Test Your Metal

The Five-Perm Discount [IDENTIFIED]

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:01:00 +0000

UPDATE: This took a long time, but the band has been correctly identified by Eryx Azarath as B.O.W.A. Here's additional info provided by the person who sent it to me, Jymbo Harris: "BAND OF WILD ANGELS or BOWA, with bassist Mike Davis (second from left) who was in Angel Rot, Lizzy Borden, Rob Halford, Nocturnus, and Ozzy. The redhead guy in the middle is Mike Torres (aka Mike Towers) who sang for Heretic, Vermin, Abattoir and TYM band Masi. The guy on the far right is Mark Benquechea, the drummer." Thanks again, Jym!

A generous benefactor sent us this one, and we unfortunately have since lost all the details regarding it, so we are as clueless as you are (or maybe aren't). Just like the good ol' days when I started this blog.

But we couldn't say no to this beauty. As far as '80s metal bands go, these dudes are pretty well put together. They've got the leather, the denim, the bullet belts and, good lord, hair that goes for days. And it's all lovingly tousled, teased and, no doubt, lacquered with Aqua-Net.

We may be conjecturing when we suggest that there was some perming (is that a word?) involved as well, but we can't help but think some of those coiffs are a little, uh, manufactured. But a man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do if he wants to vaguely look like a lady. We just wonder if indeed they all did get perms, if they got a five-for-one low price deal.

Anyway, please tell me who this band is.

REPOST: Longhairs With Bangs [Identified!]

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 00:47:00 +0000

UPDATE: Finally someone stepped up and nailed this one! Congrats to Avenger from one of my own personal favorite old-school metal resources, The Corroseum. This is, in fact, Wasted Morality from Santa Rosa, California, a thrash band that did precious little (other than a demo) while they were around in the late '80s and that's pretty much the end of the story. Only two posts remain unsolved.

Do these coiffs automatically qualify as mullets due to the bangs (fringe, I guess, in the UK) trimmed up to keep the hair out of their eyes? This was a very standard metal 'do in the Eighties, popularized most famously by Bruce Dickinson. Not a traditional mullet, which is short on the sides, as well, this is something of a hybrid.

These guys definitely look of an era and I'd imagine that their country of origin should at least be pretty easy. Since this is the only promo photo I've ever seen of the band, my guess is that someone else who's a regular here will recognize them at first glance.

Though I'm not entirely sure, I don't think that the dude in the lower right is wearing his own band shirt, so don't bother looking there for clues. Gotta love the flannel, though.

Demolish Fanzine Throws Us a Bone

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:44:00 +0000

UPDATE: Our pal Ian Christe checked in and immediately spotted these guys as Quick Change from the Chicago area. They aren't, perhaps, as obscure as they may seem, as the band did put out a full-length in 1988 on Roadrunner Europe (reissued by Metal Mind in 2007) and have issued a couple self-released CDs in the '00s. OK, yeah, they're pretty obscure. Ian also had this to add: "I recognized the junked-out car... these guys had their own Quick Change stock car for a while."

We're long overdue for an update, so it's with apologies for the long break that we bring you this gem. And we would be remiss if we didn't mention that it comes courtesy of ’80s fanzine master, Curt King, of Demolish Fanzine.

We owe Curt big-time for providing us such a meaty morsel to sink our teeth into. The first thing we notice is that, for some odd reason, the dudes on the left all feel the need to spread their legs like they're about to get frisked. Which maybe was a regular occurrence for them. I mean, if that junked out old car they're standing in front of (very metal ambiance, btw) is their ride, they were probably getting pulled over by the cops with some regularity.

Can we also just note that "one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong." And by that, we mean the guy on the right who stands a head taller than his bandmates, weighs half as much and sports a full-length leather trench coat. And his haircut and shades aren't doing him any favors either.

Rather than blather on about the finer details of this mystery band's overall "look," we'd prefer to just let you soak it all in and make some of your own observations. You may not know who this is, but here's your chance to at least make note of some details that may help determine the country of origin, the era, the style of metal they played, what styling products they used, etc.

REPOST: Still Up For Grabs

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 22:14:00 +0000

OK, here is a link to the only post where the band has yet to be identified. See what you can do!

Fringe Era

Conjoined Twins of Different Mothers

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:48:00 +0000

I'm pretty sure these fellas were on a major label, so this oughtta be a slam dunk for someone. Though I scanned this one months ago (and it had the band's name on the photo), I'll admit at the moment that I have no idea who it is. Mostly just because, well, they look rather generic and very cheesy.

