Back in 1985: A long-haired metalhead, saving on money all week for his Saturday vinyl 'shopping therapy', checks the latest releases on the shelves in the 'Heavy Metal' division of his town's local record store. Having 'melted' Accept's discography so far on his turntable, full of enthusiasm for the mini-LP debut of 'these' Helloween guys, tormented by the rising power of these Speed Metal demons called Running Wild, scared of the rumors for the next keyboard-featured Iron Maiden effort, bumps onto a 'shining' yellow/brown-ish album cover.
Hmmm...Atlain - G.O.E....The cover artwork could be familiar to Iron Maiden's Powerslave. He remembers his buddy Michael (let's say) who told him 'bout this band the previous week. What was that album's title? Living In The City? Living In The Night? Living In The Dark? What the hell.... Should he check this one out or should he grab the Avenger - Prayers Of Steel full length he'd also been told about? Another buddy advised him so, warning him for a storming Metal hell coming out of the vinyl's grooves.
He decides to buy the Atlain copy and - after the 'deed' is done - walks back home for his afternoon session. Tearing the sealed copy, he puts the record on the turntable. Ah, his buddy Michael (remember?) drops by at the right time; he's gladly invited to also listen to our friend's new collection piece. Glad his friend followed his 'purchasing' advice, 'mastermind' Michael unveils Atlain's historical data.
The band was formed in 1980, adopting its name from the Perry Rhodan same titled novel. Gaining a record deal in 1984 with the Earthshaker label (Steeler, Lions Breed, Xxaron), they released the Living In The Dark debut with Ralph Hubert (Mekong Delta) as the producer. The album was typical German Heavy/Speed Metal (Accept, Gravestone, Brainfever, Stormwitch, Steeler) with great songwriting but mediocre sound.
I read about this one some days ago, that it's far better than the debut; most of the German Metal media praise this album. There are already scheduled live gigs, also, for Atlain with Steeler, Living Death and Holy Moses among others. Can't you see, as we're now listening to the album? Straightforward guitar riffs, demonized drumming, storming bass lines, rough vocals, sharp guitar solo work? Powerful music, rapid and thunderous. I can almost compare many tunes to this new Speed/Thrash music. Look, the drummer is fuckin' awesome. He'll play in a major band some day, I'm damn sure 'bout this! And the bassist, huh? He's a killer!
Forth in 2006: Sonic Age Records re-releases (under kind permission of the Rusty Diamond label) the German Heavy/Speed metallers Atlain's G.O.E. (Gates Of Eternity) sophomore 1985 album, a really representative effort of excellent raw German Metal. It's a shame the German Media overestimated everything foreign in the mid 80's, the same time that German Metal bands were the ones closer to the term 'Heavy Metal'...Three live demo recordings are also listed here - as bonus tracks. Fans of the mid-80's German sound (see bands in the above paragraphs for relation) will adore this one.
Michael was right: drummer Chris Midias (real name Chris Efthimiadis) later on joined the famous Rage camp, while bassist Andre Chapelier gained fame with both Mekong Delta and Target. And I'm worried more than ever for what my poor ears are open to every single day in the 21st Century of (let's say) Heavy Metal music. If you don't have the original vinyl, grab this a.s.a.p.!