Review Summary: Maybe underrated, but highly recommended debut album by Belgian Ostrogoth. High energy metal in Maiden, Scorpions and Priest style.
Does the name of the Belgian metal band Ostrogoth ring a bell? In 1984 they released their surprisingly impressive Maiden- and Priest-esque debut album 'Ecstasy and Danger'after delivering the very promising EP 'Full Moon's Eyes' (which contained one of my top ten cult metal tracks ever: the incredible title song). Along with Killer, Crossfire and Acid they belonged to the Belgian New Wave of Heavy Metal, which formed in the slip stream of their British progenitors of the NWOBHM.
The line up of this Ghent-based band in 1984 consisted of Marc de Brauwer (vocals), Hans van de Kerckhove (guitar), Rudy Vercruysse (guitar), Marnix van de Kauter (bass) and Mario Pauwels (drums). Each of them proving on this album their potential and qualities. The eight energetic, varied songs are characterized by a mixture of high quality guitar harmonies combined with pounding drums and groovy bass-lines. Marc de Brauwer's voice has a limited range, though his soaring singing style fits the sound of the band. This sound is reminiscent of early German power metal bands like Scorpions and Accept. Of course the quality of the songs is not always convincing and one of the flaws of the album is it's inconsistency, but that I can condone. Even in less attractive songs like 'A Bitch again' or 'The New Generation' still something happens that draws the attention. The (too) short unexpected up tempo break in the latter song takes you by surprise, but unfortunately slackens right away. There was a lot of potential in the band, but they could not always live up to the expectations. So let's turn to the most important: the best songs.
The opening track 'Queen of desire' is the true standout, a raging metal song with a flashing, chainsaw guitar intro and lots of whammy bar ripping and tapping. Marc de Brauwer's vocals are truly impressive in this song, ranging from agressive roars to high-pitched Halford-screams in the song's middle slowed down passage. The same accounts for the top-hole guitar solo.
'Stormbringer' is a semi-live recorded studio track, which reminds me of Accept's 'Burning' on the Breaker album. It's included to provide some live performance atmosphere. The song itself is a satisfying straight rocker.
The Instrumental 'Lords of Thunder' is a nice blend of distorted and clean guitar harmonies, whipping drums and bass lines in the best tradition of Maiden's 'Transylvania'.
The closer of the album is the ballad 'Do it right', a quite standard song lyrically as well as musically, but the guitar solo is really decent, with a bluesy feeling and nice phrasing.
the production is not perfect, there's much echo in the sound and the mixing of instruments tends to be unbalanced, but that adds to the authentic eighties ambiance. Unfortunately the band suffered from several line up changes in their career, so they never were able to live up to their promising debut. But this cd is not out of place in the collection of every NWOBHM fanatic! The best tracks compensate for the less interesting ones. Above all you can hear the good intentions and the enthusiasm of the band. They are no innovators, but faithful and capable followers of the leading acts. But who cares when the result is a satisfactory one like 'Ecstasy and Danger'?