First of all, the only reason two dudes in a metal band should be sitting like the guys on the right is if a) they are conjoined twins, b) one of them is actually dead and needs to be propped up (a la Weekend at Bernie's), or c) they are homosexual lovers. I don't know what the deal is here, but let's just all agree to agree that this is Not Metal. Nor are the white ankle-length leather boots, but I don't gotta tell you that, do I?

Egregious crime against metal #2: dude in background wearing what looks to be white cowboy boots with cutoffs. It's bad enough that the guy is wearing a ruffle-front shirt with a polka-dot vest, but that's just embarrassing.

And the hair is typical for circa 1989: Perms and mousse for all! I'm sure it made the ladies swoon back in the day, but now it just looks clownish.

Though I'm sure they'll cringe to be identified, we must know who these guys are.

UPDATE: Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, "Anonymous" correctly identified these guys as Mass—the Boston version, as there are several around the world. These guys were signed to RCA in the mid '80s, though this photo was after they were dropped and had signed to a large indie. They had one minor hit that you may recognize here. Not surprisingly, this band is reunited, hopefully without any of the above gear.

That's A Mirror, Not Identical Twins

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:59:00 +0000

Sorry about the quality of this photo. It was, how shall we say, scavenged. I wish I had the original, as it's quite a dandy.

This was not, as far as I know, an actual official promo photo. However, it's a pretty sweet representation of the the various affectations necessary for a heavy metal band group shot.

First, we've gotta have the metal-approved wardrobe. Check. Well, except for the big fella on the left sporting the short-sleeve collared shirt. I've looked it up in the official How to Dress Heavy Metal reference book and this is not up to code. Sorry, dude.

However, this faux pas can be forgiven in light of the magnificent mane he's sporting. Totally metal all the way. Dude gets a free pass for that alone and could probably get away with wearing parachute pants with hair like that (though it's no doubt a perm, minus points).

Of course there's the token bottle blonde in the middle playing peek-a-boo, and the guy on the far right (who looks like he has a twin in the mirror) has some nice pout-n-pose action goin' on.

Who are they?

UPDATE: Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, "Anonymous" correctly identified this band as Monolith from Oregon. More specifically, they were from the Eugene/Springfield area and this photo was actually taken at the Record Garden, one of the coolest West Coast metal stores. I don't think Monolith ever released anything official, but I imagine they probably had a demo floating around. I seem to recall hearing them on "Commander" Al Scott's metal show on KZEL one time, but maybe I'm wrong.

Can You Guess Which One Is The Drummer?

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:36:00 +0000

Yeah, he's the dude wearing the Zildjian shirt. Just so ya know. The dude in front, unfortunately was wearing his own band's T-shirt, so I had to do a little work on that.

Now, by my reckoning, these guys were of a late ’80s vintage. The hair just seems a little too, uh, worked on for the early or mid ’80s. Beyond that I'll leave it to you all to figure it out.

I know this isn't the most hilarious or noteworthy photo, but about half the guys in this band look like someone from another band which makes it interesting. In fact, if my eyesight weren't great, I could probably be convinced this was the Mach III lineup of Portland's Glacier. However, it ain't.

Also, don't forget that there are still three unidentified photos here that need some serious scrutiny.

UPDATE: Curt from Demolish Fanzine needed about half a glance to get this one. Mostly because he had a full post about Lethal on his own site. (Note to self, check Curt's site before posting anything from the late '80s...) Go to the comments section of this post for the details about the band, or just go here.

"We'll Mesmirize You All WIth Our Hair"

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:42:00 +0000

Just found this one in the archives. I suspect it'll be easy, because this particular photo looks really familiar to me. Though you can't tell from this scan, the original photo was giant for a promo shot—must have been 9" x 12".

At first glance this reminds me of something from the late '60s or '70s. Thus, we can pretty much assume that this band didn't come out of mid-'80s LA. Or did they...?

In case you didn't notice, the guy on the left really wants you to know that he's the drummer, dammit! He's sporting a drumstick necklace and a cymbal badge. Guy on the right just looks a little...troubled. Like maybe he's worried people are gonna find out he's underage and the my-first-mustache just isn't convincing people otherwise.

