A thing that I always have in mind is that everything must die.

It's a conception based upon that nothing can stay forever, as it is, especially when you speak about Metal sound as a whole style. The survival of the fittest is a reality that Mother Science itself explains by many forms and theories.

After that, I can explain this: what was good in the past is still good, but if it isn't something outstanding in the past, time isn't enough to turn lead into gold. And I'm sorry, because I can't see the reason for SACRED FEW's existence back on the 80s. Now, the reissue of their only album, "Beyond the Iron Walls", seems to me something that really isn't special.

They are just another good band that lived between the end of the seventies and the first half of the 80s. Good, but not essential, and it's not the fact of a female vocalist can turn this album something really special. Sorry again, but I think that in this matter, no name can beat THE RODS as the grandfathers of American Metal. Of course their music has it values, but it's nothing something that we can't leave without it.

The sound quality is good enough for us all to understand the band and its music, but it really seems as hundred of independent albums from the same time (the original release of it was 1985). It lacks of a better sound quality that some albums from those days (as OMEN's "Battle Cry" or RUTHLESS' "Metal Without Mercy") had. Sorry to say, but the quality is not the best their work deserved back then.

There are 16 songs on the album, comprising all they had recorded. It's just that mix of Heavy Metal in the JUDAS PRIEST way, along with some Hard Rock influences and lots of energy. But after all these years, it sounds too dated, different from classics as "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" or "Fireball", that time is not able to erode.

But in this trend of revival from 80's Metal, some fans will love songs as the energetic "Wildlife", the abrasive slow tempos of "Last Chance" (but these high pitches screams sometimes are really disgusting), the Hard'n'Rocker "Coming to Your Town" and its energetic riffs, the slow and intense "Sea of Thought" (where some BLACK SABBATH on Dio's era is clear, especially on the rhythmic session work), the heavy Blues influence that "Children of the Night" presents, and the hooking work of the guitars on "Beyond the Iron Walls". The ten first tracks comes from "Beyond the Iron Walls" itself, but the others are coming from many recordings that I just can find any information, as the good work from bass guitar on "Gotta Believe" and "Better Look Back" with its Hard Rock touches. But on the end, the two last tracks, "Sacred Few" and "Low Rider", come from their first single, and are good songs as well. But good on those days means nothing for today.

Ok, it's an archeologist work, but I just can't understand what someone could find on "Beyond the Iron Walls" that explains the reason for this reissue. Maybe reissuing RUTHLESS, OMEN, LIZZY BORDEN or THE RODS albums would be a better choice.<