I need to get into this lot. A contemporary pal was into them when my obsession with Dio-lore was faintly concerning so my extremely narrow tastes were even more constrained than nowadays.
They should have been far bigger than they were, essentially being pioneers in what the American alt rock and metal scenes would end up being in the early to mid '90s. The thing is that they were far more proficient. Their compositional skill, ability, and clever approach to songwriting wasn't enough to get them much acclaim.
If you decide to check them out I strongly recommend you start with the first album (the one pictured above) and if you like that then go in sequence through the rest of the catalog. Everything up through Ear Candy is great IMO. After that they are harder to get into IMO but still worth exploring.
I think it’s alwsys a mistake to say you need to get into something. It implies you’re missing out or behind the curve. As metal heads, we’re all behind the curve. Feels good, doesn’t it? Enjoy what you want. Exploration is always good, but, as history has shown, it often leads to disappointment, apathy, or, at worst, starvation, deprivation, and, often, death
In addition, they also have most of their releases on bandcamp. Ampeauty, by Pungent Stench I have been waiting years to get my hands on a copy of "Club Mondo Bizarre". I can't tell you how excited this made me!!!
Coincident with this observation, I found myself in a supermarket earlier today and across my path walked a young fellow whose appearance and garb suggested he was trying very hard to resemble E. Sheeran...
Wow, a Metal band that doesn't rely on DE-Tuned Bass/Guitars to get their sound. Actually kinda breath of fresh air IMHO. Down-tuned D then C Sharp then B became so prevalent to me ( and...I was intrigued by doing this myself TBH) and got rather redundant? Something got lost going in this direction to me and I can't put my finger on it exactly...but, I hear it RE-gained in this band.If that makes sense? First guitars sound 440/430 pitch? And please, correct me if I'm way off on this as there is no guitar in the house anymore to confirm this for myself here just going by what's left of my old (band/concert beaten)ears here. Has that old school Def Lepard/Accept vibe with a vocals between Udo and Brian Johnson style? Some catchy riffs & chorus.
Their music has more roots dynamics than Accept (at least on that album). Bluesy hard rock rather than a purer metal sound.
After listening to that album, I thought back to my earlier post about the commercial metal coming out of Scandinavia. They'd fit right in on my local active rock station right between Ghost (BC) and Volbeat.