Yeah, it's an odd mix of fellows in this one. Here's hoping we can figure this one out and find out what became of this lot.

UPDATE: Jojo has pegged these guys as "Saxon clone" Battleaxe, who were, in fact, Brits and who played a minor role in the NWOBHM. They put out a pair of rather unremarkable albums in the mid '80s (their first, at right, had an incredibly bad cover), but never really went anywhere. Believe it or not, they are confirmed for Headbanger's Open Air 2010.

Like Shooting Fish In A Barrel

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:22:00 +0000

This beauty comes courtesy of Curt King of Demolish Fanzine, however, even he doesn't know what band it is. According to Curt, this was sent to him between '87-'90 (big surprise) and it fell out of the press kit it was originally sent with. So, there you go.

There couldn't have been too many bands with a member sporting such an amazing mullet, so someone's gotta recognize these guys. I'm mean, that is World Class! I can only assume since the person's shirt is open that this mullethead is in fact a man, but this particular style also has some fans among certain members of the opposite sex. If you know what I'm saying...

If you can pull your gaze away from that fella for just a second, you may notice the dude in front's striking resemblance to Alex Van Halen. He probably noticed that, too. Then there are the two poodles—cute, but harmless.

My guess is these guys sounded like White Lion and dreamed of the day they'd be "discovered" while playing at the local Holiday Inn lounge. Never happened, dudes. Sorry.

Long Overdue Update: Wow, I totally dropped the ball on this. Congrats to Jymbo for IDing these guys as Battle Bratt. Whatta name. I really don't know that I have much more to add. It all just seems ridiculous enough on its own. You will, no doubt, be excited to hear that Battle Brat put out a long-player in 1988, which has been reissued recently (by popular demand, I'm sure). Nice work, Jymbo. Sorry it took me so long to give you credit.

Hair Today Gone Tomorrow

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:57:00 +0000

OK, another holiday gift to you all. This one not only featured a logo on it, the dude on the right is wearing his own band's T-shirt. Boooooooooo! However, all that may not matter much, because I think this picture is somewhat common. I think it was even used on one of the band's albums.

I still couldn't resist posting it, just for the expressions on their faces. And for the guitarist's hairy chest. That's well worth showing off. I can see why he decided against wearing a shirt to this photo shoot.

But, man, look at the mugs on these guys. Very serious. Not mean, not evil—just serious. Like Grandpa-just-died-unexpectedly (well, he was pretty old...) serious. I believe the Brits call this "po-faced."

And, yeah, the hair's something else, too. You can see as the posts here on TYM have progressed in time (relatively speaking) the hair just started getting bigger and bigger, even for non glam bands.

Let's hear your guesses.

Update: Curt from Demolish Fanzine correctly ID'd these guys as Masi (featuring the swarthy, shirtless shredder Alex Masi). This photo was from Masi's Metal Blade days, I believe, some time in the late '80s. I have to admit that I am completely unfamiliar with Masi's music. Partly because I was never much into the whole "shred" scene and partly because I was losing interest in most metal at this point. Most, not all.

Still Up For Grabs!

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:28:00 +0000

OK, here are links to some old posts where the bands have yet to be identified. See what you can do!

Longhairs With Bangs

Fringe Era

"Make Us Look Cool or We Won't Help You Out of That Deep Hole"

REPOST: Random '80s Band Photo Generator

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:11:00 +0000

REPOST UPDATE: This was originally posted in February, but since "Jymbo" just ID'd them, I figured I'd repost it.

Guess I kind of skipped a week there. Gotta be honest and say that the lack of response/interest was probably a contributing factor. Maybe the shine's faded from this particular endeavor. And I don't know if this post is gonna change things.

But, wait, do I see a pair of suspenders? You've got to be kidding me. Actually, make that two pairs of suspenders. And a bolo tie, dude? Isn't the Native American choker-thing enough neck adornment?

Closer examination of this photo leads me to believe that these guys didn't really go into this photo shoot (or perhaps their entire image) with a "plan." They just picked a little bit from here and there—Freddy Krueger shirt, skull shirt, weird dangly lapel pins, snakeskin shirt—and threw it at the wall, so to speak, to see what would stick.

Anyone still paying attention, I welcome your thoughts on this mess.

