The 10 Greatest Releases from the North East New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NENWOBHM)!
That's quite the mouthful!
Avenger – Blood Sports (1984)
Track Listing:
- “Enforcer”
- “You’ll Never Take Me (Alive)”
- “Matriarch”
- “Warfare”
- “On the Rocks”
- “Rough Ride”
- “Victims of Force”
- “Death Race 2000”
- “N.O.T.J.”
The inclusion of Blood Sports will most certainly divide opinion if some of the online vitriol aimed at Avenger’s debut is anything to go by!
Described, in some quarters, as the “worst-ever New Wave of British Heavy Metal album” and as a “ramshackle debut”, Blood Sports may be a little uneven and certainly rough around the edges but such descriptions are absurd.
These guys were just as adept at many of the NWOBHM’s second tier acts and delivered a debut overflowing with heavy metal anthems designed to bang your head and rock that pint in your hand. While ballad “Warfare” may have been misguided you can’t argue with the proto-speed metal power of “Victims Of Force” and the thrashy “Enforcer” which provide more than enough thrills to keep 80’s metal fans fully sated!
Hi. The Hollow Ground tracks on the Roksnax album aren’t the same four from the ‘Warlord’ EP (those tracks were Flying High/Warlord/Rock On/Don’t Chase The Dragon). Apologies if this has been pointed out before.
I mention it only because I was lucky enough on Saturday to find a copy of the original EP on Guardian with the picture cover.