Where did all the smiles go? I can remember growing up as a nipper in our grimy industrial hell-hole, and my dad playing his burgeoning collection of metal 7”. There was something about his Saxon and Judas Priest anthems that although bristling with attitude, had enough anthemic power to make even the hardest of faces crack into involuntary smiles. Show me the miserable bastard that doesn't grin to “Take On The World”, and I'll eat my own rather substantial hat. Somewhere down the line, however, metal has been losing the power to invoke the cracked fizzog, the simple power of the power chord to conjure a toothy grin. Yeah, so modern underground bands have plenty of attitude and po-faced aggression, but where did the fun go?
Right on cue, enter stage right Stuka Squadron. I had been looking forward to this for a very long time. Featuring the right honourable James Begley (ex-Centurions Ghost), and originally featuring ex-Nefilim guitarist the...erm...Mastergoth, this was always going to be a very special release. Featuring huge, anthemic heavy metal tunes, this is music to pump your fist to (and not in the way you usually do, intarwebz perverts!). The image is pure genius, the sort of thing that I think posers such as the Deathstars have been groping towards, but failing at utterly. Combining fictional wehrmacht chic (Nazis make great film villains, as opposed to the real life Nazis who were, let's be honest, cunts) with undead appeal, the thought of an undead Stuka Squadron playing these fantastic, crowd pleasing metal tracks is enough to make even the hardest of hearts melt just a little. A band cannot exist on image alone, however (just ask Machine Head), and to their credit, the Squadron come up trumps on this four-tracker.
The eponymous “Stuka Squadron” is a rousing opener, surging on from opening sounds of a crash-landing dive bomber; the chorus is so immensely huge that casts its own shadow. With a very rock back bone, there's also a melodramatic, flirtatiously goth guitar melody that provides just enough camp appeal to make this the blue-collar heavy metal equivalent of Saxon providing the soundtrack to a lesser known Hammer house of horror war-horror film; possibly starring the late Ralph Bates. It's all here – from the pounding, flawless bass work courtesy of Pyre to the soaring, none-more-true vocals of Begley himself. “One-eyed God King” follows hard, a crunchy mid-paced stomper, breaking down into a very NWoBHM chorus, with an out-of-kilter time signature that leaves you reeling more than a hammer blow from Thor himself. “Lovecraft” is a brooding number, with some particularly tasty guitar work, leading to a chorus refrain that is more infectious than a bit wet sloppy kiss from Shub-Niggurath herself. “We Drink Blood” is the big stadium rocker, a track that epitomises all that is Stuka Squadron. Great, rousing guitar work, massive hooks and vampiric attitude. This is crying out for a matching video! Good, solid traditional heavy metal the way it was meant to be played – loud.
All in all, just the tonic I had been waiting for in such a compact package! I can't fault the production, which is meatier than a back street butchers, the song writing which is sharp and refined, or the attitude, which is completely old school metal. It's a four tracker, which is the only downside, because I have could have listened to a whole lot more of the Squadron. Let the miserable fuckers playing flavour-of-the-month metal make way – the Squadron is dive bombing 500lb trad-metal bombs on you! Early contender for debut of the year. The gauntlet has been thrown.
http://www.myspace.com/stukageschwader666
