In 1982 a few Belgian lads decided to start a band and call it EXPLORER. Due to the wide variety of influences they opted to use all of them in their music. It results in a NWOBHM band that is not afraid to use Heavy, Speed and even Thrash Metal to complete their sound. The only official release they had was two songs on the 1986 Roadrunner Records compilation album “Metal Race”. As with so many of the old music, it never reached a big audience back then, but in recent times the attention to those kinds of bands has been turned up a notch. That has resulted in Metal Warrior Records taking an interest and rereleasing all the old demos, plus of course the two songs of the compilation album. The result is caught on the album “Chainsaw Anthems”, which is due to the band actually wielding a real one on the stage during their live shows.

I sometimes am amazed at some of the rereleases that are being thrown at us because they are a lot better than I expected. Other times I am scratching myself behind the ears because I can’t understand why anyone would be interested in the same unfathomable noise once more. As for “Chainsaw Anthems”, it is a case of being right in between the two. It’s all well done, but nothing jumps out at me as extraordinary. EXPLORER makes rather aggressive music with a lot of influences, and they have quite the Heavy vibe going on. They surely must have been quite a force to encounter when live on stage. What saddens me most is the fact that even though the record company has tried its best to clean up the old recordings, they still are rather poor in sound quality.

You can hear the difference when you get to the two songs of the compilation., as they have received the proper treatment, and all of a sudden, the music of EXPLORER starts to make more sense. I must state though that even these tracks don’t have a perfect sound. The power and excitement of these live tracks is not being properly translated unto the record. But it is what it is and I can only say that I am still enjoying listening to “Chainsaw Anthems”, as it does give me an insight onto another piece of the Heavy Metal history of the Lowlands. And that is something I as a real Dutch Metalhead will always treasure.