Update: Finally, "Jymbo" managed to ID these guys as Banshee, from Kansas City. I put this up because several Test Your Metal readers bristled at the fact that I lumped this band in with the other faceless and unremarkable major label signings of the late '80s. The funny thing is, that the people who jumped to Banshee's defense couldn't actually identify a picture of them. Since they were on a major label (and Metal Blade before that), they certainly aren't obscure and I won't bother getting into the details of their career. They have their own website for that.

Leather Boys

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:24:00 +0000

Love the fact that these dudes are all about the black leather. They all have at least one piece of leather (or perhaps "pleather") clothing on. In addition, they have the requisite studded wristbands and belts. Yep, this is a metal band. No question about that.

Blondie was sporting his own band's T-shirt, so I (now that I have mastered the incredibly difficult tasking of using the "Magic Eraser" tool in Photoshop) had to black that out. The graphic on the Tee is still visible, but good luck using that to figure it out.

Best thing about this photo is that the dudes seem to be arranged by height from shortest to tallest. The guy on the right seems like a giant compared to his bandmates, although maybe that's just the camera perspective.

Have at it...

Update: So, "Anonymous" has correctly ID'd these guys as Savage Steel from Mississaugua, Ontario (Canada). Yet another New Renaissance Records band from the mid '80s. I'll refer you to all my previous New Ren band posts as to how I feel about SS. They may have been a decent band but you wouldn't have known it by the terrible recording and even worse album artwork on that first album. Witness:

Trailer Park Glam

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:35:00 +0000

All right, maybe trailer park glam is a little harsh, but the rise of L.A. glam in the early and mid '80s gave rise to a whole slew of bands from across the States who tried their best to imitate the big city sleaze. With mixed results.

You can make your own assessment of these guys—who I have pretty clearly indicated weren't from L.A. and were American—but everything about them says "good intentions unfulfilled" to me. The hair was big, but the rest is just a patchwork of wild patterns (and colors, I'm sure), women's accessories and Spandex. One of these dudes even had his band's name sewn on his Spandex that I had to crop out. And the big dude in the middle is wearing a Marilyn Monroe T-shirt.

Thanks to bands like these, mostly devoid of any remarkable talent and any sense of originality, glam devolved into a ridiculous parody of an already fairly ridiculous genre. It's no wonder it only took a couple of Northwest grunge bands to dust the whole scene in the early '90s. It was built on nothing but image by that point and the quality of the music was atrocious.

These guys were one of hundreds of bands hoping to score a major label deal and break it big like Ratt or Motley Crue. Never happened.

Update: Congrats to Saint for correctly IDing these guys as Tuff Luck. I know it may seem like I'm picking on this label a little bit, but these guys were also on New Renaissance Records and they were generally emblematic of the largely third-rate material the label cranked out in the mid '80s. Not everything on New Renaissance was terrible, but the label did release a plethora of poorly recorded and poorly packaged albums (see for yourself) that generally established a sketchy reputation for themselves. Tuff Luck were from Florida and their self-titled debut was released in 1987. Needless to say, it didn't help them realize whatever major label dreams they may have had. There was a subsequent album that appears to be self-released in 1993.

Longhairs With Bangs

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:21:00 +0000

Do these coiffs automatically qualify as mullets due to the bangs (fringe, I guess, in the UK) trimmed up to keep the hair out of their eyes? This was a very standard metal 'do in the Eighties, popularized most famously by Bruce Dickinson. Not a traditional mullet, which is short on the sides, as well, this is something of a hybrid.

These guys definitely look of an era and I'd imagine that their country of origin should at least be pretty easy. Since this is the only promo photo I've ever seen of the band, my guess is that someone else who's a regular here will recognize them at first glance.

Though I'm not entirely sure, I don't think that the dude in the lower right is wearing his own band shirt, so don't bother looking there for clues. Gotta love the flannel, though.

REPOST: A Chest As Smooth As A Baby's Bottom

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:01:00 +0000

Someone couldn't be bothered to button their shirt, or put on a T-shirt for this photo shoot. So feast your eyes on the oh-so-appealing glimpse of his pre-pubescent teenage boy-looking chest. Classy. Come and get it, ladies.

Doubtful he's looking as svelte these days, as this photo is at least 20+ years old and he may well have packed on a few pounds and successfully navigated the perils of puberty. Based on how freakin' obscure this band is (though they did manage to release a very hard to find album), we may never know.

The rest of the band aren't really that bad. The mirrored aviator shades are pretty sweet (pre-Axl Rose, of course) and, if nothing else, they managed to clearly establish a basic heavy metal look. No one was gonna mistake them for, say, Loverboy. OK, maybe Loverboy, but not Dexy's Midnight Runners.

