Between Two Hells

After a couple of blatant throwback offerings to the days when heavy metal was joined at the hip with AOR, right down to the campy Sci-Fi oriented album art work that was all the rage circa 1985, former Swiss cover band turned melodic power metal outfit Crystal Ball found themselves in the unique club of Nuclear Blast signed acts…

L.A.-based Evildead was the thrash metal band founded by former Agent Steel guitarist Juan Garcia, following that group's apparent breakup in 1987. Alongside vocalist Phil Flores, guitarist Albert Gonzalez, bassist Mel Sanchez (previously his bandmate with Abattoir), and drummer Rob Alaniz, he signed with Germany's Steamhammer label, and by the close of 1989 they had released both an EP (entitled Rise Above) and a full album (optimistically named Annihilation of Civilization) of particularly brutal thrash metal…

Sometimes when reflecting upon a past project, dwelling upon its name and whether or not it was aptly chosen can be unavoidable, and perhaps doubly so if the project was short-lived. In a name like Kublai Khan comes a renowned historical figure that factors in all too well with thrash metal, namely a great Mongolian ruler whose exploits are rivaled by few, though also a complex one that was not without his personal failures and vulnerabilities…

…Pyramaze could be seen as a 4th way in some respects, with regards to the power metal paradigm at this point, as they lay somewhere between the progressive tinged characteristics of the Pagan’s Mind crowd, and the orthodoxy of older USPM and traditional bands…

Kai Hansen formed Helloween in 1984, playing guitar and singing on the speed metal band's first four albums. He left in early 1989, however, and founded Gamma Ray with vocalist Ralf Scheepers (formerly with Tyran Pace). The duo intended to record a one-off project that Hansen originated while in Helloween, so they recruited bassist Uwe Wessel, drummer Matthias Burchardt, and several other musicians…