Bangin' in Belgium - Shockwave Video Review

NOTE: I wrote up this review initially in 1996 (!) when I rented this vid from Palo Alto's (now MV's) Videoscope. I figured I'd unearth this since it might be of interest to yas.

 Shockwave was a one shot Heavy Metal festival in 1985 put together by the owners of the underground Belgian label, Mausoleum (who used the similar logo as the 1983 horror film). The organizers wanted to film the bands live but ran into a connundrum - this is underground Heavy Metal on small indie labels but we could at least get coverage from the Metal fanzines like Metal Hammer (which was then only available in German), Aardshok - or better yet, Kerrang or Metal Forces. MTV's not going to touch this with a 50 foot pole. So they decided to do it themselves and the results are well...read on. "Shockwave" was also the title of a rather good Beligan band o' Motörbangers called Killer. The cover to Killer's Shockwave" always reminded me of the movie poster of The Keep.

Since many bands were starting to release videos, the label saw it fit to not just focus on one band (and really didn't Mausoleum have 40+ bands signed by mid-1985?!?) and showcase many a metaller from Belgium, Germany, the UK, and 1 act from the USA.

Belgium's Lion's Pride - have a couple of OK but very standard riffs the vocals are in that mid-range of rough but sort of melodic sound like say, Loudness or a early 80's metal version of the guy from Agony Column. A little bland overall but sometimes interesting. I do remember seening their LP in the Record Factory in Dublin, CA sitting on the shelf for close to a year. They even put the damn thing on an end cap - thinking "somebody's GOT to buy this..." This isn't from Shockwave but this is from the same-era.

Polish bangers T.S.A. (T.S.A. stands for "Tajne Stowarzyszenie Abstynentów", which means "Teetotallers Secret Association") are up next. They were the first Polish band to make it outside their counties borders. (Turbo and Wilczy Pająk (aka: Wolf Spider) were only known by a few tape traders. Some goes for Vader who didn't take off 'til 5-6 years later). As of 2010 these guys were still playing shows (or at least some form of them). Their singer looks like Rudy Schenker of the Scorps. On a similar German metal tip, their 2nd tune on the video "Race Machine Hero" is a nice, tight speedy number that sounds right off of Accept's "Restless & Wild". Even rougher vocals than Udo. oh and, never mind the lame drum machine intro/outros.

Alaska's 2 songs are really 2 songs too many. This is the unholy equation of: Bon Jovi + John Waite (the guy mostly know for that P. Diddy sampled on "Missing You") + Tesla = puuuuke! The only "significance" this band had was Mel Galley, Bernie Marsden and Don Airey played in the early, slightly listenable version of Whitesnake. Although, Airey at least played on much better records with Ozzy and Colosseum II. Regardless of their rock resumes this is pure pomp rock hell.

Belgium's own Crossfire laydown a couple of good numbers. The Metallion site puts it aptly: "The band's music is a mix of NWOBHM, Quiet Riot and AC/DC and is nowhere near as thrashy as one would expect...Fans of everything from NWOBHM to boogie metal to Motorhead may find something here, while others may be disappointed by the lack of distinctiveness or creativity." Although supsrisingly they make all of these things work. Also, they had a song called "Killing A Cop" which granted wasn't as threatening as M.D.C. or Ice-T to "the man" but still - Belgian cops were (and probably still are) dicks to metalheads & punks. As Ali "TheMetalion" writes (again from The Metalion). And yes, they have silly mustaches and spandex but at least they did it then when that was pretty normal.  Besides, Mantas' Beligan doppelgänger is on left guitar. (Not sure if which of excellently named 6-stringers this is: Nero Neerinckx or  Rudy Van de Sype). This tune may or may not be from "Shockwaves" but it filled with some raw imagery & a rather rippin' tune'. 

Germany's Faithful Breath make some vague hard rock/sometimes Metal sound with this collision of Raven/Accept and Nazereth. All of this is odd since they started in the early 70's as a prog band! Plus, they all wear furs and the vocalist has a generic but nice viking helmet (Note: real vikings DIDN'T wear horned helmets but still they do look pretty rad if you're in a German metal band in the 80's). This isn't from "Shockwave' but it was a great song from them the exudes tough & true 80's power metal. The visuals are super-discount video but I admire bands when they just do these cheap-ass videos with the intent to just have fun and rock out. Who needs some "conceptual video" like Queensryche when you can kick ass on a viking boat made of Legos on a lake? Even the ever fading color of the video gives it that extra charm. How I love my "discount metal".

McCoy (featuring John McCoy from Gillan and Mammoth) are pretty awful. There's no clip of their footage but when you can imagine how half-assed they are with lyrics like ones here (OK, the riffs in here are good but maaaan!). Often their tempos trudge like a turtle on downers then they throw in dull "bluesy" tempos and there was some "biker mama" type in band that just made it weird and lame.

