Two years passed since the debut "Fear Of Tomorrow", and the Danish ARTILLERY drew out their second card in a building up deck, "Terror Squad", originally released via Neat Records, dating to 1987. Currently, this album is the last of the reissues for the earlier ARTILLERY discography, nevertheless, I have the feeling that Dissonance Productions would someday cross swords with the band's later career indulgences.

Circling the period of "Terror Squad", Thrash Metal bands at the time, especially in North America and Europe, found their way to utter heaviness in their music, introducing a raised bar of the blood soaked moshpits of their fans. I can practically say the same for ARTILLERY with the unraveling of "Terror Squad", however, it indicated how articulate these guys were back in the day, even in their yet to be unpolished musical approach. They will break your bones with upbeat tempos and a fistful of power infested guitar riffs, no doubt about it, but they will also mess with your mind while doing so.

Although I found "Fear Of Tomorrow" to be a tiny bit superior to "Terror Squad", I believe that none can ever hesitate to the fact that there is a superbness to the latter. Unlike on its predecessor, the in your face style singing of Mr. Rönsdorf turned fairly melodic, not mainly barking the lyrics like a madman, but also putting some notice to actual singing in different tones. Furthermore, the songwriting stepped forward with a series of formidable tunes that are brain rattlers, delivering a kind of progression that ensures interest. Still not wacky as the Canadian VOIVOD, which took technical means into a whole different level of craziness, ARTILLERY maintained their devotion to Traditional Metal as a core basis. And with a core base being Traditional Metal, an impressive deployment of harmonious twin guitar action that took a steady solid ground on "Terror Squad".

"Terror Squad", a personal favorite, and I sense that plenty of other Metal maniacs like me admire it too, is this album's number one. First of all, its chorus is might brutal, pushes the ability to headbang long to a limit. It has a fine groove, tasty riffs, sonic soloing and a little room for oddities. "Hunger and Greed" may be a little less on the gas pedal in both quality and performance than the previously mentioned track, yet it serves as fine teaser of what ARTILLERY is to become in the next in line, "By Inheritance". The opening destroyer "The Challenge" is surely one of the finest opening bursts of purified Thrash Metal in the genre, energetic and devouring, exploring the band's ability to come up with METALLICA style riffs with full load of upgrades, mutating into something bewildering. Do yourselves a favor and listen also to "In The Trash", "Let There Be Sin" and "Therapy".

Following the release of "Terror Squad", and you can probably notice clearly which album of the band I favor, ARTILLERY were on the verge of become bigger. Truth be told that it still amazes me how this band never reached the recognition they deserve. On the other hand, they have their earlier albums to be proud of, as these started a whirlwind that still going strong.