Ravage - Freedom Fighter (SWWR Productions) 2008
1.Freedom Fighter (4:47)
2.Damn Nation (5:55)
3.The Shredder (3:10)
4.Grapes of Wrath (3:30)
5.A Captive of Sin (4:16)
6.Be Quick or Be Dead (03:29)
I discoved Ravage with the album that followed this EP on Metal Blade. I thought that album was fantastic and thought I’d start looking for some of their older material. Upon first popping this CD in my car stereo, I was immediately blown away. The songs on this EP are all fantastic! I was immediately taken back with how familiar they sounded to me. It didn’t take but one spin to realize that more than half the songs from this EP made it onto “The End of Tomorrow”. And why not? “Damn Nation”, “Grapes of Wrath” and especially “The Shredder” are all fantastic speed metal songs. The tilte track and “A Captive of Sin” are the only original songs that are exclusive to this EP. With all five original songs, Ravage has a way with writing memorable, hooky, heavy, traditional metal. Vocalist Al Ravage has a charismatic, distinctive voice that will help set this band apart from the power metal pack. The EP also offers a cover of Iron Maiden’s “Be Quick or Be Dead”. A nice way to finish of the EP, however, as much as I love a good cover, on “Freedom Fighter”, I think the original material far superior to the cover. The EP comes in a cardboard sleeve.
Ravage - The End of Tomorrow (Metal Blade) 2009
1. The Halls of Madness (1:36)
2. Reign Fall (4:23)
3. Freedom Fighter (4:48)
4. Damn Nation (5:56)
5. The Shredder (3:09)
6. Into the Shackles (4:45)
7. In Shattered Dreams (4:50 )
8. The Nightmare's Hold: Part 1 (2:50)
9. The Nightcrawler (5:17)
10. The Nightmare's Hold: Part 2 (2:39)
11. Grapes of Wrath (3:33)
12. The End of Tomorrow (6:34)
I’m from the old school of metal fans. Back in the day I use to give albums a chance based simply on the album cover alone. In this case, I saw an add for Ravage with a CD cover by the legendary Ed Repka. Because of that and some things I had read on-line, I assumed that Ravage must be one of the new school of thrash metal bands and decided to purchase a copy. When I popped the disc into my CD player, I was surprised to discover that Ravage are not a thrash band at all. In fact, these guys are classic power metal. No, not the dungeons and dragon, keyboard laced power metal, but real American power metal that rides a fence between traditional heavy metal and thrash. I was also surprised to find out that this band was not new and has been toiling in the underground releasing demo after demo for over ten years with this being their second full length release.
To describe Ravage’s sound, I’d say it is Judas Priest on speed, and in fact, the do a Priest cover here that sounds totally natural with the band’s original songs. However, vocalist Alec "Al Ravage" Firicano is no Halford clone. In fact, his voice reminds me of Blaze Bailey during his classic Wolfsbane years. The band also incorporates some NWOBHM influences and some slightly more modern elements as well, not unlike Cage. "The Shredder" even brings in some thrash metal influences. So, no, Ravage are not trying to create some new style, nor are they the most original metal band on the scene. However, much like the modern retro-thrash movement, that is not the point. The point is to create some quality music within the confines of the genre of metal that these guys obviously love. They are good at what they do and any heavy metal fan should find something to like here.