6 Under-Appreciated Classics Of 80’s American Heavy Metal (Part 2)
Tasty!
Following on from 6 Under-Appreciated Classics Of 80’s American Heavy Metal (Part 1) and continuing in the vein of our under-appreciated UK, U.S & German thrash features and our under-appreciated American death metal features, Worship Metal now casts its critical eye over 6 MORE under-appreciated classics of 80’s American Heavy Metal….and you can forget the big guns of the genre, as we’re focusing on those albums that tend to slip under the radar.
This feature is here to highlight those 80’s American heavy metal classics which, we feel, deserve far more love….and, remember, this is just PART 2, there’s plenty more quality 80’s American heavy metal to come!
First up:
Liege Lord – Master Control (1988)
Liege Lord’s debut album Freedom’s Rise was very good and their sophomore album, Burn To The Touch, was great but Master Control was an absolute powerhouse of an 80’s American heavy metal album; a pure power metal/speed metal/heavy metal juggernaut, enhanced by the arrival of new vocalist Joe Comeau.
Comeau‘s vocals (future member of East Coast thrash legends Overkill and Canadian thrash royalty Annihilator) were a revelation, strengthening Liege Lord’s sound with his Bruce Dickinson on steroids delivery. The results should have been strong enough to propel Liege Lord into the big leagues…..but the world wasn’t quite ready.
In keeping with the era, Master Control may have been slightly thrashier than previous material – and would prove to be a fitting swansong (although Liege Lord did reunite in 2013) – but it was an album that arguably perfected power metal way before the world was ready to savour that particular sub-genre’s delights!
Unfortunately, Liege Lord were just a little too early in the game for metal fans who were still addicted to thrash, thrash and more thrash!
What about Angel of Mercy? I was listening to their album the other day, pretty solid metal!
Good call! We covered it earlier in the year as part of our Unleashed From the Vaults Series (http://www.worshipmetal.com/features/unleashed-from-the-vaults-angel-of-mercy-the-avatar/) but it’ll definitely pop up in future entries! \m/