HALLOWEEN faced some tough times following the release of their debut, "Don't Metal With Evil." As if their internal squabbling wasn't bad enough, their label dropped them. In between all of this turmoil, the band recorded "Victims Of The Night" in 1986. Because of the loss of their label, this album floated around until it was finally released in 1997. Obviously, it was overlooked for the most part, even considering that HALLOWEEN was an underground band to begin with.

The lineup is the same that recorded "Don't Metal With Evil," but the consistency that bolstered the first album isn't as strong here. However, there's a bit more variety to be found throughout. The songs are still relatively straightforward, but there are more acoustic sections and other things that show some slight growth in terms of songwriting. The song lyrics are mostly not directly based on Halloween, but rather horror themes in general. That being said, the lyrics are still pretty silly.

Chances are that if you liked their debut, you'll probably like this one too. As mentioned earlier, it isn't as consistent, but there are still some very enjoyable songs with lots of solos. The ballad, "No Place," is surprisingly good! It's even better than "Justice For All" from the debut. Since this is a re-release, there are some bonus tracks included, which are alright, but nothing special. The sound is also remastered, so it is an improvement over the original, but sadly they were not able to get rid of that awfully dated 80s drum sound.

I'm certainly glad that these albums are being re-released, because before this they were so hard to find, especially this one. Between the two, I prefer the debut, simply because most of the songs on that album are better when compared to the ones on "Victims of the Night." However, fans of straightforward 80s Heavy Metal are encouraged to seek this one out.