Various Artists - Sound And Action - Rare German Metal Vol. 2

The long-awaited part 2 of the successful Metal Underground series -Part 1 received excellent reviews in publications such as Rock Hard, Rolling Stone and Good Times -39 titles, 32 of which are on CD for the first time -Restored and remastered audio material -Booklet with 20 pages of information and rare photos Compilations with rarities are not uncommon in heavy metal, but up until now NWOBHM or US metal have been chosen as themes. So the double CD SOUND & ACTION surprised in 2021 and received fantastic reviews across the board, enthusiastic metal fans worldwide. The title SOUND & ACTION is not only a famous line of text by the metal pioneers Trance (from the piece „Shock Power“), but also a fanzine today, which deals with mostly long-dead German heavy metal bands that never died during their lifetime platform they deserved. The operator, Oliver Butz, is himself a fan of Teutonic metal sounds (primarily 80‘s) and has been dealing with this topic for many years. Also from the Vorderpfalz/Rhein-Neckar comes Neudi, who is known as a drummer for bands such as Manilla Road, Roxxcalibur or - since 2016 - Trance. In addition to his journalistic activities and the restoration/remastering of old recordings, he is also a fan and collector and has been an active part of the local and national scene since the 1980s. So it‘s no surprise that this team was able to put together an equal second part in a relatively short time (4 months). All titles have been officially licensed and have been processed in the best possible way in terms of sound. Only the last songs on CD 2 show - as with part 1 - slight flaws due to the old source material. Rehearsal room recordings or audience recordings were again deliberately avoided in order to keep the quality level at a high level. Again, the two CDs open with names insiders should know (Mekong Delta, with a single B-side, and Invader, off their now-rare LP), but dive deep afterward. The Beast predecessor group Sky delivers the oldest contribution (1979), the cult MP shine with an unreleased piece, the Frankenthaler Rampage show what local hard rock concerts felt like in the early eighties and not only at Barfly one wonders why the area-wide no success. The metallic spectrum of styles runs from melodic heavy rock to thrash, just as it was between 1979 and 1995 in Germany. And if you want to have all the original recordings on this double CD (LPs, 7“ singles, self-produced CDs, demo tapes, local compilations, private live recordings), you would probably have to take out a loan...