Piledriver's
Metal Inquisition from 1985 provides a perfect balance of humorous lyrics, powerful riffing, old school attitude and just overall kick ass Metal!
The Canadian act only released two records, then vanished into oblivion, and to this day there's quite a bit of confusion as to who these guys were exactly. The truth is, that
Piledriver was never really a band, but a project, only consisting of two persons:
Leslie Howe, who played all instruments and penned the songs, and
Gord Kirchin doing the vocals. And a drum machine. (For more information, check out the
Piledriver band page)
Nevertheless, this album (re-released in 1997) deserves some more attention; it really is a high class, uncompromising Heavy Metal slap in the face for all old school rockers!
The brilliant title track featuring the immortal line "If you're not a Metalhead, you might as well be dead!" sets the mood and reveals the musical talents and lyrical style of
Piledriver immediately. A perfect mix of old 80's Metal and dynamic thrash riffs, this song delivers metal attitude in the purest, most fun and ass kicking way!
The nature of this style is very simple, on the verge of being primitive, but that it is still a joy to listen to and doesn't get boring is both it's strength and it's charm.
Sex With Satan is a perfect example of this, straightforward but powerful.
Sodomize The Dead is a short song, containing only a chorus, a lot of screams and grunting and other nice sounds. It's a cool little, unserious break.
Witch Hunt is absolutely one of the records coolest tracks. A slow, ultra heavy rhythm section provides the backbone. Soaring well-played guitars and snarling, rough vocals help complete this embodiment of real Metal. This track makes me feel like I'm in the middle of the 80's Heavy Metal scene; it's just so damn cool!
Piledriver is a solid, dirty rocker, and one of my favorites. The driving riffs and the snarling hard vocals make this a track worthy of some headbanging action!
After this, I feel like the best part of the album is over, and the two last songs don't quite live up to the high standard of the rest of the album.
Human Sacrifice is close to being down right bad, with its generic, non-catchy structure.
It gets a bit better with
Alien Rape, the spectacular and intense screaming, along with some great guitar moments save the song, but it would have been better if shortened down a few minutes.
The re-released version of the album ends on a funny note, as an old
Piledriver interview is included.
Rock Hard journalist
Götz Kühnemund apparently mailed the
Piledriver some questions, and his responds was quite extraordinary. He made a tape with all kind of whacked out sound effects, vocal distortions and far out stories and sceneries. I won't go into detail here, this is something that has to be heard! It's almost like a little radio play, with one wild story after the other! A hilarious journey into pure madness!
All in all the album is politically incorrect, dirty, vulgar and uncompromisingly raw. It's everything an old school record could hope to be!
Written by
Nina Monday, July 4, 2005
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