CRUEL FORCE
CRUEL FORCE “Dawn Of The Axe”
By Dr. Abner Mality
An overwhelming whiff of nostalgia wafts from Germany’s CRUEL FORCE and it’s a pleasant scent indeed. One that has the power to take you back to a certain period of time and a sound associated with it. Now of course there are a lot of “oldschool” bands operating today, ranging all the way from GRETA VAN FLEET to LIK, but CRUEL FORCE is laser guided into the period of 1984-1987 and a specific type of “Satanic speed metal” most associated with Germany.
This is a band that lives and breathes that style of metal. The first two RUNNING WILD albums, AGENT STEEL, the first two ONSLAUGHT LPs and most of all, IRON ANGEL are backbone of what CRUEL FORCE is aiming for. And they knock it out of the park. Check out “At The Dawn of the Axe” to confirm it...speedy “curling” riffs right out of the IRON ANGEL playbook smack your face. Please note that this is NOT thrash, but more true speed metal, although the distinction is pretty fine. Better yet, everything has a cool “echoing” effect to it, like it was recorded in an airplane hangar. The drums really boom.
That’s pretty much what you get all around the block here. The band is not concerned with varying their sound that much and that might disturb nitpickers. But goddamn it, I grew up listening to this stuff and this is so close to the real thing, it brings a tear to my empty eye sockets. The vocals are not as “yelpy” as they were back in the day, which is OK in my book. I do like the marching riffs that start off “Across the Styx”, which bring to mind a lot of 80’s Metal Blade bands, but when the speed kicks in here, you’re gonna need a change of underwear. Even the epic album ending “Realm of Sands” reminds me a lot of ONSLAUGHT’s “The Force” album...a VERY specific sound indeed.
You could lambast CRUEL FORCE for lack of innovation and grave robbing the 80’s, but man oh man, do they nail that German evil speed metal sound. Highly recommended for old school maniacs!