Thicker on all layers
Lunar Strain | United States | 09/15/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"For some reason Exciter fans consider the band to have faltered with this release. I actually totally disagree. I actually believe the band got better with Unveiling the Wicked. Don't worry, I will soon say why.
One thing why I view this album to be better than their previous 3 efforts is for the fact guitarist John Ricci departed. Personally I found his departure the best thing for the band. Not that I didn't like their first three albums, but his guitar playing was rather hum-drum and repetitive. This is where Unveiling the Wicked is better as it introduces new guitarist Brian McPhee. McPhee is a far better guitarist than Ricci the guitar solos are oh so much more fleshed out. It's like McPhee brought new life to a band that was wallowing in repetitiveness.
The album opens with Break Down the Walls, one of Exciter's best songs altogether. It opens with a cool drum intro and then jumps into a great guitar riff. McPhee does a great job at overlapping the rhythm and lead guitar sounds that make this more pleasant to listen to than past Exciter efforts. Beehler does some grand screaming on this track and the solos are just great. Can't get enough of this song!
Brainstorm is a little instrumental that leads up to the song Die in the Night. It's not bad but I tend to hit the skip button on this track to get the next song. Die in the night again as a great guitar riff with cool rhythms and a catchy chorus.
The fourth track I Hate School Rules was the albums one and only single and ironically the bands worst song on the album, let alone one of the worst Exciter songs of all time. Frankly it was written to appeal to those young Exciter fans out there by going against school authority. It's fine for young boys, but for grown men this song is a joke. This song brings the album down a few notches for me.
Shout It Out & Invasion/Waiting in the Dark are both mid paced songs and that latter song has some great slower guitar work interlaced within the song. Living Evil is a slower tack reminiscent of Pounding Metal on Violence & Force. It's actually better than that classic Exciter tune do to a more fleshed out guitar sound.
These three tracks are all decent lead ups to another great song, Live Fast Die Young. This song absolutely has a great galloping guitar riff by McPhee with great screaming vocals by Beehler. It's arguably the best song on the disc. Just a monster of a track. The album ends on a perfect not with Mission Destroy
Other than the lame track I Hate School Rules and a cheesy album cover, this album is pretty much better than all of Exciters previous albums on every level. The songs are better structured, the guitar playing is better, and the production is crisper. I personally would consider this album to be one of Exciter's highest point and it's a shame not more agree."
MOST UNDERRATED METAL BANDS AROUND
M. Montoya | San Jose, CA USA | 11/07/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Awesome metal album of the 80's. Fast drumming, loud guitars and screaming vocals. This is what heavy metal is all about, but one question ? This CD is digitally remastered from what ? You can clearly hear in the background the original source which was taken from a record album. What happened to the original tapes ? Better than nothing I quess, once the music starts you can't hear the record sound and they did a good job of drowning it out at the end of each song. Still worth the money. I have a few cd's that were taken directly from a record album and remastered to cd. Anthrax "Fistful of Metal" was one."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1