Byfist--Adrenalin
Saba 2003
With all the mutations metal music has taken over the years, it seems the pure form has been lost in the shuffle. The straightforward style of bands like Judas Priest, Metal Church, or Mercyful Fate seems to have disappeared to the eyes of many true believers. Thankfully, this essential base flavor of the grand metal stew continues to thrive and survive in the underground. This Byfist CD, Adrenalin, proves that pure metal is, in fact, alive and well.
Byfist succeed at the pure metal form in large part because they seem to have tapped into the main secret of doing it right--keeping things simple. This is about as stripped down as it gets. At the same time, all the ingredients you'd want are here--dual guitar palm-muted riffage and screaming metal vocals, in the vein of Halford or King Diamond, with soaring falsetto, all over the place. That this is so well put together isn't surprising considering two of Byfist's members were formerly in Metal Church offshoot Reverend, with this demo actually being produced by Metal Church alumn David Wayne.
This being said, Byfist holds up the same standard of simplicity without sacrificing quality in the songwriting department. From the opener, "Eternal Damnation," to the closer, "Mary Celeste," it's quality pure metal action all the way. The Metal Church/Reverend vibe is expectedly there, but this material really bears quite a striking resemblance to vintage Judas Priest. This is most evident on "Meltdown" which is similar in feel and structure to Priest's version of "Diamonds and Rust." All told, there's not a stinker in the bunch.
If you wore out your copies of Blessing In Disguise and The Human Factor long ago, Byfist and their Adrenalin CD will be like a godsend. Even if you're just craving an old school pure metal fix, this disc is for you. Byfist are a pleasant surprise and Adrenalin is well worth checking out.
Score this CDr directly from BYFIST |
