Hellish Crossfire
1985 studio album by Iron Angel
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Hellish Crossfire is the debut album by German speed metal band Iron Angel, released in 1985 through SPV GmbH.
| Hellish Crossfire | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 1985 | |||
| Recorded | Caet Studio, Berlin, Germany, May 1985 | |||
| Genre | Speed metal | |||
| Length | 41:19 | |||
| Label | SPV GmbH | |||
| Producer | Horst Muller | |||
| Iron Angel chronology | ||||
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The music and lyrical content on Hellish Crossfire is considered to be Satanic. Incorporating elements of thrash metal, the sound has been compared to Helloween and early Slayer. Some publications consider the album to be an underrated release in the genre, though the album's cover artwork has been retroactively mocked.
Music and lyrics
Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic said that Hellish Crossfire "contained an explosive mix of speed and thrash metal that generally avoided the uncompromising black metal-tinged direction preferred by Kreator, Sodom, and their ilk, to embrace the melodic power metal-leaning style also championed by Helloween."[2] Revolver called the album "a Satanic riff-storm in the spirit of Slayer’s Hell Awaits, with appropriately brimstone-choked lyrics."[3]
Artwork
Reception and legacy
Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic gave Hellish Crossfire four stars out of five. He said the album "is a living testament to the wild, untamed excitement that fueled the first wave of German thrash metal bands, of which the Hamburg quintet had been one of the earliest contenders. Quite like the first mini-album from crosstown rivals Helloween released that same year, Hellish Crossfire brewed up potent speed metal that was certainly a little rough around the edges, but excusably so given the band's sheer enthusiasm and boundless, youthful energy while delivering it."[5]
In 2020, J. Bennett of Revolver included the album on his list of "10 Criminally Underrated 80s Thrash Albums". He wrote: "Though they didn’t have the staying power of Germany’s Big Three, Hamburg’s Iron Angel dropped a crucial slab of Teutonic thrash with their 1985 debut."[6]
In 2021, Simon Young of Kerrang! included the album in an article naming "50 of the worst album covers ever".[4]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Metallian" | Matthes | Strüven, Wittke | 4:17 |
| 2. | "Sinner 666" | Matthes | Wittke | 2:50 |
| 3. | "Black Mass" | Matthes | Wittke | 5:48 |
| 4. | "The Church of the Lost Souls" | Matthes | Strüven | 3:11 |
| 5. | "Hunter in Chains" | Matthes, Berg | Strüven | 4:37 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Rush of Power" | Matthes | Strüven, Wittke | 3:25 |
| 7. | "Legions of Evil" | Matthes | Wittke, Strüven | 4:53 |
| 8. | "Wife of the Devil" | Berg | Wittke | 3:48 |
| 9. | "Nightmare" | Matthes | Wittke | 5:25 |
| 10. | "Heavy Metal Soldiers" | Matthes | Strüven | 3:05 |
- The 2004 and 2014 CD re-issues contains the 1984 Power Metal Attack demo
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Open the Gate/Devil's Gate" | 4:59 |
| 2. | "Rush of Power" | 3:37 |
| 3. | "Maniac of the Night" | 4:35 |
| 4. | "Sea of Flames" | 3:07 |
| 5. | "Wife of the Devil" | 4:07 |
| 6. | "Hounds of Hell" | 6:29 |
Personnel
- Band members
- Dirk Schröder - vocals
- Peter Wittke - guitars
- Sven Strüven - guitars
- Thorsten Lohmann - bass
- Mike Matthes - drums
- Production
- Uwe Karczewski - cover art
- Edda Karczewski - artwork
- Horst "Hoddle" Müller - production
- Joachim Peters-Schnee - photography
