AMERICADE. I have to confess I had never heard of these New Yorkers before. And if you go through the line up, there is one name that might look familiar, Dave Spitz. And you would be right, as this actually is the broither of the famous ANTHRAX bassist Dan Spitz. And although that might have been one of the reasons for the release of these live recordings, the more important must have been the kind of music that AMERICADE plays.

“Live in New York 1982” is filled with old fashioned Heavy Metal with a lot of Melodic influences. Word of warning first, though; this is not a high definition quality recording, but by the sound of it, one straight from the audience. Or, as was customary in those days, recorded with some microphones at special places in the hall. The sound is dark and missing a lot of the high tones. Yes, even after cleaning up the recordings on “Live in New York 1982” it still is a bit dull sounding.

Don't let that fool you, though, as this album clearly showcases what kind of a band AMERICADE was and makes you wonder whjy nobody seized the opportunity to sign this band and distribute their music all over the world. If you want a comparison, RIOT is one that would fit nicely. It does help that P.J. de Marigny is a good singer, with a voice that can handle variety and intensity. And to be frank, the instrumentalists are just as impressive, as every song sounds very strong and coherent.

But what matters most to us as listeners is that all songs have that kind of quality that will have you take notice, will start the goose bumps coming up and make you enjoy the whole live show. All eleven songs are rather pleasing for the ears. The bonus live demo has another problem; the sound on these three songs is even poorer than on the live recording. But again, you will still be able to hear the quality of AMERICADE shining through. And there you have it, “Live In New York 1982” is rather good, if you are able to withstand the poor sound. I usually am quite reluctant in that matter, but AMERICADE has surprised me in such a positive manner that I can only attest to enjoying what AMERICADE is brining to the table on “Live In New York 1982”. Oh, as the band is non existent now, you can only order this album through the record companies.