Ελληνικά
Nobody can blame anyone in the eighties for misjudging or being guilty (as sin…, ok that was lame I know) for not paying the appropriate attention to some bands or specific albums that were released at the time. So many bands, so many albums so many sub genres in a panspermia of creativity and artistic quests. Youth back then were totally mad and totally gone wild and it was almost crystal clear that many worth exploring and some hidden gems wouldn’t have the right support from the fans or the Press. Thankfully nowadays there are many small labels that managed to give an opportunity mostly to us the newer generations to meet some excellent bass and some brilliant albums, secret jewels to enrich our discotheques.
Bloodlust is one of these bands that should but never took serious attention from Speed metal fans when they were at their blossom. ‘Guilty as Sin’ is their debut originally released in 1986 via Metal Blade Records, even though it wasn’t appearing on any of the label’s famous Metal Massacre compilations.
Hailing from Los Angeles Bloodlust were criminally overlooked as their music had nothing to be jealous from great albums of the time. Their style was close enough to Exciter and Razor. I would dare to say that Bloodlust had even more variety in their sound than the two Canadian gangs and I find a similarity with Abattoir (please notice that later Abattoir’s vocalist Steve Gaines born Stephen Hagelganz will join Bloodlust) early Anthrax and Flotsam and Jetsam too. Still stubborn enough to make die-hards fall in love with their fast speed tracks ‘Soldier of Fortune’, ‘Tear It Up’ and ‘Rising Power’. Yet a couple of mid-tempo songs prove that the guys had the talent to write great tunes not only based in velocity. (‘Chainsaw’, ‘Bleeding For You’). They had also two great slow tempo anthems (‘Ride to Death’ and ‘Too Scared to Run’) without losing any of their power and dynamic.
Their strong card was the razor sharp Judas Priest inspired riffs, the balance between melodic parts and furious ones and their charismatic frontman Guy Lord. His voice has a Angel between Hugh pitched screams and lower growls that match perfectly with the music. The production is lo-fi that almost buries the bass lines but it is 100% obscure that now 35+ years later sounds cult to our ears.
Fans of Détente, Damien Thorne, Agent Steel, Znowhite, Savage Grace, Savage Steel and all the aforementioned bands above will appreciate this forgotten treasure.
Excellent reissue by Lost Realm Records of a record that encapsulates what speed metal was all about 35 years ago. The reissue of “Guilty As Sin” features the original 7 tracks, plus 3 unreleased tracks taken from the 1987 “Anti-Life” demo. A brand new mastering conducted by Bart Gabriel (Skol Records/Iron Oxide Records) for best audio experience. It was printed to limited 300 numbered copies (200x in black vinyl + 100x in ghost white vinyl, exclusive to Lost Realm Records store), and it includes: an 8-page booklet with liner notes, lyrics, rare photos/clippings, a band’s promo photo, a hand -numbered certificate card and a woven patch (available on the ghost white vinyl only). The CD edition is available on Skol Records.
