Over the years catch phrases in Heavy Metal music like "Long Live Metal", "Fight In The Name Of Metal" etc., has made Metal fans cheer with pride when the shrieks of electric guitar lines filled the air. After listening to so many bands that were and has been taking their full attention to the power of the genre, each time I state to myself that the group in question has to "show me the money", meaning their worth on making something good out of it. I can explain my notion due to the fact that the Metal theme has been the nourishment of a large amount of bands' legacies and therefore it kept on showing the same presentations that in some way began to tire. Only several bands of the same really have impressed me over the past decade, to my delight SKULL FIST was one of them.

I think it was a year ago when I heard SKULL FIST for the first time. Right from the start I recognized them as another band that showed great dedication and care to old school Heavy Metal. Their goal, as they seemed to carve it on their skins, was to bring back the classic to Heavy Metal, meaning to breed the fire that has lost its energy over the years. The band's EP "Heavier Than Metal" set the tone for their current reality. 80s Heavy Metal has never been so vintage, bright, melodic yet strong with fists held high. Following the band's winning in the Rock The Nation Award, SKULL FIST were the newly signed to the festival's on growing label, Noise Art Records. That signing paved the road for the Canadians to put out their debut album, "Head Of The Pack".

I can say on and on that SKULL FIST is what so heavily missed in the North American scene due to the rise of modernity, but I already mentioned that way too much. When I snooped the catchy Heavy Metal assaults on "Head Of The Pack" I came to notice pretty fast that I was listening to the Canadian version of HOLY GRAIL or even WHITE WIZZARD. In comparison to those two new age NWOBHM bands, SKULL FIST showed a pure sense of speed while strapping themselves even harder to song structures  that turned past material into long standing hits. Therefore you can conjure that SKULL FIST didn't came to intrigue or test your mind, they came to put the paddle to the Metal while performing it with ease and excellence according to tradition.

To be honest, as an old school fan, I didn't quite like the album's production. Although the old school sound smacked my head a few times, and that felt good, I believe that the vocals of Slaughter should have been a bit more in front and that the base drum should have gotten slight more recognition that it had. Nevertheless, the material, even if most of it came out as a pure refined cliché, turned me upside down. This band's talents can't be ignored, no sir. It is not that these guys has been such great Metal wizards, yet, their writing skills on creating such addictive and absolutely fun Metal fused tracks, kicked ass and hard.

As "Head Of The Pack" kept on streaming forward, "Cold Night", my favourite Speed Metal sentence and "Get Fisted" that took my heart by surprise with its utter glory, stood out as should have played back in 1985, a true to be classic killers. Riding on with eternal simplicity and charging high note quality vocals, SKULL FIST entrusted other hits that have to be on your playlist for every event. "Commanding The Night", "Ride On", that seemed to hold a strong connection to old MOTLEY CRUE tracks of the early 80s, "Head Of The Pack" and the anthem that inflicted this profound disease that is called Metal, "No False Metal".

I know that some of you guys probably won't be so amazed by this group as I did because there is nothing really new here. However, if this stuff is played to perfection and if there is a longing for such high quality, SKULL FIST should be expected with open arms. SKULL FIST, along with the newer bands of old school Heavy Metal, is a thing of the future and dare us not to embrace them.