Wyvern - The Red Flame of Pain
In 1989 an album was born, as many albums were. An album so "special" that no one remembered it. The band was one of many named Wyvern. The cassette in question was from an independant label, and was titled "The Red Flame of Pain". Twenty years has gone by and someone thought that this was worthy enough to be re-mastered and re-released, marketed as a power metal album. A lost classic for sure...

It is one of the most unfortunate discs you may ever run across. For while it is not the worst thing you will ever hear musically, it is an abomination in general. Wyvern's sound was (is? apparently they are still semi-active but without a record label, amazingly enough, eh?) incredibly dated for 1989. It was like someone blew open the door of a closet and tumbling out of the mothballs of 1982 and the last stuttering gasps of NWOBHM, Wyvern rolled out, all dusty and stinking up the place. The drums are fast, the guitars are thrashing all over the place spastically, the production is so thin you can see through it, and the vocals... well the vocals are another thing entirely. They are a good match with the lyrics, which are equally, disturbingly terrible. Another typical power metal screamer fronts the band, but this guy stumbles over the words so badly that every performance is stilted. It is obvious he is struggling badly to pronounce anything, and while the lyrics themselves are a disjointed mess, he just makes it worse. So either they are shrieking about wyverny dragons or pedophilic sex.

Yes, you read that right. One of the worst songs ever put to recording finishes off this disc in cringingly bad fashion. "Adolescent Sex" is about, well the title says it all really. A stomach churning mess, vomited out with occasional skull rattling high pitched screaming, for no real apparent reason. Maybe the singer was just as tortured trying to give words to this abomination as the listener is having to listen to it. Maybe they could have skirted the lyrical content but the title drives the nail into the coffin. The band released a comment at one point assuring everyone that they "strongly condemn the pedophilia." Other songs go along with this atrocious theme such as "It's a Waste of Time", where they are lamenting over their lost "sweet girl" who apparently betrayed them. "Behind Bars" is another sure-fire winner, thrashing through the misery of being put in the slammer for killing someone. It was for love though! For love!!

Just as awkward is their fantasy slanted material such as "Wyvern" (remember when it was popular to write a song that had the same name as the band?  How imaginative and clever). Rattling on like a galloping smear, staining your eardrums for eight plus minutes, it makes a stabbing attempt at being epic, and comes off being gut wrenchingly amateur. Seven songs, fourty one minutes, and nothing worth noting really.

If this had been released during the NWOBHM boom, it still would have been bottom of the barrel when compared with Angel Witch, Cloven Hoof, Demon, Starfighter and others. Interestingly enough, it seems even the metal public never embraced them even. Despite being around since 1985, "The Red Flame of Pain" is the only full length release that ever was pushed out the door. Everything else they have released has been demos, with the most recent being a demo collection of material recorded prior to this release. When all's said and done, you feel your IQ degrading just from associating with the album. Avoid it, unless you want a good laugh.

Written by Alanna
Monday, September 20, 2010
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Ratings

Alanna: 1/10

Members: 5.5/10 - Average of 2 ratings.



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This profile has not added a picturetolasudolsa

Rating: 10/10
no comment for the review ,it's a opinion of Alanna. But i'm sure that Wyvern strongly ... · Read more ·
Profile picturenotrap

Rating: 1/10
I wanna have sex Gotta have hard sex Cute pretty little girl She's gonna satisfie my... · Read more ·

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Review by tolasudolsa (Member) - Tuesday, September 21, 2010
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Ratings: 1
no comment for the review ,it's a opinion of Alanna.

But i'm sure that Wyvern strongly condemn the pedophilia since '85 , in every live gigs I've seen, the singer talk about that horribile crime ..





Rating: 10/10

Posted by tolasudolsa
Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Comment by Little Drummer Boy (Member) - Thursday, September 23, 2010
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Comments: 166
Ratings: 46
I do believe this is the worst rating you have given a release on this site.

Posted by Little Drummer Boy
Thursday, September 23, 2010

Comment by Alanna (Staff) - Friday, September 24, 2010
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Comments: 245
Then why did they make a song that makes it sound so favorable? This was recorded in 1990. You can find the lyrics online. No matter what the lyrics were, this disc is just horrible even disregarding that track.

Posted by Alanna (Staff)
Friday, September 24, 2010

Comment by Alanna (Staff) - Friday, September 24, 2010
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Comments: 245
1989 rather.

Posted by Alanna (Staff)
Friday, September 24, 2010

Comment by Alanna (Staff) - Friday, September 24, 2010
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Comments: 245
Ah, and I've listened to a lot of NWOBHM and similar type bands in my time and this is one of the worst. Never mind that they are from Italy and this was done well past the prime of that particular "style". It is just a very poor record. Bad production, terrible singing, awful lyrics, the songs are awkward sounding.

Posted by Alanna (Staff)
Friday, September 24, 2010

Comment by Little Drummer Boy (Member) - Saturday, September 25, 2010
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Comments: 166
Ratings: 46
I have checked out a couple of songs and I have to say I am not to impressed at all. I am not one to give this a 1 rating as I have listened to worse. Musically there is talent there. They play better than I do. Song wise, well I am not sure where all those passages are running, the vocalist is bad and the lyrics are...painful. I checked out the Lyrics for "Adolescent Sex" and it wants me to take my Fender and beat them with it. But that may end up creating controversy and I would be "Behind Bars". Though I am sure that would be a more worthy cause. I checked out their website and there seems to be more resent recordings. A "little" better musically but I still could not sit through it. How do you try to cover up bad vocals? You add more reverb and chorus!? Forget compression. Of course that won't work. It just ended up with vocals blending into each other. Check it out (if you have nothing else better to do of course).

Unfortunately there are a couple other bands with the same band name. One from Egypt (fairly decent and one I want to check out a little more closely) and a female fronted band from Asia (much better than the atrocity from Italy). With the same name sake it may be hard for positive exposure internationally via the internet since this band from Italy are the first hits on web searches.



Posted by Little Drummer Boy
Saturday, September 25, 2010

Review by notrap (Member) - Friday, October 1, 2010
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Comments: 55
Ratings: 66
I wanna have sex
Gotta have hard sex
Cute pretty little girl
She's gonna satisfie my desire
Cute pretty little child
She's gonna set my fire
Ask me I'll do everything
Tell me I'll get anything
Should see her
It's just a child

...bla bla bla.....

I'm leaving my sign
Soft skin body child
Gotta get you wild
Angel eyes holy mind
Gotta leave my sign
Soft skin body child.

........no comments about this lyrics

Rating: 1/10

Posted by notrap
Friday, October 1, 2010










Review by Alanna

Released by
Jolly Roger Records - 1989

Tracklisting
1. Fight for Your Life
2. Wyvern
3. Prophecy
4. Behind Bars
5. It's a Waste of Time
6. ...and the End
7. Adolescent Sex


Style
NWOBHM

Related links
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