Update: Keir has correctly identified these guys as Shining Blade from Italy. I absolutely loved their demo I received back in the mid '80s. One of the songs on that, " Winged Snake," ended up on the first Speed Metal Hell album (though I'd hesitate to call SB speed metal), which is where Keir spotted them. Apparently there was some sort of bootleg or quasi-legit release by these guys that came out a little later, Touch the Night, but I've never actually seen it or confirmed that it exists. I still have that demo, though. It's very NWOBHM-ish, but very technical and proggy (kind of a precursor to DragonForce, in a weird sort of way). I was always surprised that they didn't make a bigger impact, but so it goes.

REPOST: I Swear This Band Is From The '80s

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:23:00 +0000

I love this photo and, yeah, I know what band this is. I will be suitably impressed if anyone else gets this, because this is waaaay underground.

But look at that photo! It could have been taken in 1975! The facial hair, the leather jacket, the...everything! It's glorious how unintentionally retro this band looked. Once someone figures out their ID, I'll give you the full explanation as to why they look like this.

In the meantime, bask in the gloriousness of this photo and toss out a few guesses as to who it might be. (And, no, it's not Black Sabbath circa the Ian Gillan era, despite the obvious similarities...).

Update: I reposted this because "Anonymous" finally figured out who it is and I wanted to make sure it didn't get lost in the shuffle. This is, in fact, Lazarus Sin from Eugene, OR (hence the hippie-ish attire and overall image). Their self-issued debut, Intracranial Mass, which came out in 1988, is a cult progressive/thrash/power metal classic. It's even been reissued by the band, due to its underground notoriety and can be found here. I was living in Eugene when these guys were active and though they played shows, the Eugene scene didn't offer a lot of support. They were unjustly overlooked at the time and it's only in the last 20 years that people around the world have discovered what a solid band they were. I think at one point they changed their name to Lazarus and released a second album, but the debut (and get a load of that that cover below!) is the one to own.

And one more bonus pic from the same session as above.

The Fringe Era

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:18:00 +0000

Ozzy used to rock the fringe back in the day, but I think most people would agree that it's not a look that should have gone past, say, 1973. And it should have been mostly relegated to stage wear (and maybe rodeos). You know, so people in the back of the room can see you better when you've got both arms raised and you're giving them the peace sign.

So, we've got these dour-lookin' fellas and, sure enough, there's a leather jacket with some fringe on it—front and center. Dude even decided that the look would be even more badass if he went shirtless. His bro on the left might actually be looking worse, however, as he seems to have a rather large white stain in the crotchal region of his pants and not even his sweet leather vest can cover that up.

The right side of the photo looks vaguely like it was lifted from an Iron Maiden promo shot cira 1979 with these Paul Di'Anno and Steve Harris look alikes.

On the plus side, it doesn't seem that these guys spent nearly as much time working on their hair as the guys in Mystic Force.

Anyone recognize, 'em?

REPOST: These Boots Are Made For Rockin'

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:11:00 +0000

This was originally posted in late 2008. It's one of a handful of bands that remain unidentified. Please check out the comments in the original post before guessing. And, no, this isn't Rail.

This one should be a slam dunk. I put this up not so much because I think it will be particularly difficult to figure out, but more as an example of what bands in the early ’80s thought a metal promo photo should look like. I mean, c'mon!

To be fair, though, the entire scene was considerably less sophisticated then. Dudes in a small town with limited access to magazines and fanzines (or other local bands to look up to or emulate) only had a vague idea of what a metal band should look like so they just kind of filled in the blanks with whatever seemed kinda bad ass.

And sometimes that meant putting on giant fuzzy boots.

Update: This obviously didn't turn out to be as easy as I thought it would be, but Keir, after a little sleuth work finally figured out that this is Prophet, a rather short-lived band from California, who had a track on the very first New Renaissance release, Metal Madness. The dude wearing the boots is the dimunitive Jayme Minson, who later formed Arsin, while his ex-bandmates formed Synbad, neither of which did anything to speak of. We do wonder what happened to those boots, though...

Don't Touch the Hair, Dude

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:30:00 +0000

The most notable thing about this rather dull promo photo is the fact that all of these dudes have very immaculately coiffed 'dos. Which actually may help date them. I mean, no one looked like this in '82 or '83. Sure, bands had long hair, but it didn't look like this.

