Anthem

Japanese metallers Anthem certainly lived up to their name. Despite forming at the same time, their countrymen in Loudness beat them to the punch (and the US breakthrough), and they never became the rock ‘n’ roll stars they wanted to be in the US. A shame. Their lightning strikes were just as shocking. Later on they would get more studio polish (from Priest/Anvil collaborator Chris Tsangarides) and songwriting ambition, but on this debut full-length they rip out songs with names like “Wild Anthem,” “Red Light Fever,” and “Warning Action!” with long-haired abandon. Singer Eizo Sakamoto and bassist Naoto Shibata would go on to perform metal covers of anime and video game themes in subsequent projects — and that hyperkinetic approach bursts through here.