GLORYDAZE Music - Articles: Acid - 2009 Live In Belgium

ARTIST: Acid
ALBUM: Live In Belgium '84
LABEL: Femetal
SERIAL: FEM CD 001
YEAR: 2009

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

LINEUP: Kate - lead vocals * Demon - lead guitar * Dizzy Lizzy - rhythm guitar * T-Bone - bass * Anvil - drums

TRACK LISTING: 01 Acid * 02 Maniac/ Hooked On Metal * 03 Bottoms Up * 04 Lucifera * 05 No Time * 06 Exterminator * 07 Anvill * 08 America * 09 Max Overload * 10 Heaven's Devil's * 11 Drop Dead

Background
Acid started making noise in 1982 when the female-fronted Brugge, Belgium group released their first single 'Hell on Wheels'/'Hooked on Metal' which went over a storm among the denim and leathered metal hoards. A self-titled LP was followed up with 1983's 'Maniac' and 'Engine Beast' in 1985 and yet despite sporadic but very high profile concert dates with Black Sabbath, Manowar, Motorhead and Venom; Acid never broke out of their underground cult status. Enter Femetal Records; an imprint dedicated to hard and heavy female fronted rock that primarily focused on deluxe vinyl although this live set from Acid was released on both CD and LP.

The Songs
Recorded at the Lido Hall in Leuven, Belgium June 2, 1984; the sound quality is adequate even with poor editing, drop-outs and a bit of buzz here and there although from what I can gather 'Black Car', Acid's most well-known track was left off due to a breakup mid-song. Flipping the cassette is my guess yet despite the CD's flaws it's easy to hear why Acid is so revered among metal aficionados. Often referred to as speed and even black metal; the band was quite melodic and rest assured, nothing here will put you in cardiac arrest or give you the urge to burn down your local church. In fact a recent and lengthy interview in Snakepit Magazine (a must read for anyone into '80s metal) reveals the occult aspect of Acid's world view was purely a gimmick to sell records and nothing more. Their biggest selling point, obvious from the disc's front cover photo was Kate De Lombaert whose leathery pipes often recall a demonic Darby Mills although the band were more than up to snuff, churning out relentless riffs amid the occasional pyrotechnics which are a little too audible at times but what the heck, it sounds like everyone was having a good time and stand-out tunes like 'Lucifera' and 'Heaven's Devils' gave the crowd what they came for.

In Summary
With a full color booklet including promo and concert photos as well as the actual poster from the gig; I imagine with Femetal no longer in operation this disc won't be around much longer although a few like-minded distributors still have copies on hand so if obscure Euro metal is your thing, get it while you can.

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Comments

#1 | gdazegod on January 27, 2012

This album is not your usual fare Eric. You did say that you were going through a heavier phase. I guess we're seeing it.. lol! Might have to track this down for a 'sticky beak'..

#2 | gdazegod on January 27, 2012

#3 | Eric on January 27, 2012

I know. The last few months been going back to my old metal/ hard rock albums and updating many to CD reissues where available and picking up some other things like the above along the way. I don't know what it is really , mid-life crisis? Nah, perhaps just a phase but I've been missing the old sounds, the energizing power and well...fun. I played Scorpions 'Animal Magnetism' 8 times last week until the wife stopped me-lol! Don't worry- more power pop and prog stuff in the pipeline!

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