80s Obscure Heavy Metal

A year ago, I started on a project to plough through the Metal Archives in a quest to discover some of the more obscure albums from the golden era of heavy metal. The results were surprising in that more often than not, each week would yield a record that I loved enough to go out and try to find to add to my small collection. I heard some stinkers for sure, but the overall quality of heavy metal in that era was so vastly superior to what it is now that it boggles the mind how many truly great albums were out there that were buried with the passage of time.

This list is not a Best of the Eighties by any means, so don't bother replying with, "How could you skip over my favourite underground band?" I didn't skip over it; it just never showed up on the radar. Since the selection process was as random as I could reasonably make it, and since the pool of material is as deep as it is wide, it's unlikely that I would actually happen to chance upon your beloved favourites anyway. So here are the posts in order:

Before I give you my best-of picks, you should know a little bit about what I actually like. I like low- to mid-tempo heavy metal. I like it to be bombastic and punchy. I like it when metal bands incorporate elements of rock in their riffs and choruses. So there are times when I just couldn't get behind a particular speedy release and opted for the glammy party album with screamed choruses instead. Sorry. So if you want to get the full effect of my research, read each post and get the full description of each album to determine what you want to hear. Now then, here are my favourites from each week:

Aryon - Rebels of the Night - Very rare and hard to find, but an excellent example of some unique-sounding heavy metal with a party vibe
Blind Vengeance - A Taste of Sin - Another equally rare album, but super catchy and a great listen from beginning to end.
Crossbones - Crossbones - Killer Italian heavy metal that is somewhat reminscient of KISS.
Drýsill - Welcome to the Show - Fantastic Maiden worship from Iceland.
Emerald - Down Town - Superb Dutch heavy metal with an absolutely maniacal screamer on vocals.
Frozen Eyes - Frozen Eyes - Swedish heavy metal that is as weird as it is fun. Not to be taken seriously, but original enough to warrant some attention.
Goliath - Goliath - Epic, rip-roaring Spanish metal infused with Priest and presented with the whole eighties package, ballad and all.
Hallowed - Hallowed - Unique and original, but unmistakably true to real heavy metal.
III Kanal - Kanal III - Unbelievably solid hard rock/heavy metal from Croatia from the very early years in the Yugo metal scene. Catchy from beginning to end.
Jackpot - Full House - German heavy metal that borrows musically and vocally from Priest. Not the most consistent, but its high spots are fantastic.
Karisma - Sweet Revenge - Very early Brazilian heavy metal. It's low-fi and raw but chock full of character.
Lazy - Creature - Slow, punchy, and catchy through and through, this is a shining example of Swedish traditional metal.
Malteze - Count Your Blessings - A lesser-known female-fronted band with fiery and speedy riffs that consistently delivers all the way through.
Norden Light - Shadows from the Wilderness - Super melodic Swedish metal that relies heavy on the synths, but still manages to deliver a powerful punch.
Osmi Putnik - Ulična molitva - Yet another fantastic Croatian band that specialises in melodic choruses and crunchy riffs and innovative bass lines.
Pomaranča - Peklenska Pomaranča - Oh right, here's another Yugo metal band. This is the earliest of the Slovenian metal bands and is every bit as infectious as the best from the early scene.
T.T. Quick - Medal of Honor - Great American heavy metal that borrows heavily from Metal Church, but a little less rough around the edges. Lovers of guitar heroics are encouraged to check this one out.
Razormaid - First Cutt - Glam/party heavy metal taken to its ultimate extreme. Yes, I love every bit of this album. Every last bit.
Sadwings - Lonely Hero - More Swedish trad that shows the rest of Europe exactly how to use keyboards in a heavy metal album and still keep it good. Simple overall, but unbelievably powerful in its execution.
Thruster - M.I.A. - An aggressively fast and fiery album with scorching riffs and unapologetically over-the-top lead work, there isn't a track on here that will disappoint.
U4EA - A Power Greater than Ourselves - An accessible, slow album, perhaps a bit plain, but not bad; there is a rare character to this album that I don't find elsewhere.
Vandale - Schandale - Dutch hard rock/heavy metal with tons of killer songs and hooks. Possibly the catchiest closer of any album I have ever heard.
Warning - Warning - Unbelievably solid French heavy metal that is equal parts gritty and melodic with an overall fatness to the sound that just makes me want to shake my fist and watch things explode from a safe distance.
Xipe - Fly of Phoenix - Very unique Italian album with a very strong resemblance to Adramelch's incredible debut. It's not the most consistent in its sound, but its high points are out of this world. Impossible to find.
Yngwie Malmsteen - Trilogy - Obscure Swedish virtuoso guitarist who single-handedly paved the way for generations of guitarists for decades to come. Because this album has zero flaws, it is automatically the greatest heavy metal album ever made.
Zeus - Zeus V - Killer Spanish metal with thundering riffs and soaring vocals, and ultra-over-the-top Van Halenesque solos. Don't bother trying to buy it unless you just want to pay your rent late this month.

Here's the deal though - the ones I listed above aren't exactly representative of the best, and I say that because some weeks, the offerings were bad, and other weeks, the offerings were so good that I had to pick a single winner amidst two (2) or even three (3) really strong albums. Here are some of the ones that flew in under the radar:

And finally, here are what I believe to be the all-around best ten (10) heavy metal releases from this project regardless of your tastes in heavy metal:

Blind Vengeance
Drýsill
Emerald
Elixir
Ironcross
Lazy
Malteze
Sadwings
Warning
Xipe

Finally, here are the ones I was able to track down and add to my collection:

Blitzkreig
Dagger
III Kanal
Inox
Lazy
Osmi Putnik
Pomaranča
T.T. Quick
Warning
Vandale

Hope you enjoyed this, and happy hunting!