Track 5 Steppenwolf cover!!
As a non-native English speaker, I can understand the point of making this kind of album. If you have a band that is of international quality, but you sing in your own language, making an album in English can expand your fan base to other countries much more easily. Unfortunately, more often than not, if you are translating songs, there is a lot lost in the process. This is maybe a psychological thing, that if the band themselves take their own established song, they don't want to change the lyric storyline much. That then can have disastrous results, as in how the lyric flows. Sometimes this is then even further exacerbated with a strong accent.
So in 1989, Muro, the Spanish speed-metallers already had two well received full-length albums under their belt, and it was time to try to make a metal attack abroad. The metal scene then was still in fairly good shape, so I reckon it was a bit of a "now or never" thing. They then took three songs from their first album, three from the second, and one cover, and one new song later, we have a shortish album of 36 minutes, which should exemplify that what Spanish speed metal is all about.
The first worries come without listening a note, only just by looking at the front and back cover. It somehow screams low production values with its graphics, and there are even some typos, like "cover desiNG". We get the confirmation of the production values quite soon when we actually do drop the needle on the first track. Yeah, the sound is not great - not even by 1989 standards. Guitars sound OK, but drums are dull-sounding and there is evident unevenness throughout the mixing. It is not abysmal and not something I'd call "raw," but more like something very hastily done. The band themself has criticized this album for the production, but I must give them credit that they took the time to re-record the six tracks and not just get the singer to re-record the vocals.
So, the album opener/title track is the new song here, and I must honestly say that it's great. I'm sure the guys had listened their "...and Justice for All" at this point, as it has some twists and turns that were not that abundant on their previous records (so, on the other songs here). The singer Silver has a great and very pleasant tone, the vocal melody is quite catchy and somehow to me resembles a bit of Sacred Reich? There is a bit of the jankiness I mentioned in the text delivery, but it is quite slight on this song.
Then on the second track, "Kill" ("Mata" from Acero Y Sangre -album,) we run into another problem. I did applaud them for re-recording, but as "Acero Y Sangre" was a Venom-like raw attack, this somewhat polished (yes - even if the production is what it is, this is more polished) version sounds a bit lacking in energy if we compare the two directly. Maybe the thought was that the people who are hearing this album have not and will not hear the originals? If I try my darndest to forget the original versions, they are not bad songs at all. Below the surface they are decent speed metal. But the first thing springing to mind is that there is strong potential, but it just doesn't get realized. Partly due to the production, and it does need some work on the lyrical angularity. Also, as some of the songs are at least 3-4 years old, it's not exactly fresh-sounding at this point.
I guess I'm forced to mention the B-side opener also, a cover version of "Born to Be Wild." Well, as the intro goes, you think you have an actual point here, making it a speed metal thing. That is until the vocals kick in with something reminiscent of "Born to Be Wild". I don't know what they were thinking, and what to actually think. What is the amount of humor there is in this whole thing - after all, the album is called "Mutant Hunter"? As a whole, this is more of a curiosity of an album; please start your voyage with the two first albums instead.
Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=nGDDlAEDWSc
