siLLy puPPy After a 16 year hiatus and trimmed down to a trio BROCAS HELM returns with a new album and what a great one it is. This album has a strange history as it was originally supposed to be titled GHOST STORY, a continuation of the cassette only EP of the same name released in 1994. Because of mysterious intervening forces that album never came to be so the band decided to simply include the four tracks “Ghost Story,” “War Toons,” “Time Of The Dark” and “Juggernaught” from the orignal EP on this album now titled DEFENDER OF THE CROWN. It all fits together really well and you'd never know those songs are ten years older.

Right from the very first notes of “Cry Of The Banshee” you can hear that BH are back with a vengeance! No lackadaisical comeback album with this one. The epic 80s power metal simply picks up where the last album left off 16 years before with nary a care of the musical developments that have taken place since that time. The result is a kick-ass, no-compromise album that doesn't let up the entire run of the album. Mercifully we get a full hour album this time around and despite that running time it never gets tiresome. We not only get epic medieval themes but also some humorous anecdotes in the forms of “Drink And Drive” and “Drink The Blood Of The Priest.”

The band has always been fairly obscure but in recent years has been becoming more popular in Europe and elsewhere due to the fact Jack Black chose their track “Cry Of The Banshee” to use in the video game BRUTAL LEGEND. Another metal masterpiece from this band that seems to favor quality over quanity. Do we really have to wait 16 more years for a follow-up?

siLLy puPPy Clocking in at less than 30 minutes their second album is major leap in quality of their pre-Helloween American epic power metal over their debut in pretty much every way. The songwriting is more varied, the production is clearer, the vocals are better although a little muffled and the creativity is turned up several notches. The subject matter is also more varied and besides epic battles, we get chemistry, Satan and of course some black death! All recorded in their own Cavern Of Thunder studios.

The band is really tight with the jazz influenced drummer Jack Hays delivering some serious pounding of the skins, Bob Wright and T-Bone Behney trading off some cllassic metal riffs and tasty leads, and Jim Schumacher abusing his bass like there's no tomorrow. The epic feel is contagious as I feel like i'm transported to a battlefield dotted by war and plagues ready for raucus medieval madness. A spectacular epic metalfest from start to finish. A sadly under-appreciated album from a band that deserves more recognition. Unfortunately the band would be on hiatus for the next 16 years before they would release their third album.

siLLy puPPy Thundering herds of horses galloping gallantly across the plains into enemy territory starts this saga before we hear monstrous guitar riffs chugging along beginning “Metallic Fury.” INTO BATTLE is a fast paced no compromise metal album straddling the line between NWOBHM and epic pre-Helloween American power metal.

Galloping riffs, fast and tight drums with some rockin' bass and fantastical medieval lyrics is pretty much what you get here. The production is ok but not great. You can hear the nascent ideas trying to churn out into something more dynamic but never really takes full flight.

INTO BATTLE is a good but not outstanding example of an early 80s thrashy power metal band. Although the incessant speed of the songs fits the theme (no coffee breaks in battle), the songs are too similar to be interesting and by the time you get to the end of the album you end up glad the battle is over but not really caring who won.