Next up with "On the Attack" is New York's Blacklace. Maryann Scandiffio's vocals here clumsy sort of like a off the mark Halford. The riffs are OK but the song's overall is a chock-a-block with dull cliches. bit above passable, the riffs are good & tight. Yet the solos and overall structure are pretty generic. Guitarist Carlo Fragnito's Eddie Van Halen-ish hot doggin' on the fretboard is no help either. The next tune this tune's in someway isn't too far from Christian Mistress. Visually there's an excess of stripes, fringe and lace aren't exactly making them standout in Circa: 1984 HM. Although, they do a bit better on the next tune "Call of the Wild" but that's due to their answering the question "What if Krokus circa: Headhunter had a female singer and sorta sounded like a Christian Mistress outtake?"

Lastly and not live at all is Venom's videos for "Witching Hour" and "Bloodlust". These are more like "performance" videos. Especially considering the massive amount of guitar wailing during "Witching Hour" which show Mantas not even holding his guitar! Still, these are 2 pretty potent versions of two of their early 80's classics. If you want to experience these songs in full - go check out the 1996 reunion show at Dynamo or their '85 "Hell At Hammersmith" video.

Endnotes: Zoinks! After writing all this I found someone's done an entire blog for this videotape! Let me introduce you to your new friend, Shockwave Heavy Metal Blogspot. 

Fun with YouTube

As you know YouTube can give you weird random selections/suggestions when you're searching for oh, say French Death Metal from 1996:

Or let's say you were looking for other Death Metal related stuff such as this early, overlooked Swedish stuff band, Exempt. It tells you to check out Three 6 Mafia. OK, maybe 'cause they're name is really 666 but musically totally, different head totally. That said, I wonder if Gangsta Boo is down with slithery, downtuned Morbid Angel meets early Unleashed style DM with a hankering for hammer-ons/pull-offs?



Another unintended random barrel o' laughs was this top suggestion I got whilst going through the band who's name can't-be-pronounced-unless-done-with-a-raspy-kackle, Baxaxaxa.

Lastly, I wanted to note that I had a great experience with the previously mentioned band Asgard. I played them a few times on my old show on KZSU, "Bloodstains Across Atherton" and about a year later my friend who was then the Metal Director got an e-mail from Xavier's Asgard's bassist, which was really cool. Makes up for all the times that I thought no one was listening or gave a shit.  

MTV Basement Tapes Bands

When Jersey Shore was just a location for dickbags, MTV used to play this stuff called music and moreso they even kinda, sorta helped a few bands "make it". Even if it was for a few months in the checkerboard/rising sun-muscle shirt year of 1983. We'll start off with the show intro & some pud-pop from Screen Test. Followed by some short clips of bands that only help reiterate the Hardcore/Punk attitude against "that wave-o shit".



In a Seattle area zine about 12 years ago, The Melvins were joking about "all those great Seattle bands...like Rail" Later on Buzz of the Melvins mentioned that Rail did a side project with Ronnie Montrose called Monorail. Apparently there are no Monorail recordings but my friend Big Chief on KZSU will break out the Rail LP every once in a blue moon. This is the tune that won 'em over:


By Thor, it's a pretty cool Angel/Triumph-like sorta heavy pomp rocker. Unfortunately, they never gigged or did a split with 1984's winner, Trak who had this "barely past puberty" mix of The Babys/April Wine & The Osmonds(!?) And really, are you still a "basement band" if you're doing a video on MTV and recording for EMI?

Anyway, more searching gave way to this equally obscure band called Hostage.


Sounds like early Dokken mixed with Malice & Keel and maybe even a super-early Skid Row. Very L.A. but OK sound produced by Bob St. John who did some platters of crap for Extreme & those "Now That's What I Called Music" drink coasters, a few years later. Skinny-tie pop was also represented by President and lest I forget these Memphis weirdos, Dog Police:


Sounds suspiciously similar to Sparks' "Mickey Mouse". Now here's the Moderns - "Serve and Protect" envoking, as several bands in the 80's had - the "computers as dystopian future" theme:



I'll spare you the 1985 Basement Tapes with guest host Billy Crystal and the late Reagan-era Rockers Against Drugs ads.

Of Walls and Whitecross

Take a gander here, this is some goofy, very Reagan-Bush-era stuff. Filmed not long after the Scorpions er, Eastern European citizenry (and NOT WrongOld Raygun) took down the Iron Curtain, Christian Nerf-Metallers or "Ratt-with a bible" - Whitecross did their own take. I'm not too sure what this "new" wall is but the lyrics allude to "Jesus said the Kingdom's just a prayer away". Okkeeey, but your carpenter buddy also said:

"But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me."
(Luke 19:2).

