The rise and fall of the indigenous tribes of the area now known as the United States has been a major staple of heavy metal and rock music for decades, although the issue has tapered off in recent years. From Iron Maiden to Anthrax to Thin Lizzy, we could make a pretty solid list of songs. Expand that to the wild west and we could have a collection to rival a Time-Life CD set (complete with free gift if you order now).
Well, that theme was on display in the name of the group Jeronimo, a German band formed in 1969. Their debut, 1970's "Cosmic Blues," was a straight forward rock album with a few heavy tracks. However, their sophomore release, the self-titled "Jeronimo" (featuring a photo of Chiricahua Apache hero Geronimo taken in 1887), was a complete heavy metal record.
Featuring the solid riffs and vocals of Michael Koch and backed by the rhythm section of bassist Gunnar Schäfer and drummer Ringo Funk, Jeronimo contained nine tracks of rip roaring early metal. A great example from the album is End of Our Time, which features ferocious guitar work, furious drum work, and a wicked bass line.
Shades has a similar sound to the debut of Lucifer's Friend, again showing that savage rock quality with competent musicianship. The album could be more polished, but the smattering of sloppiness and raw flavor adds more personality to the proceedings.
(Although unreleased on the initial album pressing, I would be remiss not to mention a true heavy metal gem, Save Our Souls)
I like to leave you with one song after every discussion, and for this I offer "Silence of the Night," which features a frenetic bass line that simply destroys the ear drums, and that doesn't even take into account the razor sharp rhythm guitar and crashing symbols.
This album is truly a delight and comes highly recommended for metalheads interested in the old school before the old school.
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