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I had previously said that I wouldn't write an article about either Avenger or Satan until after I'd done Blitzkrieg since the band's respective histories are so intertwined. I'm going to go back on my word though as I will now be looking at Avenger this week.

Blitzkrieg first split up in December 1981 (passing on a contract to record an album with Saxon's original label Carrere and an arranged support slot with Saxon in the process) after putting out a well-received single and a very limited edition live cassette (just 150 copies). Vocalist Brian Ross moved back to Newcastle, having previously moved toward London with the band. There he found himself forming a band called Unter den linden and inviting his former Blitzkrieg bandmate Mick Moore (bass) to join the band. The band was completed temporarily by drummer Gary Young and a guitarist called Malcolm. Three members of the band didn't consider the line-up complete until a second guitarist was added though, so Malcolm (the one opposed to the idea) had to go, Steve Bird was brought in and the name Avenger was assumed.

By this time it was September 1982 and two weeks after the first official line-up of Avenger was assembled (and while supposedly still looking for a second guitarist) the band were invited into Neat Records' Impulse Studios to record a three track demo tape. Hot 'N' Heavy Express from that demo tape made it onto a Neat Records compilation One Take No Dubs... (youtube). The track features a lot of Brian Ross' falsetto wails (the type that are often described as Halford-esque) punctuating the otherwise typical early nwobhm rock 'n' roll and punk influenced style.

Avenger soon found another guitarist in John Brownless, but Steve Bird had, by then, left. Nevertheless, back to Neat's studios the group went to record their first single Too Wild To Tame (youtube), a track which was originally intended to be Blitzkrieg's second single. It had been written by Brian Ross and Mick Moore though so they retained the song and reworked it for Avenger. Too Wild to Tame is a racey upbeat track delivered well by Brownless' guitarwork and Ross' catchy melodic but (this time) not over the top vocals. The b-side, On The Rocks (youtube), is another great track earning the single's reputation as "one of the truly great heavy metal singles" (to quote journalist John Tucker). Despite being officially a four-piece band at the time guest guitarist Les Cheetham (who was at the time still at school) actually performed solos on both sides of the single. Depending on which soure you believe, however, Too Wild to Tame was not released until either August or October 1983, by which time Cheetham was an official band member, while Brownless had left (once again reducing the band to a four-piece) and Avenger had bizarrely (and to some extent, famously) swapped vocalists with rival band Satan, losing Ross (who appears to have temporarily fallen out with Moore around this time) and gaining Ian 'Swifty' Swift.

This line up toured Holland and Belgium where the response to the single was noted as having been particularly enthusiastic before again returning to the studio for their first full length BLOOD SPORTS, recorded in early '84 and released in September. Listening to tracks from the album it's not necessarily immediately obvious that Ross had been replaced by Swift as Ross' vocal style from the verses of Hot 'n' Heavy Express is not that far removed from Swift's consistent style. After a couple of track's listening to Blood Sports, however, it becomes apparent that Swift's vocal range is comparatively narrow and, unlike Ross, never strays near a falsetto. Nowhere is this more obvious than on the re-recorded On the Rocks (youtube Swift version). The original version relied on Ross' high-pitched screech at the end of the chorus for its most memorable (and potentially annoying) hook, in contrast, the album version replaced many instances of falsetto with a distracting echo effect on Swift's voice and others with a much lower note for Swifty to hit. In general the album relied on speedy riffs with accompanying relentless drums as Swift seems to race through the lyrics in an attempt to get to the solo and the end of the track is quickly as possible though often the style of delivery does match the lyrical content (see You'll Never Take Me (Alive) (youtube)). My personal favourite on the album is Death race 2000 (youtube), perhaps the catchiest song lyrically on the album while featuring some great prominent soloing from Cheetham and one of the album's best riffs (almost certainly named after the film of the same name, by the way).

Other tracks of note on the album include Warfare (the closest Avenger ever get on the album to playing a ballad, youtube) and N.O.T.J. (which I can't find on youtube, but could foresee a viable case for categorising it as one of the earliest examples of rap metal). Blood Sports received a mixture of reviews, but importantly was received well in Europe and sold healthily. A second guitarist was added for the tour (which really only consisted of Holland) but both guitarists left at the end of the tour on account of 'musical differences'.

During downtime Blitzkrieg reformed and bassist Mick Moore doubled as a member of both bands.

For the follow up album Killer elite, American guitarist Greg Reiter was hired from a selection of auditionees. Upon the 1985 release of the album praise was made to the variation in styles presented on the release. It was now the era of the music video and (especially now with an American band member) the time for an American tour and heavy marketing push was right. Ian Swift's vocal style changed dramatically, becoming much more melodious and at times now reminiscent of Paul Di'Anno and Bruce Dickinson. No longer did Swift shy away from the higher pitched vocals (arguably over-indulging in them on Right to Rock) and the rate of syllables is much slower.

Killer Elite's opener Revenge Attack

...and the following track Run For Your Life

and, track 7 of 12, Under The Hammer

Perhaps a surprising number of promo videos to be filmed for an album from which no singles were released, you might think, but it's not clear whether the band had any time or money to release singles.

The band collapsed upon the end of their American tours supporting Killer Elite. Neatly (no pun intended) this means all of Avenger's releases during their original pre-split period were released by Neat Records with no label changes affecting their release schedule or capping their potential to any significant extent. Avenger did, however, reunite in 2005 and have toured regularly ever since, although for legal reasons they're no called Avenger UK. The band have yet to release any reunion albums but have promised an album called The Slaughter Never Stops supposedly for this year. There are previews on their myspace.

Myspace

On this ocassion, it's been quite difficult to try and reserve my opinion until the end of this article. I'm in two minds about Brian Ross' vocal style and tendency to use some rather extreme falsetto screeches. Nevertheless, I did very much enjoy two of the three tracks he performed and I would happily agree with the statement that Too Wild to Tame was one of the best singles of the nwobhm movement. By contrast, I'm not too keen on Blood Sports, Swift's vocals sound below par to me on that album. The whole thing sounds like it's playing faster than it should do and although I understand there is a following for the album, which has achieved some level of cult status, I think there's more emphasis on playing fast than on producing great music, it's still quite good, but it could have been so much better. Killer Elite sounds like a completely different band, and it's true that there is a great deal of variation on the album. Ian Swift seems to have improved hugely as a vocalist between the recording of the two albums, transforming from a vocalist who was almost there solely to be a token vocalist to a man who deserved to be fronting a band that would tour America with big names, and displaying a versatility hardly imaginable after hearing the first album, almost growling on Steel On Steel ("Strike TERROR Deep in the Heart") and dealing memorable choruses, classic rock style vocals and punk-like nwobhm passages alternately. I'm sure the sudden ability the band displayed to vary styles dramatically may have put off some die-hard enthusiasts of the first album, but it is Killer Elite for me that stands as the strong album the band put out that is worth seeking out. I have to admit it's difficult to seed Avenger amid the great and the good of the nwobhm as they ended up with their two full length releases both falling after the supposed end of the movement, though the band (having spun out of Blitzkrieg) still have very strong claim to having been an integrable part of the movement. Blood Sports is a raw representation of the DIY ethos garage band sound that epitomised many of the nwobhm bands. Killer Elite is one of the most satisfactory 1985 releases by nwobhm bands, most of them having by that time gone way off the marks they were intending to hit. There may be some scope for waving accusations of 'sell out' if you happen to be one of the most elitist metalheads around, but it's far more likely it's just slightly more mature songwriting throwing in some melody without necessarily softening the sound (in places it just gets heavier). I'll let you guys make your own minds up on the new material.