Well, here’s me thinking I’ve stumbled across a previously unreleased German Metal album from the 80’s that’s been remixed and remastered for 2021 and it turns out that it’s the debut release from a brand new German Metal band! Are you sure? It’s just (and this is NOT a criticism), it sounds so reminiscent and faithful to those German Metal bands I used to enjoy discovering back when I was a teenager in the late 80’s!
You know the ones, yes you had the Power Metal bands that I loved like Helloween, Scanner, Gamma Ray etc, but then you had the more straight-edged Metal bands like Mania, Attack, Angel Dust, V2, Stormwitch…the list goes on, but the spirit of all those bands can be found within tracks of “Heavenly Creatures”. Actually, that early Angel Dust reference is quite apt as there is a bit of vocalist S.L. Coe (who also sang on Scanner’s “Terminal Earth” of course) about the vocals of Roland Seidel (who as far as I know was also flexing his early vocal chords at the time I’m referencing in Lazzer and Wasteland), as well as a bit of Andi Deris’ lower range which gives Black & Damned a modern-day Helloween vibe in their sprightlier moments (like ‘The World Bleed’ for instance).
But don’t get me wrong, the open, forward-thinking guitar lines of Michael Vetter link the past with the present nicely and the additional flourishes of guest keyboardist Axel Mackenrott (Masterplan etc) add an extra layer to the compositions. Each individual track is driven forward expertly by the powerful rhythm section and the fact that the vocals never stray skywards in register, rooting the songs in a lower dynamic will be a welcome relief to those Metal fans out there who dislike falsetto. This is German Heavy Metal, time honoured and Metal to the core. This album is unpretentious and authentic, yet still current and relevant. Germany has its own rich Metal heritage (NWOGHM if you like…) and it’s great to hear it represented, celebrated and enriched so well by a band like Black & Damned. By the way, I’m informed that the band’s name came about simply because the members wear black and in their opinion are damned to be musicians for all eternity. Just in case you were wondering…
(8/10 Andy Barker)
21/01/2021 at 10:33 am
Andy, thank you and your kind words! You recognized exactly what this is about! And you have a good taste of art!
22/01/2021 at 11:00 am
Thanks Michael, well done again on a great album – keep doing what you’re doing!