One of the many voices of the underground in Europe, yet maybe an even stronger voice in the 80's Metal scene in France. The once promising French EXCESS never reached the lion status, probably deserved more than the attention they had, but like always, so many bands, so much to offer and not always too many ears to catch. Starting out in 1983, the Heavy Metal band went back and forth, recording two albums in a sea that became vast each year. In 1986 the debut album "Melting Point" saw the light of day through the French Dream Records. The Greek No Remorse Records took it upon themselves to rehash the old French flame and provide it a proper reissue along with three demos to give you enough idea of the works in the studio.

Throughout the years I have been crossing old school French Metal bands and not just the big names. Bands such as ADX / SATAN JOKERS / FISC / WARNING / NIGHTMARE. If there is something that has been a stronger element in these bands' music, a kind of Metal that is correlated with EXCESS, is their flair. At least when approaching "Melting Point", there is a sort of an eerie feeling from the music, almost Gothic and obscure. The weird thing is that guitar work and rhythm section deliver conviction, especially the guitar work that is by the book. I believe that the band's front performance of Jean-Louis Thouvenot, as a whole in the album, didn't strike it as overly appealing, needless to say a voice to look up too. Sure he has that pattern of Klaus Meine (SCORPIONS) and Ian Astbury (THE CULT), yet there is simply no passion delivered, a tough time to connect with.

The material itself is rather good in general, I would have ruled out a few sections from some of the songs, as at times it sounded forced just to repeat verses or C parts over the over. Songs like "Cut" and "Burning the Night Away" are a pure 80s Metal sensation, crossing pads with SAVATAGE / VAN HALEN / BLACK SABBATH. "The Game" has the obscurity tagging attached to it. There is a good gothic vibe along with a killer melodic riff that drives the ship forward, so simple to play but so good altogether. "Rough Edge" is a nice catchy tune but with a spectacular main riff, with a classic guitar sound, that made listen to old SAVATAGE albums. The demos featured on the tracklist are in a fairly good quality, ranging an old record, showing fine examples of tunes that are perceived as the band's finest. I liked the recording of "Foreign Lands" that for some reason sounded a bit punchier than the album version.

"Melting Point" should have a place within a Metal collector's treasures, it sounds good, has a stack of riffs waiting to be explored and in overall a good atmosphere.