Gather around people and let me some of that cheap booze, it's headbanging time, going crazy, kicking ass and partying till the last man standing straight before puking his guts out with a thrill of glory. It never stops till it is fully rocked, cocked and loaded, screeching loudly, bursting of the Rock N' Roll ball and chain. The arts of dirt dowsing Rock N' Roll, originally bred by the Aussie gods of Rock N' Roll, AC/DC, has never been that of a secret, yet the sound, general excitement from the tunes and the electric crunch coming from the mid packed saw guitars will always sound fantastic, even though might be agonizing at times, on this upcoming case, due a production that lost its belief in cutting the mids. The German BLACKBIRD, subsequent to a chunk full load of bands that did and doing the AC/DC thing like AIRBOURNE, BUCKCHERRY, RHINO BUCKET, THE DATSUNS among the various out there, haven't really been renewing anything, just flanking the route to success through the Aussie busting crunchy fervor, not necessarily ripping it off, but in their own way, making it their own. "Of Heroes And Enemies" is their debut album, newly signed to the local Pure Rock Records, and it clearly shows a party hard band, letting the Rock to roll as hard as they can, just having fun.

Gradually, BLACKBIRD built their character as the same crunch Gibson lamented Hard Rock / Rock N' Roll as AC/DC, while doing so they implemented several Glamish features that might be induced within the Sleazier crops of the subgenre, more leather and chains and less the color. Furthermore, there is a distinct Slash mantra within the lead guitaring, which sounded excellent, Angus Dersim, can't be sure that it is actually his real first name, can be deemed as a fanatic fan of Slash's impassioned playing, and it shows on his lead fretwork. Far from being anything closer to a copycat, Dersim shows a promising trait on kick those leads into gear. And as for his vocals, I was entertained by a young Brian Johnson crowded with Udo Dirkschnieder. Back to the material, as easy as it gets, in your face kind of Rock N' Roll, leaving no place for mistakes that it is eat them or ditch them. "Of Heroes And Enemies" has its share of road burning Rockers and pitchfork anthems of blue collar / street talk redness. The riffs are clearly AC/DC trademark, sometimes even too close to the Aussie crown, yet still stifling and hot with grinding bang. Rhythm section also shows its solidness, basically playing it cool and dictating the mid tempo pacing of the right to Rock.

Although being just a chip near the AC/DC block, and I know I said that much, apparently closer than I thought it would, "Deuce" crept into my senses. Feeling easy and boozy, it shot its shells with toughness, whether the riffs is slight case of mimicking I didn't really care that much, as the entire package, including a grasping solo, formulated an awesome anthem. "Hero" signified something that BLACKBIRD should build themselves on, a bit similar to BUCKCHERRY, it is a groovy smack in the face, an anthem to be immersed by its impending riffery and shrapnel soloing, easy to digest and also tempting for a reply. "Not About You" and "Right to Rock" have the potential on becoming stadium rockers, cutting like the sharpest knife around, sometimes into a deep headache due to the album's engineering that should have done something about those mid-levels of the guitars, simply riffed and firing straight to the heart, honest Rock N' Roll without extras.

I can easily stop here. A few fillers, or just songs sounding the same, on the list, but none will hurt your listening experience, trust me. BLACKBIRD based themselves upon the past and from this debut, I think that they can develop their message of Rock in their own way, only time will tell.