#witchfynde

Monday, May 25: Witchfynde, "I'd Rather Go Wild"

R.I.P. Graham “Gra” Scoresby (1956-2025)

Tank: Filth Hounds of Hades (1982)

Of all the underrated New Wave of British Heavy Metal albums deserving of a deluxe -- make that hyper-deluxe -- vinyl reissue, Tank's debut long-player, Filth Hounds of Hades, honestly wouldn't have made my top 50!

Just get a load of this: posters, booklets, postcards, there's even a two-track 10-inch I'll save to review another day, this is truly as fancy as it gets.

But the care with which reissue specialists extraordinaire High Roller Records tackled this package illustrates this London power trio's persistent popularity with aging head-bangers -- even an ambivalent one like me who thinks the rest of Tank's discography is basically hot garbage.

Not this first effort, though, which generally achieved Tank's mission of blending heavy metal and punk, and which I praised as follows in in the All-Music Guide after setting the stage for Tank's arrival near the peak of the N.W.O.B.H.M.

The very notion seems preposterous today (too good to be true, more like), but in 1981, underground legends Motörhead -- the band that swore your lawn would die if they moved in next door -- took their landmark No Sleep 'til Hammersmith live LP to No. 1 on the U.K.!

At the same time, N.W.O.B.H.M. ring-leaders like Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Def Leppard were building from strength to strength, closely trailed by a hungry throng of supplementary upstarts, just waiting in the wings to take their best shot at denim-and-leather glory.

One of these was South London's Tank, composed of gravel-throated former Damned bassist Algy Ward and the Brabbs brothers, Pete (guitar) and Mark (drums), who crucially and conveniently shared management with Lemmy and co., who took them out on tour in the fall of '81.

Released in early '82 Filth Hounds was even produced by Motörhead guitarist 'Fast' Eddie Clarke, so paint-peeling heavy rockers like the title cut, "Run Like Hell," and "Shellshock" not surprisingly came at you fast and furious.

But the record also made room for more accessible offerings like the sardonic "Who Needs Love Songs" and provocatively-worded singles in "Blood, Guts & Beer" and (still trying to figure this one out) "(He Fell in Love with A) Stormtrooper."

There's also the less frantic "T.W.D.A.M.O. (That's What Dreams Are Made Of)," which some listeners may liken to Motörhead's "The Chase is Better than the Catch," but don't get excited -- it ain't that good.

But Tank's most successful punk/metal hybrids were the self-explanatory "Struck by Lightning" and the arguably career-best anthem, "Turn Your Head Around," which helped lend Filth Hounds of Hades enduring appeal, all these years later.

Alas, this was unquestionably Tank's finest hour -- and barely an "hour," at that -- as ensuing albums (Power of the Hunter, This Means War, etc.) failed to show enough musical growth, or at least imagination, within their chosen sonic niche.

So I wouldn't hold my breath for a top-tier vinyl reissue of those sub-standard albums, but, hey, you never know ...

More N.W.O.B.H.M.: Angel Witch’s Angel Witch, Aragorn’s “Black Ice,” Bitches Sin’s Predator, Blind Fury’s Out of Reach, Blitzkrieg’s A Time of Changes, Chateaux’s Chained and Desperate, Cloven Hoof’s Cloven Hoof, Dark Star’s Dark Star, Def Leppard’s High ‘n’ Dry, Demon’s Night of the Demon, Diamond Head’s “Lightning to the Nations,” Dragonslayer's Dragonslayer, Ethel the Frog’s Ethel the Frog, Fist’s Turn the Hell On, Gaskin’s End of the World, Girlschool’s Demolition, Grim Reaper’s See You in Hell, Heavy Pettin’s Heavy Pettin, Hellanbach’s Now Hear This, Holocaust’s The Nightcomers ...

[1980] Witchfynde - Give 'Em Hell

Vinyl, Rondelet Music & Records - ABOUT 1