Minus2Zebra 2015
Lucky number triumph from original Brit metal fighters whose aces, and axes, are still high.
After their return from a dozen-year hiatus in 2012, there’s been no rest for this quartet who set about reclaiming their proper position in the NWOBHM realm. Gracing festival stages, the band reach out to those who only heard of them to stun the punters with a rather fierce, though reined in for the sake of tune, show – as documented on the second disc of the veterans’ latest package where the non-fearsome foursome deliver the whole of their classic “Loose ‘N Lethal” LP from 1983. Yet here’s a twist to it, the album’s being played in a reverse order, prefaced with a couple of songs from with "Sons Of Malice", “The Rage Within” sharp and infectious, and signed off with two less obvious cuts of which “We Got The Edge” delivers a statement that’s so true for the first CD of the set, the main one.
Live ‘N Lethal
In a typical SAVAGE fashion,”7″ is as traditional as it is slightly unconventional, “Children Of The Night” piling cliches in delectable manner and “Empire Of Hate” burning the rulebook which declares heavy metal a blues-free battlefield, while the live take on “Black ‘n’ Blue” only stresses the band’s stance on the matter. And where the on-stage “Ain’t No Fit Place” has a somewhat vivacious swing to it, bolstered by Andy Dawson and Kristian Bradley’s weave of licks, studio effort’s opener “I Am The Law” is a celebration of riff on a larger scale. More serious, with the roar of Chris Bradley’s vocals and bass, “Circus Of Fools” stacks its harmonies in the way they soften the blow yet lodge their message into one’s frontal lobes before the tribal chant leads into the molten flow of “Crazy Horse.”
Still, if the anger in “Shake The Tree” aims at arena’s involvement, the remorse behind “The Road To Avalon (Sins Of The Fathers)” is doing the same on a balladry level, so there’s no alienation with this band. Here’s to their vitality ‘n’ lethality.
****
