Review BLITZKRIEG “Blitzkrieg”

A band that belongs to the first wave of the NWoBHM is Blitzkrieg. The band formed in 1980 after performing as Split Image for a year. Despite being a veteran band, it took a while for Blitzkrieg to become an iconic band.

It was in 1985 when Blitzkrieg released their debut album, while the attention was already there as Metallica covered “Blitzkrieg”. The track was released on the band’s first demo, and the Bay Area thrashers put a cover of the blistering anthem on the “Garage Inc. EP and the song was the B-side of the “Creeping Death” single.

This was in 1984, one year before Blitzkrieg’s debut, and things didn’t go smoothly from there, as the sophomore album was released ten years later.

Blitzkrieg is a band that has been on hiatus or even split more than once, and it took until 2001 for the element of stability to finally take over.

Driven by frontman Brian Ross, Blitzkrieg has continued and most of their releases have hit the shelves since then. The latest work is simply called “Blitzkrieg” and contains ten traditional heavy metal songs.

It’s a heavy metal thunder that starts the album. Riff power and a loud scream from Ross kick off “You Won’t Take Me Alive”. The songs contain some catchy melody lines reminiscent of the late 80’s and it is the following “The Spider” that reflects a same approach. It’s the nostalgic spirit more than the big innovation that fuels Blitzkrieg, with songs like “Vertigo” being an anthem in denim and leather.

Loud and powerful “I Am His Voice” bursts out of the speakers, followed by the heavy pounding “The Night He Came Home”. The final song on this release is also the one with the longest running time. We haven’t heard a ballad before and “On Olympus High – Aphrodite’s Kiss” is not a standard ballad either. It is an eight minute song that starts quietly though and displays the vocal range of Brian Ross as his voice is pretty much in focus before the song slowly builds up. It is the epic moment of the album, the most atmospheric song on the album.

“Blitzkrieg” is typical heavy metal from a band with roots in the 80s. Building on this legacy, the latest record still sounds fresh and has a well-executed dynamic that makes listening to these ten songs a pleasure for fans of traditional heavy metal.