BATTALIONS OF FEAR

Blind Guardian's debut album may not be the most original thing they've ever released, the group still grasping towards their distinctive style, but shadows of the symphonic-influenced power metal powerhouse they would eventually become can be glimpsed here and there, and the band bring to the material they have here an energy and enthusiasm which is genuinely infectious. Maybe it is the case that the most classically-tinged track on here is a bonus track (Gandalf's Rebirth), but the thrash and speed-influenced material that makes up the rest of the album represents a more aggressive side of the band that would often be eclipsed later in their career. Blind Guardian would plot a course out of speed metal before long, but if you want an album of them playing in that style rather than the breed of power metal they would make their own this is about as speed metal-ish as they'd get.