So explain THAT one fluffy-hair prostelyzin' dude. In the terrible taste test, I'm thinking this is just a tiny notch above "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue".

Metalspoitation Part 3: "Devil Worship Will Continue After These Messages"

Maximum Rock N' Roll's movie columnist in the early 90's, Jerod Pore came up with the term "Punxsploitation". OK, maybe he didn't coin it but it was the first time I had heard of it. In his column he discussed the mainstream media's take on punk rock and hardcore ranging from the most infamous Quincy episode to lesser known examples from the likes of Morton Downey Jr. interviewing (among others) Joey Ramone among others. Before Ice Cube and 2 Live Crew sent shivers through white suburbia, Punk and Metal were public enemy #1.

This is from 1988. Clearly the "satanic" and "demonic metal" phenomenon had to be confronted by the one, the only...Geraldo.


Even though King Diamond was pretty much a unknown name outside the metal scene, here he got some coverage. Which as an 18 year old I thought was pretty fuggin' rad. "To some it's just rock n' roll rebellion" Totally, dewd! Last King Diamond show I saw in 2003 he wished us in the crowd "Happy Halloween" AND "Merry Christmas". Yes, he is an actual, praying satanist but he knows how to show 'ya a good to time, too.

Typical of this early version of "tabloid TV", Geraldo interviews murderers who follow someone called "satan"and cops who believe the "satanic threat" as real.


These horror movie like descriptions are less to do with "satanism" and more to do with some seriously damaged individuals both the criminals and the media who salivate over big ratings. I'd love to see a list of major crimes done "in the name of satan" vs. "in the name of god". I suspect the G-man is gonna beat 'Ol Scratch by a 10:1 ratio. Finally, how come there's something called "Satanic Ritual Abuse" but not "Christian Propaganda Abuse?" or "Islamic Doctrine Abuse"?

When Joey met Lemmy

Two legends of rock and fuckin' roll together having fun and pissing off Dave Kendall & his overlords at MTV. Lemmy gets a very short description of "crossover" probably the only time that was ever mentioned on their airwaves. This is from about 1988 or '89. I saw a lot of the Ramones on MTV circa: '89 on the News and on 120 Minutes. Y'know back when Empty Vee played something called MUSIC?


"Oh that wuz pathET-eek!
I SAID this sONgz fa Joey and Dee Dee Ra-mooone!"

-- Lemmy, Shoreline Ampitheatre, Mountain View August, 2003.

Temptation, Pain and Hope

This is a random fan video from the UK edition of MTV's "Headbanger's Ball". The video itself isn't remarkably interesting compared to the list of "bargin bin" of hair metal contained within. This is my first time really viewing the style of host Vanessa Warwick. She seemed like an alright presenter. She did her research on the band (or at least read her cue cards really well) and put a decent amount of emphasis into what she was doing. Plus, she looked pretty good doing it. Although it's not in a that "Hey, look at me I'm a hot metalchick, muthafucka! Woo!" like her contemporaries "The Face of Metal" (?) Mistress Juilya, street team zombie Metal Sanaz and the ultra-skanky Jasmine St. Claire. Regardless of looks, it's more the to do with the simple and generally honest presentation that makes Warrick standout from these one sheets in fetish boots.

The list of bands read off in these clips reads like a "who's who" of Rip and Kerrang! circa: 1988-92. You can imagine flipping through piles of $1 bin LPs and cassettes that have collected dust from here to Helsinki. These are the bands not even VH-1 or Hit Parader has bothered with. Despite their major label (or "major indie label") status, the major of these bands failed instantly in the States. Does anyone remember the Fred Coury (Cinderella) & Stephen Pearcy (Ratt) "supergroup", Arcade? Sven Gali? Baby Animals? Tailsman? Skew Siskin? Sleeze Beeze? Dogs D'Mour, anyone? I heard them on KSJS...once. It wasn't half bad but that was in 1989, so who knows how it holds up today? Oh, yeah there's an unidentified Ramones interview in here. Blink & you'll miss it.

Being a mark for geography, Warrick & co. get kudos for doing "Swedish" and "Dutch" specials. Anyone truly obsessed with metal can tell you that it always has been an international phenomenon. The American Headbanger's Ball would've never tried that. Although, doing a "Bay Area Thrash" special or a "New York Metal" special would've been a lot more interesting than the umpteenth interview with Sebastian Bach or another Motley Crüe "update". All you had to do is interview say, 4 well known bands, and give mention to a few others that "the kids" should check out. Not that hard but it's not like anybody's hiring me to be research director.

Like A Camat From 'Da Sky!

