Post Description

°  ÛÛ    ÛÛ     Artist: Battleaxe                              ÛÛ    ÛÛ
   ²   Û°° þÛ       Album: Burn This Town                          Ûþ °°Û
   þ    Û²ß Û        Year: 2013                                    Û ß²Û   °
         Û  ²   Rel. Date: 2014-05-22                              ²  Û
        ±   ±       Genre: Heavy Metal                             ±   ±
         ÛÜ °       Label: Steamhammer                             ° ÜÛ
      °   ÛÜ  °    Source: CD                                    °  ÜÛ
      °      Û²      Type: Reissue                               ²Û        °
      ²       Û   Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo            Û   °     ²
      ²       Û                                                  Û   °     ²
      Ü       þ                                                  þ   ²     þ
            °Û                                                    Û° ß
            Û  These guys had a very clear idea about the kind of  Û
            Û  music they wanted to play, and they certainly       Û
            Û  stuck to their guns. Or rather, their battle axe.   Û
            Û  Battleaxe are one of those bands whose songs just   Û
            Û  scream "80's" at every note. This shows clearly on  Û
            Û  their debut album, Burn This Town, which sports a   Û
            Û  good number of fast, catchy riffs, reminiscent of   Û
            Û  the early Saxon albums, rasping hard rock vocals    Û
            Û  and some truly excellent drum lines, all evenly     Û
            Û  distributed over ten tracks. One of the strongest   Û
            Û  points of this album is probably the fact that it   Û
            Û  never ceases to be interesting throughout its       Û
            Û  length, in spite of there being very little         Û
            Û  variation between each song: the relatively short   Û
            Û  average track length (roughly 3:30) and a finely    Û
            Û  balanced mix of heaviness and upbeat atmosphere     Û
            Û  more than make up for the lack of change in mood,   Û
            Û  tempo and attitude. The production is remarkable    Û
            Û  considering the year of release: every instrument   Û
            Û  is easily identifiable, and the guitar somehow      Û
            Û  manages to never overpower the vocals. Sadly, the   Û
            Û  dynamics are quite predictable (no noticeable       Û
            Û  volume changes throughout the whole album), but     Û
            Û  this album having been released by a newborn label  Û
            Û  (Music For Nations), we expect the budget           Û
            Û  available to have been quite limited.               Û
            Û  The main problem with this release is probably the  Û
            Û  same "problem" (though a fan would likely class it  Û
            Û  as a "characteristic" or even a quality, rather     Û
            Û  than a flaw) that has been one of the trademarks    Û
            Û  for such Rock/Metal monsters as AC/DC and           Û
            Û  Motorhead: they never allowed themselves to get     Û
            Û  sidetracked a little, simply plunging straight      Û
            Û  down their set path into a steaming cauldron of     Û
            Û  red hot Heavy Metal. This results in a              Û
            Û  predictability which may tire a casual listener or  Û
            Û  someone who is not fond of their type of sound.     Û
            Û  In conclusion, Burn This Town did not add anything  Û
            Û  new to the already fluorishing 80's metal scene,    Û
            Û  but it definately succeeded at offering an          Û
            Û  excellent specimen of pure, untamed Heavy Metal,    Û
            Û  that is sure to delight the ears of any fan of the  Û
            Û  80's british Metal scene.                           Û
            ²                                                      ²
            ±                                                      ±
            °  1.  Ready to Deliver                          3:13  °
            °  2.  Her Mama Told Her                         3:57  °
            °  3.  Burn This Town                            3:45  °
            °  4.  Dirty Rocker                              3:37  °
            °  5.  Overdrive                                 4:41  °
            °  6.  Runnin' Outta Time                        3:41  °
            °  7.  Battleaxe                                 3:55  °
            °  8.  Starmaker                                 3:07  °
            °  9.  Thor-Thunder Angel                        4:03  °
            °  10. Hands Off                                 4:53  °
            °  11. Ready to Deliver (BBC Radio 1 Session     3:22  °
            °      1983) (Bonus Track)                             °
            °  12. Shout it Out (BBC Radio 1 Session 1983)   4:23  °
            °      (Bonus Track)                                   °
            °  13. Mean Machine (BBC Radio 1 Session 1983)   4:33  °
            °      (Bonus Track)                                   °
            °  14. Running Out of Time (BBC Radio 1 Session  3:48  °
            °      1983) (Bonus Track)                             °
            °                                               54:58