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A nice job Sentinel Steel did in re-issuing Attacker's first album, the only one with singer Bob Mitchell. Other than four bonus tracks (three demo tracks and an unreleased one) and new artwork, the booklet includes many band pictures, show posters, the story of the album, a short band biography, a short interview from a 1986 fanzine, plus a couple of reviews and finally the lyrics. The type of booklet you wish you got with every album!

What you get with this 1985 classic is an onslaught of uncompromising heavy metal with crunching guitars, powerful drums and screaming vocals. The vocals sometimes remind me a little of Metal Church, but Mitchell mostly has a pretty distinctive voice, and has no problems hitting and sustaining high notes. His vocals are high pitched almost for the whole duration of the album (without sounding like a power metal singer...) Some riffs sound a little weird on some songs and are a bit of a turn-off at least for a few seconds - it's a bit hard to describe into words. Despite that, there isn't really any weak song on the album and most of the riffs and solos are catchy as hell, the kind that just stick in your head. My favourite song is probably "Slayer's Blade", the opening riff on that one is heavy and raw just like I like them. :) I found that with almost every listen I would find something I had not noticed on previous listens - the songs are quite "loaded" and you have to listen attentively to catch everything. That just makes the whole thing even better.

"Battle at Helm's Deep" is definitely one of my favourite 80s albums and any fan of traditional metal should have it in their collection.

Additional Information

- Originally released in 1985 by Metal Blade Records