From 1982-89 I was hugely into Pro Wrestling. In the Spring of 1982, Danny (yes, the same born-against Christian, Danny) told me about Georgia Championship Wrestling on WTBS. Over the next few weeks heschooled me on the "who's who" with names like Buzz Sawyer, Stan "The Lariat" Hansen and the Don "Magnificent" Muraco. Interestingly, Georgia Championship Wrestling was the highest rated show on WTBS in 1982. I left it behind the for awhile likely due to my BMX & growing metal obsessions. In 1984 & early 1985 I watched the World Wrestling Federation. Danny, Danny's dad & I went to see a WWF show at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. While we had nosebleed seats we could still make out some of the action between Sgt. Slaughter vs. the Iron Shiek. We also saw the high flying Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and the "inbred-freak" looking Moondogs. While I thought the WWF was good, I only watched it maybe every other week.

The Moondogs circa: 2003 with valet April


Sgt. Slaughter with ex-NWA/WCW jobber George South who now jobs for Jesus.

The clincher was in the Summer of '85. My friend Steve & I took a one day construction job in San Jose. We were responsible for cleaning out debris from a bunch of apartments. During lunch Steve told me about the wrestling show on WTBS. It was now called "World Championship Wrestling". He told me about guys like Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and The Midnight Express. He gave me the scoop on all the story lines and who was the bad guy and who was the good guy. The next Saturday afternoon came around I watched and I was hooked. If Steve had to work or if I had guitar lessons that day we'd fill each other in on what happened. It wasn't long that were were even arguing who was cooler or tougher - Ric Flair or Dusty Rhodes

I became more of a casual fan in the early 90-mid 90's. I watched wrestling probably once a month. I was in the midst of college and work. I also discovered an amazing concept called "relations with girls". Besides, looking back the characters and story lines in this time mostly sucked. I went back to watching the WWF & WCW around 1997 until about 2002. In this era there were a few things that stuck out like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin whose "Texas badass" character was really cool for awhile. That is until his catch phrase became "What?". Literally the word "what". Who writes this shit? The Rock was also fun to watch. While his mic skills were always ace, but his moves like "The People's Elbow" were pretty lame.

Although, the best was watching the hour-long, no bullshit, Extreme Championship Wrestling on TNN. My roommate Michael & I watched it every Friday night. Shows ya what lives we had.

Getting back to the 1980's, one wrestler whose image I was obsessed with, Kevin "Prince of Darkness" Sullivan. Sullivan for many years was a mystery. I only knew about him from the proto-black metal looking photos and random Florida territory reports published in the magazines like Wrestling All-Stars and Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Sullivan's ex-wife Nancy appears in the first clip below as the young girl. In the mid-90's they split up and she married Chris Benoit. In recent months you've probably read about the tragic end of that relationship.

Kevin Sullivan's "awesome factor" was his combination of bizarre imagery and original, crazy mic skills. While his character was supposed to be a satanist he never mentioned satan or wore any satanic symbols. Was it because some born-again Florida nut job might want to kill him? Instead of the devil or hell he spoke about the "betel nut" and an obscure prophet named "Abbabuddahdeen". Pro Wrestling Illustrated listed him hailing from Singapore. While not as strange as "Parts Unknown", Singapore was likely thought of as a satanic paradise that was run by rotund guys with strong Boston accents.
True Floridian Black Metal Wrestling - None Shall Defy!

After working the Florida territory Sullivan showed up on the "World Championship Wrestling" show. One week he wore a Nasty Savage shirt. When I told Steve that it he said the previous week (that I missed) Sullivan wore a Mercyful Fate shirt. Soooo METAAAAL! Steve was in Nasty Savage's fan club. The band's frontman Nasty Ronnie was obsessed with wrestling AND he was in a killer metal band. So maybe we weren't dorks after all? Ronnie would later go into wrestling in the late 80s with a local Florida based organization. (IWF?)
This one went on my wall in '85

Here are 3 classic moments from the Prince of Darkness involving his feud with "Superstar" Billy Graham.

Part 1 shows Sullivan with his manager Sir Oliver Humperdink fighting Kendall Windham and Nancy Sullivan (aka: "Cindy Lou") and then turning on his tag team partner "Superstar" Billy Graham. Graham's biblical counterpoint is straight out of an Ed Wood movie. Classic!


Part 2 "I Yam In Ya Soul And Yam In Yah Haht"

Sullivan and Graham go "weirdo a weirdo" yet again.


Finally, look below for the 3rd part of this unholy trinity. Sullivan & King Curtis (along with horde o' evil) speak of a far travelling guru. Whereas, their opponents Blackjack Mulligan and Superstar Graham claim Sullivan is talking "backwards" and call out the "chairman of the board". (Sinatra?) Listen for Superstar's AMAZING "Armageddon Freestyle".

Unfortunately chapter 3 is a wash in "this no longer available". However, here's Sullivan's pre-Sunn O)) ritual. voice over by the late, great Sir Oliver Humperdink. Someone needs to mix in Beherit or Blasphemy of this.