The Minnesota Metal Knights known as DEADLY ASSASSIN have finally put together a compilation on Stormspell Records which includes their much sought after 1987 "Metal Massacre" Demo. I am not too familiar with this act, and I recall hearing about them in passing during the '80s when they were still calledASSASSIN. Although, since I grew up in San Diego, I was mostly familiar with the Metal act of the same name from California, who was often featured on weekly radio airings of "Metal Shop".

When I first received this music digitally to review, I instantly recognized some association with Florida's NASTY SAVAGE; especially, given the name of the compilation - "The Metal Knights". Even the last track after the decent ANTHRAX cover seems like a rough version of "Unchained Angel" which Nasty Ronnie's band featured both on their 1984 World Metal compilation "Iron Tyrants" and their "Abstract Reality" EP.

When I listen to the songs, I am definitely reminded of SENTINEL BEAST, DETENTE, DEADLY BLESSING, JAG PANZER, SATAN'S HOST, AGENT STEEL, early SCREAMER, and ATTACKER. However, the music most closely resembles the first three KING DIAMOND albums. In fact Tony Santine tries desperately to imitate the KING, and at times he does a damn good job of it. The tirades of the evil "Satan's Imprisoned" truly sound like the beginning aspects of "The Jonah".

The production values are not bad given the age of this material, and I wish I had an actual CD so that I could learn more information about them. Overall, if you are a fan of those dark evil forces on Metal Blade, New Renaissance, Combat, and Roadrunner Records from the '80s, and if you like that dark, haunting, Traditional Metal sound, then the might and spirit of DEADLY ASSASSIN is worth experiencing.