Released By : Black Lodge Records
Genre : Heavy Metal
Links : http://www.myspace.com/meanstreaksweden
Tracklist:
1. Whom The Gods Love Die Young
2. Battle Within
3. Eyes of A Stranger
4. The Seventh Sign
5. Raise Your Hands
6. Rock City
7. Sin City Lights
8. Carved In Stone
9. Metal Slave
10. Sinners And Saints
MEAN STREAK is the latest in a long line of new bands wanting to fly the flag for classic heavy metal for a new generation. Where a lot of bands that try and do this also add too many modern elements to really be classed as classic metal, these guys are straight out of the old-school and you could be forgiven for thinking that they have been living in seclusion for the past twenty years oblivious to the changing trends in the metal landscape.
Think bands like JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, SAXON and ACCEPT, but not what they have done recently, but what they did in the eighties and beyond. Call it NWOBHM inspired, or call it traditional heavy metal, it doesn’t really matter because the simple fact is, if you are a fan of metal from before the millennium, there is no way you couldn’t like this album.
I’m not going to go over the top here and proclaim METAL SLAVE to be utterly amazing, because in reality it’s quite a simplistic take on the classic metal formula with nary a surprise in sight. Because of this fact I couldn’t possibly give the album top marks, but that doesn’t mean fans of this type of music won’t love every bit of it.
The riffing is awesome, the vocals are classic, and the songwriting and lyrics in general are all of very, very high quality and I challenge any metal fan to listen to opening track WHOM THE GODS LOVE DIE YOUNG and not start tapping your foot half way through. THE SEVENTH SIGN, RAISE YOUR HANDS and title track METAL SLAVE are all great tunes too and will spend some time in my regular music listening rotation.
The simple fact is, METAL SLAVE is an album made for fans of classic metal and no-one else. So if you turn your nose up at bands that play this type of music just walk on by this one without a glance. If you miss the days before bands like JUDAS PRIEST and SAXON started writing intricate concept albums and modernizing their sound, MEAN STREAK certainly have you covered.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating : 8/10
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