Seattle, the seaport city on the West Coast of the United States was huge for extreme sound during the 80’s. Especially for Heavy Metal. In addition to all the big name bands that came out of that city, a large number of bands also tried their luck too. Obviously, in a cruel world as the one of music industry, with no better results than the ones that most of them had. Medusa is one of these cases. Medusa was formed in 1988. Coming from a diverse background the 5 member lineup quickly became a staple in the Seattle metal club scene and also opened for several national acts. It all began when at an early stage Stefan Olsson moved from Sweden to Seattle and met Carl Cooler on high school. It turned out they had identical Gibson SG guitars so it was only natural for them to start a band together. They played in various bands before going into different directions. In the meantime Litsa Georgiadis grew up watching her big brother Billy playing in bands while listening to singers like Ann Wilson, Bruce Dickinson, Udo Dirkschneider, Rob Halford, Ronnie James Dio and Doro. Billy was learning how to shred the guitar in the veins of Montrose, Malmsteen, Rhoads and Lynch. Litsa met Stefan when she auditioned for his band. That project subsequently fell through but Litsa and Stefan stayed together and was married soon after. Then they decided to form a new band with Billy but they needed a drummer and bassist…Luckily Stefan had just met Tim Mejdrich at their day job and Carl stepped up to fill in on bass so the lineup was quickly complete. The only thing was missing was a name…Litsa and Billy are half Greek and half Japanese descend so it seemed quite obvious to choose a moniker that would be based on a mythology figure. Probably as it was a female fronted band they landed easily in Medusa! By early 1990 Medusa had written a full set of songs had played a number of local gigs and were ready to record ‘Dare to Rock’. I believe that Litsa Georgiadis’s raw and expressive voice plays the key role in this release. Still some harsh riffs here and there and the powerful guitar lines form highlights such as ‘Reach for the Sky’, ‘Corruption’ and the title track, but truth be told I can’t avoid on mentioning her excellent performance here as the ultimate factor on why I dig this cd. After all it is a 100% genuine underground gem, a hidden treasure full of powerful and straightforward Heavy Metal hymns. The mini-album ‘Dare To Rock’ (originally released on cassette), represents a long-lost chapter in female-fronted US Metal. If you’re a fan of Chastain, Hellion, Warlock and Taist of Iron, you can’t miss this release that features some very memorable moments (including brilliant riffs and high pitched screams) of pure US Heavy Metal at its best. Never officially released before, Lost Realms Records brings you a CD and vinyl reissue of ‘Dare To Rock’, including unreleased bonus tracks, extensive liner notes, rare photos and lyrics.