ANGEL OF MERCY: "The Avatar"
LP
Private 1987
David St. James - guitar, vocals
Kaign Sevenson - bass, guitar, vocals
Deniz Derya Gallegos - drums, keyboards, vocals
Rarity:
LP = 9
In
the Beginning
Angel of Mercy
Chained to a World
Soul Searcher
Break Away
Metemorphasis
The Avatar
Victim of the Change
Journey to the Master
The Last Encounter
The Succubuss
First let's have a look at the cover: A jagged crystal sword before the sun and several planets, 5 in a row, maybe announcing that the time has come for "The Avatar"... Lyrics or an innersleeve are sadly not included, so I can not understand the stories behind interesting song-titles as >Journey to the Master<, >The last Encounter< aso. The sound of the record is not very powerfull, it's a thin sound below average, even for a private-pressing of the mideighties. And now to the most important, the music:
I feel the comparsion to MANILLA ROAD hits the core, but only concerning the 2nd LP of Witchita's Epic Godz "Metal". It's Epic Metal with a more or less strong 70ies edge, acoustic parts, spoken interludes and Power Metal eruptions, some female voices can also be found on >In the Beginning<. The vocals and some melody-lines really remind on old MANILLA ROAD, but it's not as heavy in my opinion and also not as great. The vocals are pleasent but not very unique or memorable, the guitars could have been mixed more in the foreground. Generally is to say that ANGEL OF MERCYs one and only record sounds like it was from 1983, not 1987.
Best tracks to me are the epic and dynamic >Metemorphasis<, a real classic with haunting melodies and a dark atmosphere, the band-hymn >Angel of Mercy<, and the track >Soul Searcher<.
All in all I must say it's a good record for my taste, but I guess not everyone will like it! So better be careful before spending so much money!!!