I won’t say I’ve been completely oblivious to the metal scene in Poland, years ago the local Polish music shops have supplied us with plenty of good music not only from around the world, but also from local metal scene. Obviously, as me and my friends were into extreme metal, I was not aware of classic hard’n’heavy or heavy metal proper Polish style, but with my recent review of excellent Shadow Warrior’s EP that situation has changed – for better.
Because I am not one to dismiss heavy metal (either classics or new albums), and because they were mentioned in the interview with aforementioned samurai worshippers, today I am pleased to introduce to you another heavy metal band from Poland – Axe Crazy.
OK, it was quite obvious from the article’s title. To save you time and research, this is their oldest material available to me, the EP was released on January 29, 2014. If you wonder why I don’t go for the latest release from November 2019 – well, I like to know bands from their early material on. And don’t worry, I won’t miss the new one.
Containing 4 songs bordering on old school speed metal in the vein of groups like S.D.I., but with a healthy dose of Iron Maiden and the like, opening tune “Angry Machines” swiftly sets the tempo and the mood with what I suspect is folk songs-inspired riff, which I thumb up wholeheartedly, as it reminds me of my home (I am from Slovakia, the southern neighbour of Poland, so you know…nostalgia is big here).
Unlike great many bands putting the obvious hit in the beginning of the record and then slowly fading away as the music progresses, Axe Crazy on this album went the other way. Although “Angry Machines” is great, and “Hungry For Life” is even better, it’s the “Sabretooth Tiger”, the third track here, which is a proper climax of the album, with “Running Out of Time”, the last piece here, as a surprisingly catchy headbanging “good times, good vibes” anthem.
Am I in the great mood now or what? This EP is full of positive energy and it would be shame if you pass it over without checking it.
Check them on their Bandcamp: https://axecrazy.bandcamp.com/
Axe Crazy’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/axecrazyband/