I didn't know New Renaissance was still active after all these years but not only they obviously are, but they're also healthy and doing an excellent job at re-releasing these ultra rare classics we would have a hard time finding today. This label was among the very first to release Cd versions of their albums in the eighties: I personally got my copy of "Ride the Lightning" on Cd only in 1985 or 1986 and that was the very first thing I got on compact and one of the first Metal releases hitting the "deluxe" fomat ever I think, so it's interesting to read how close this album was released for the first time, 1988! It's been really quite a while since I have listened to this kind of Power/Thrash Metal (read the words Power as in Jag Panzer, Warlord, Exciter etc, not sexually ambiguous fantasy inspired pop-metal), so all of a sudden I have a complete blank area in my memory and I cannot mention any bands which might convincingly remind of this Steel Prophet, which is ridicolous becouse they're definitely not "strikingly original" at all. Sticking to sheer impressions, this is definitely above average, absolutely non-mellow Metal, but rather a crunchy and relatively powerful sort with raucous vocals and power moshing structures that could be remotely remind of the crustiest, dirtiest skateboard-core era Metallica, right after Burton died, but before their delusion of grandiosity produced the "...and Justice for All" folding Lp. Even if I guess not every band can sound as tight as Rigor Mortis, there is just a lot of empty space hovering here which makes everything sound a bit diluted, lacking a small todbit of energy. I am sure one has to get acquainted to older sounds before digging this fully, my ears just have been calibrated to different sounds year after year so today I am just a bit out of synch with this breed of Metal. Compared to modern sounds, the songwriting is delicious taking each element singularly but in the whole it comes to be a bit too loose. However I got the same impression last week when, in a rush of revival, I picked up a few albums I did't remember well by bands like Sacrosanct, Slammer and Iron Angel, and hell, I admit time tends to make everything look so much bigger and better, so you know how much of a picky arsehole I have become eh. I am afraid this album doesn't stand well the test of time like the other amazing reissues by this label named Dream Death and Blood Feast. But this is a limited, numbered release of just 1000 copies world-wide (now how fucking statistically impossible is it that only two copies have been sold in Italy so far and the other one was bought by a girl whose name I never heard of in my whole life, but living in my same hole of a CITY?) and the cover alone recaptures the style and mood of the good side of 80's metal, AND this is also the only release by this band ever, so if you don't want to run the risk of losing it forever, go and buy a copy in a hurry, becouse even if very vintage sounding and looking, this is still high quality stuff. If according to the Iron Pegasus label manager the Massacre demo release was meant to look vintage and not just bare, I think one gets the idea of what he meant by wtaching this booklet: just a few elements fill up everything on the single sheet booklet like only those old records were able to.

 

Tracks (9): 1 - Justice Day 2 - No More 3 - The Cage 4 - The Old Man 5 - Choose Death 6 - Nowhere to Hide 7 - Synchronized 8 - Too Fast 9 - Private Room