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I remember running across Faithful Breath's Gold 'n' Glory album, one of the classic Mausoleum Records releases, back in the '80s but I don't recall ever listening to that one or any other from this German band. I don't know if I even knew about their fifth album, Skol, but thanks to this High Roller Records reissue, now I get the chance.

On Skol, Faithful Breath play the kind of high-octane, rocking metal that grew out of the NWOBHM and the pre-glam US scene. There's nothing deep or complicated about Faithful Breath's music or lyrics, just songs full of fist-pumping riffs and gravelly vocals singing about women and metal in the style made famous by Accept, Thor, Torch, etc. It's the kind of stuff I heard blasting from boom boxes in arena parking lots here in the states as I waited for the doors to open for whatever headliner was in town. Songs that stand out are the Accept-like "Rock Rebels" with its shouted backing vocals and the speedy Grave Digger-esque "Backstreet Heros" (the spelling of "heroes" was never corrected).

Skol is a fun reissue from a band that probably should have been bigger with their accessible blend of metal attitude and hard rock melodies. Coming as it did in 1985, when thrash was starting to take center stage, Faithful Breath changed their name to Risk and went with the thrash movement for five more albums before calling it a day in 1993. Grab Skol if the metal from a simpler time works for you as nothing beats the real deal.