progressive sounds were not the playground of the German pioneers and Lions Breed made no exception. The dudes from Gelsenkirchen (neighbours of the more steadfast Tom Angelripper) concentrated on unerring riffs and this way of proceeding gave “Searover” its inner strength. The beginning of “All Night Be Damned” is also very promising in view of its exciting riff which can be understood as a distant relative of Accept’s “Princess of the Dawn”. Perhaps the song gives the excessive guitar solo too much room, but it is still a juicy piece of meat. The “Defenders of the Faith”-influenced "Neon City” shows the full potential of the band for the last time. The remaining tracks avoid big mistakes, but it was probably no coincidence that they had to take a place on the B side.

The album shines with a crisp production and even though it cannot hide its advanced age, it still spreads lively vibes. The warm sound of the eighties embraces the listener in a friendly yet strict way. It’s no flawless mix, just listen to the pretty powerless drumming at the beginning of the closer, but it brings back the spirit and the sound of the mid-eighties. This technical frame and the fact that all songs can rely on very solid riffs and effective choruses give the album its class. These features and the band’s down-to-earth mentality as well as the urban atmosphere of the entire material make even slightly less thrilling songs like “Lady of the Night” (please ignore the kitschy title) to little Teutonic metal feasts. And so I am in a nostalgic mood… and I want to see a German metal festival with Lions Breed, Atlain, Steeler (who are not allowed to perform songs from their third and fourth album) and Samain (who only play “Straight Hammered Creed” three times). But maybe it’s better that my wish does not come true. I see enough old men when I look into the mirror – I do not need to see more representatives of this not so sexy species.

The name Lion's Breed will probably not be familiar to your average European power or speed metal fan, but I'm willing to bet any connoisseur whose listening credentials travel beyond Hammerfall and Dragonforce will have heard or read of the Scanner, who have an important connection to this band, being that they were one and the same. Core personnel Axel Julius & Thomas Sopha (guitars) and Martin Bork would abandon this moniker after only a few years, switching the handle to Scanner and embarking on a more unique, science fiction lyrical venture. Certainly there is no shame in this maneuver: Lion's Breed is a pretty sweet band name but it doesn't exactly match the subject matter the boys were interested in pursuing, and though the styles of the two bands were comparable, Scanner was far more distinct against wealth of the German scene, whereas Damn the Night is little more than listenable.

Well, let me correct that. It's more than listenable. In fact it's a pretty sweet record if you like your stock 80s metal. The riffs are extremely tight, the leads adequate and the ability to conjure a beautiful period in traditional metal music remain intact 25 years after the fact, but the album does occasionally suffer from one critical setback: Ulrich Rohmann. Rohmann does not have the wild, screeching pipes of a Michael Knoblich or S.L. Coe, the first and best screamers in the Scanner discography, and thus he keeps his performance reined in. Too reined in, in my opinion, and on a few of the tracks he seems merely a nuisance in the way of your experience of Julius and Sopha rocking out with some riffs that would make their forebears Judas Priest and Accept very proud. However, you probably shouldn't go into this expecting the Scanner level of forceful, melodic surges infused to traditional territory. Clearly there are similarities, but these guitars are hardly as inspirational or powerful.

The album thus works best when it reaches into its most bad-ass territory, ala "Neon City" which bears a slight likeness to "Neon Knights" or "Breaking the Law" with an injection of early Accept, the one major difference being the less impressive vocalists (and this is one of Rohmann's best performances on the album). "Lady of the Night" gets spiky, playful and melodic with the guitar lines, and they actually remind me of "We Are Not Alone" from Scanner's sophomore outing Terminal Earth, just not as well realized. "Sea Rover" actually runs along side countrymen Running Wild with that same sense of pirate/motorcycle frenzy driven by a nice bass lead-in and some bad ass if predictable, bruising chords; while "Valve of Hell" (great song title) is sorcerous melodic fare which should appeal to fans of Dio or Warlock. "Mystery Game" has a few seconds in which Rohmann shifts the pitch far up the scale, with mixed results. Others like "Heavy Current", "All Night Be Damned" and the plodding "Live and Let Die" (no relation to the Paul McCartney classic) are likewise suitable, if ultimately not more than just good old metal, and

Outside of Rohmann's occasional foray into the underwhelming, Damn the Night is an album that should satisfy anyone seeking out a standard but well executed mid-80s record, or following up on obscure bands derived largely from the NWOBHM classics. Or curious to hear what the mighty Scanner evolved from before releasing their joyous Hypertrace or Terminal Earth. With a kick more energy, and a better vocal performance, this might have created bigger waves, but I'm not sure the song writing is quite at the level of a true classic if even these changed had been spun into reality. Almost all the songs are enjoyable, but it's clear a change needed to be made, which the band did at warp 7, striking far and deep into the star-filled void of our hearts and imaginations.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com