Post Reply - The Great Collection Rediscovery

Album: The Art of Metal

Old Rating: 5/5

Verdict: This is a tricky one to rate because I love this album but I also cannot objectively say it's a five star release, so I'm settling on a 4.5. This really is a damn fun album though and certainly underrated by most. Hysterica is usually considered 'just' a heavy metal band, but get past the first track and it quickly becomes apparent that this isn't really the case, with the vocals changing to death growls, which then recur through most tracks on that album. The standout is Message From the Dark, a traditional doom metal song (with a few death growls), where the band shows their potential for songwriting with more depth than their usual cheesy fare, which I have to admit can be a bit derivative (Heels of Steel is obviously a play of Saxon's Wheels of Steel). But as I said, it's fun. A lot of fun. Sadly this remains Hysterica's current album with only an EP appearing since. 

As an extra random fact, this album also has the first appearance in the metal scene of vocalist Jennie-Ann Smith, the year before Avatarium released their debut. Although I can't say I can really hear her in the track she's supposed to be on and I didn't even know this for years and always thought the cleans in that track were the band's usual singer. Decide for yourself if you can hear her or not.

New Rating: 4.5/5