ARTCH
Another Return
(Hammerheart Records)
42:48min

Even in the 1980s already, some fine Power or Heavy Metal bands with very good albums and great songs flew under the radar and never gained the attention by a bigger audience they deserved. One of these bands was ARTCH from Norway. Maybe it was because they were not from the USA or another (back then) typical Metal country. Maybe it was because they were too traditional in times when the Speed and Thrash Metal wave was in full swing. This is just guesswork. Their debut album “Another Return” was released by Active Records in 1988, six years after the formation of ARTCH. Even a license deal with Metal Blade for the USA didn’t help to spread the name ARTCH, they somehow became Norway’s best kept secret. And I still think that this is a real pity, as the songs on “Another Return” don’t need to hide in the shadows of bands like METAL CHURCH, LETHAL, HELSTAR or LEATHERWOLF. Take the opener ‘Another Return To Church Hill’ as an example: this one is finest song writing, powerful, epic and progressive. Probably the best US Metal song that was written by a European band (and if you combine the first letters of the individual words of the album title it results in the band’s name – Frank). The following, a little more speedy ‘Power To The Man’ is equally great as well as the epic mid tempo anthem ‘Loaded’. Even Metal ballads were a part of the musical range of ARTCH, and ‘Where I Go’ has qualities that bands like WHITESNAKE made rich and famous. And that was just the first side of the album. The “flipside” with songs like ‘Metal Life’, ‘The Promised Land’, the riff orgy ‘Shoot To Kill’, the great ‘Living In The Past’ and ‘Reincarnation’, that is in parts nearly Speed Metal, is nearly as fine. Asides from the fine song writing, it’s also the powerful riffs, the crunchy production and especially the vocal delivery that really strikes the ear. Eric Hawk, originally from Iceland and named EirĂ­kur Hauksson, is an absolutely gifted singer, who even represented his country at the (in)famous Eurovision Song Contest, of course not as a Metal singer. The qualities he contributed to “Another Return” are undisputed, refining this forgotten gem. Thanks to the dedicated Hammerheart Records, “Another Return” is now available again, both on CD and vinyl. The original album was carefully remastered and comes with the original artwork, but without any extra songs that might spoil the joy of a fine piece of art. So, if you’re into classic Power Metal of the finest kind and still don’t know ARTCH, visit them at www.facebook.com/artch.norway or the label at www.facebook.com/hammerheartrecords

Thomas Meyer

Thomas Meyer

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