I think there may have been a curling iron involved here. Seriously. There was definitely a lot of styling mousse and/or Aqua-Net involved. I wonder if they all crowded around the same mirror spraying and fluffing up their long locks, maybe comparing styling techniques for getting those shorter bits on top to stand up nice and big.

Yeesh.

Anyway, have a happy Independence Day. Here's hoping (at least in America) you'll be drinking a cold beer (or three) and remembering this important piece of advice: Light the fuse and RUN!

Update: Congrats once again to Ian Christe for IDing this band as Mystic Force from Baltimore. They are apparently back together and recording. I don't know much about them, but they seem to be the kind of power metal/thrash combo that was pretty common in the late '80s. I think I might have had one of their demos. I presume Mr. Christe did, too, and probably has a copy of this same photo.

REPOST: Spot The '80s Wardrobe Essentials

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:53:00 +0000

This was originally posted in late 2008. It's one of a handful of bands that remain unidentified.

Let's start off by ticking off the checklist of essential "metal" accoutrements we can spot in this picture:

• Torn T-shirt (shredded to look like fringe). Check.
• Fingerless gloves. Check.
• Scarf tied around head. Check.
• Bandana around neck. Check.

I'm sure there are more that we just can't see.

A couple of other things bother me about this picture, though. First, why does the guy on the right look so scared of his bandmate's armpit hair? And second, why is blondie grabbing his bandmate's hair from behind and smiling so broadly?

My guess is that these guys are European and probably had an album or two out on some long-gone French label. Anyone?

2008 update: I "accidentally" discovered what band this is, and I will be stunned if anyone else gets it. Suffice to say, my guess (above) was right on the money. Good luck!

July 2009 update: Congrats to Alcolm X for figuring this one out. It is zee French band called Stators. My guess is that Alcolm X went to the Metal Archives and just clicked through all the French bands (yes, you can sort by country over there), until he spotted a very similar photo of the band. Which is fine. Doesn't matter to me what your methodology is. As for info about Stators, there's little out there. I still own their one and only album—...Never Too Late (1985, Axe Killer)—but it's been 20+ years since I've heard it. You can check out part of a track for yourself here. Not terrible, vaguely NWOBHM-ish. Mystery solved.

Moustaches: Metal or Not-Metal? Discuss.

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:52:00 +0000

Well, this is a meaty dish, isn't it? Lots to dig into here. Not the least of which are the fuzzy caterpillars crawling across two of these dudes' upper lips. I know that in certain circles of metal copious amounts of facial hair are now OK, but the hirsute look was not a popular one in the '80s. And the wispy, my-first-whiskers moustaches this pair is sporting aren't doing them any favors.

In general, the hair in this photo is not good, nor very metal. Only one dude is truly representin'. The others seem like they're trying—maybe they're new to the game—but it's overall a weak effort. And is the guy on the right wearing a skinny tie (or is it a cravat, or jaunty scarf?)? Very puzzling.

The inclusion of two axes in the photo would lead us to believe that guy on far left was the bassist, while cravat guy on the right was the guitarist. The fingerless leather gloves the other two are sporting would lead us to assume that one of them was the drummer. Let's hope the person fronting this band was the one with the long hair.

This photo may look somewhat familiar due to the fact that I posted another picture of this band way back on Election Day. It's one of a handful of bands on the site that remain unidentified. And since Keir suggested I repost some of them, this will be my first effort in that endeavor.

UPDATE: Well, it took a long-ass time, but Keir finally figured out that this is Siren. As he said, he was a huge fan, but he had no idea what they looked like, which I think is probably not uncommon. They were something of a cult power metal band of the mid '80s. I used to correspond with vocalist Doug "Dead" Lee, who was a helluva nice guy, so I do feel a little bad poking fun at this. It's all in good fun, Doug, I swear! Anyway, Doug ended up in German band Mekong Delta from 1990-1997, but I don't think the other guys went on to do much beyond the two albums they released on indie labels.

Revenge of the Nerds

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:59:00 +0000

Usedta be that metal was populated by the uncool dudes (see above). That's because it was patently uncool to be into metal at various times over the last 30 or so years. By "uncool" I mean not accepted by the masses.

