Album: Reign Of Terror
Year: 1987
Genre: Metal
Have you ever found a band that has a record you just love front to back, yet the rest of their catalog, well, for lack of a better term, just sucks? That’s my musical relationship with Wild Dogs. Something uncanny happened on their 1987 release Reign Of Terror and, for the life of me, I have no explanation about how this band came up with a record this good. I remember hearing earlier Wild Dog releases and being seriously underwhelmed by every aspect of the band. What made me pick up their third release? I shouldn’t have even looked at it let alone purchased it given my dislike for their first two records. I guess fate is real and I’m lucky I gave the band one more shot because Reign Of Terror is a metal monster. The whole album coalesces around the immense skills of guitarist Jeff Mark and drummer extraordinaire Deen Castronovo. The record sways, twists and turns between speed metal and good old heavy metal, and added a harsh demeanor and a fire-in-their-blood mentality in their songwriting that 80s bands, in either genre, rarely displayed. The memorable, gravel–laced shrieks of Jeff Furlong only add to the intensity. This is a tough sounding record; heavy metal in its primal state. It’s heavy without being blatant and it’s aggressive without being outright. Wild Dogs released their best album when metal fans we’re either looking for something more extreme, or began gravitating to the “alternative” sounds of Green River, Soundgarden, Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails and many others. This landed the band straight to cutout bins everywhere. Although Wild Dogs has resurfaced many times and has even released material, none of it compared to the magic the they captured in ’87.
Listen to "Call Of The Dark" here.
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