So, yeah, plenty of freaks and outcasts found their way to the music. And, while I don't want to make any judgements about these guys based on this photo, my guess is that they were like me and my friends in high school in the early-'80s: a small tribe that kept to itself and was pretty much ignored by everyone else.

Hell, a picture of me and my friends back then would have looked pretty much exactly like this one—bad skin, funky haircuts and all. But these dudes were in a band, and we weren't (yet).

Any idea who they are?

Update: I can't sneak any New England bands past Ian. He immediately recognized these guys as Executioner, featuring Seth Putnam on the left. Seth wasn't the band's original bass player, but I think he joined after their first album. Executioner were one of the plethora of trashy mid-'80s "thrash" bands that seemed to be influenced by the early Metal Blade output. Most of them ended up on New Renaissance Records, and most of them were unremarkable. The artwork was terrible, the production was weak. Some of them may have actually been decent bands, but it was hard to tell from albums they released.

Happy Disembodied Head

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:18:00 +0000

Just stumbled across this in my personal "archives" (aka piles of crap collecting dust) and though the band looks really familiar, I have no clue who it is. So, up it goes. I'm pretty sure this'll be an easy one.

Even if it isn't, there's much to enjoy here. Not the least of which is the guy in the lower right corner who looks like he used an entire eye-liner pencil to make himself look like a scared raccoon. Totally not evil looking, dude. Fail.

And the smoke machine, while creating that Halloweenish ambiance they were obviously looking for, has the added benefit of making the guy in the upper right look like he has no body. And he seems cool with that. Maybe even a little ecstatic.

Enjoy, my friends. Enjoy. And also don't forget to post your comments and guesses.

Update: Any of you who are familiar with the logo, would have noticed that the dude in the lower left corner is wearing a Ruthless shirt. So, yeah, I do believe this is LA band Ruthless, who are reunited (or still together?). I like Keir's comment (and correct ID of the band) about their "confused evil glam look," because that about sums it up. The music was pretty similar. They put out an EP in 1984 on Iron Works in the States (and Axe Killer in Europe) and a full-length on Axe Killer in 1986. Fade to obscurity. There are probably Europeans who think this band are a god-like kvlt band (like Glacier, I bet they're huge in Greece), but they never did much for me. I like the photo, though. And anyone reading this who is a big Ruthless fan, feel free to contact me because I have a ton of Ruthless memorabilia from the mid-80s that the band sent me back in the day.

The Smallest Metal Band In The World

noreply@blogger.com (Brewtal Truth) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:49:00 +0000

Sorry that this picture is so small, but I guess it kind of fits the theme of the post. Most metal bands try to make themselves look larger than life somehow in their promo photos, but by staging this shoot in front of what I presume are giant doors, these guys end up looking like Lilliputians.

I think I would have also avoided wearing bright red shoes, leather jacket, T-shirt, etc. in front of the bright red doors. I am a big fan, however, of the leather-jacket-with-the-arms-pushed-up look. I'm kind of surprised no one ever had the idea to simply make 3/4-sleeve leathers. I mean, those stupid full-length sleeves are always getting in the way. And what is the deal with those bright red shoes?

As always, comments, guesses and conspiracy theories are welcome.

Update: OK, I screwed up and left the band's name on the photo file I uploaded, so I obviously gave it away. Didn't seem like anyone ID'd them based on how they looked. This is Portland, Oregon's own Glacier. Glacier was kind of a hard-luck band who could have been a lot bigger had a few breaks gone their way. They went through a lot of lineups in the early 80s, but hit their stride with the Mach III lineup in the mid 80s which featured vocalist Mike Podrybau, who they recorded the classic 3-song demo, "Ready For Battle" with. Small French label Axe Killer put out their only official recording, a self-titled, 5-song EP (which is incredibly hard to find) that featured the Podrybau-sung tracks from the demo, as well as two newer songs, each with a different vocalist: Keith Flax, Rex McNew. It must have been confusing to people who bought it at the time, since it pictured the four instrumentalists in the band (though it even misidentified two of them, see below) and didn't show any of the three vocalists. Glacier stayed together for a few more years and recorded another demo, this time with vocalist Tim Lachman (brother of Pat Lachman of Damageplan, Halford, etc.) who went on to sing for Gargoyle (who put out a now-highly sought after album on New Renaissance records). Apparently Glacier are quite the underground heroes in Greece and a bootleg CD called The Writer's Eye, which compiles all of the abovementioned material, was released by Greek label Hot Metal Records.