The Lynx Is Out Of The Trap And Prowls Again!

Swedish hard rockers LYNX formed in the town of Eskilstuna, just west of Stockholm Sweden, in 1975 as PEGASUS. Vocalist Mats Eriksson (later Feretti) and Per Hermansson met on the train going to a Deep Purple gig in Gothenburg. On the way home again the decision to form a band was made by the two young men and they immediately recruited the drummer Tommy Karlsson. Just a couple of days later they found bass player Pål Johnsson and guitarist Jan Elvi. They chose the name Pegasus right at the start. After being together for a year or so Jan Elvi left the band and was replaced by guitar slinger Per Larsson. The band split up the first time as far back as 1977, but Larsson, Hermansson and Eriksson continued to play together in different formations.

In 1981, Pegasus was brought back from the dead but this time with Kuano Vaatovaara handling the bass. Pegasus slowly built up a larger following and a few years down the line drummer Tommy Karlsson was replaced by Johan Skagerlind. A record contract was signed in 1985 with the small label Mill Records. Just before the recording Pegasus changed the name to Lynx when they learned there was another band going by the name of Pegasus. A smart move to avoid legal fights over the band name. Drummer Johan Skagerlind played on the pre-production demos but just before the recording chose to leave the band and in came Carl Moser. He had almost no time to learn the songs but did so in two weeks. The debut album was recorded at Decibel Studios, Stockholm and released later that year. Production was handled by the band themselves together with Thomas Sunmo and Olle Larsson.

Picture courtesy of Lynx homepage

Caught In The Trap was Lynx's debut album and also the only album the band released. It combined the energy and attitude of the early NWOBHM wave, the heavy riffs and grooves of Black Sabbath with more melodic edged bands like Europe and Treat. The mix making it a really interesting release and with the frequent use of keyboards a parallel could easily be drawn to NWOBHM band Tobruk and the first two albums by Europe. Lynx recorded four more songs ("Back In The Streets" + 3 more) for a proposed second album which never materialized and Lynx split up soon after. Guitarist Per Larsson went on to play guitar in Dionysos and black metal band Nightspirit, the latter still active.

Fast forward to 2014 and Mats Feretti and Per Larsson have reunited and together they are writing new songs so maybe, just maybe, there will be more Lynx music in the future with the inclusion of some unreleased older tracks. Very much due to the great guys at Greek label No Remorse Records Caught In The Trap can finally be enjoyed in remastered format on CD for the first time. Caught In The Trap is the second release in the label's ”Swedish Hard n´ Heavy Series” (DIZZINESS – On The Rocks being the first). I hope there are some new and interesting re-issues coming up in the future. I´m definitely going to follow this very interesting series.

Track By Track Comments

The album starts off with a heavy song called ”My Own Way” which has a distinct Sabbath feel with a ”doomy atmosphere” running throughout the song much to the credit of Hermansson keyboards. The song starts off with a keyboard intro setting the atmosphere for the song before Larsson's riffs set in and a great and weird riff it is! Eriksson's spaced out and airy vocals float perfectly on the heavy riffing from Per Larsson. A really strong opener with a pulsing beat that catches your attention right away. It is followed by ”Win Or Lose” which is a mid-tempo affair, has a really catchy chorus and displays hints of Rainbow or early Europe. Some old style Hammond fills and a great solo from Larsson add value to the song. Lyrically it's about having to fight and 

Picture courtesy of Lynx homepage.

whether you win or lose is your choice. It is followed by another great mid-tempo track called ”Fingers Crossed” which blends sharp guitar riffs with atmospheric keyboards in the background with Eriksson's clear vocals on top. Again some great riffs from Larsson in front of Vaatovaara's thumping bassline and Moser's pulsating drums. The song does not have a clearly defined chorus line. The fourth track on the album is called ”Man Without A Face” which is a great melodic rocker with a chorus that easily sticks in your head. The Rainbow influences on this song (Joe Lynn Turner era) are rather obvious, but it's a great melodic rocker and definitely one of the stronger songs on the album. The song is about the man without a face, a tyrant long ago who only came out at night and never showed his face. This is followed by ”Don´t Fool Me”, a song about being left alone in the dark waiting, which together with the opening track and ”Man Without A Face” are my top picks from this great album. ”Don´t Fool Me” is a great melodic hard rock song with clear hints of AOR. It´s got a really catchy hook with a huge chorus.

Next song is ”The Final Race”, a song about illegal street racing and losing control of the car - the final race. It is a faster-paced heavy rocker more in the vein of Saxon and Tygers Of Pan Tang and the British influences are really showing on this one. The song contains a nice solo from Per Larsson and some cool riffs. It is followed by ”Nothing In Return” and it may be the fastest song on the original album which gives the listener another healthy dose of NWOBHM inspired heavy rock. The song contains a nice chorus and a great hook. Lyrically it deals with the subject of being used and how "easy come, easy go" sometimes applies to love.  Next up is the strange but excellent track ”Master Of Evil”with a rather mysterious sounding riff and a vintage organ in the background creating that type of spooky atmosphere that was a signature mark of Black Sabbath's. The song brings up the subject of only getting one chance at getting rid of the almighty Tyrant (The Master of Evil) and throwing him off the throne. The original album then rounds off with ”Nightstalker” with the Rainbow influences clearly showing again. A really strong chorus with some nice keyboards and a great riff.

Now the bonus material takes over and everything is from the days when they were known as Pegasus. First out is a live recording of a song called ”In The Night” and it was recorded by Swedish  Radio in 1981 in a town called Oxelösund. On this track, Tommy Karlsson was still behind the drumkit. It's a great song with a really nice vibe and an interesting hook. Think Rainbow again and you will get very close to what this song sounds like. Sound quality is of course not the greatest but a very interesting time document. When it comes to the songwriting it would easily have fitted on the 

Pegasus live. Picture courtesy of  Lynx homepage

album. Second song called ”Keep On Giving Me Love” is by far the fastest track on this reissue and starts of with a falsetto scream in the vein of King Diamond from Mats Eriksson and it continues in a fast pace with the pedal to the metal. An interesting song with a nice chorus line but sound quality is a bit poor. It was recorded on a 4-track in the rehearsal studio. The CD ends with a track from the pre-production demos leading up to Caught In The Trap. It is called ”Race To Hell” and it´s the only track where drummer Johan Skagerlind keeps the beat going. It's an early version of the song ”Final Race” that ended up on the album.

Summary

The production on this album from 1985 is really impressive with a crisp sound and all the instruments can be clearly heard separate from each other.  The album is clearly heavier than most contemporary bands from Scandinavia in this genre. With heavy riffing, a great musicianship and a bunch of great songs this is really an undiscovered gem for many fans of the genre. Mats Ferretti's mystical and crystal clear vocals fit the music perfectly making this a really interesting blend of the traditional NWOBHM sound with the more keyboard oriented AOR sound. Some songs even show some hints of AOR.

The guys at No Remorse Records have done a great job again with reissue that comes with a very nice 20 page booklet including the lyrics to all the original 9 songs and a short band biography written by Per Larsson.  This great package includes some really nice and great photos from the time of the recording of the album. I still wonder though why the 4 songs recorded for the second album were not included as bonus material, especially in the light of the questionable audio quality of the bonus songs. The only viable reason would be to save it for a later release with some new songs added. Considering how good "Back On The Streets", "The Arena", "Stolen Money" and "R&R Gonna Save Your Soul" sound, some of them you can find on YouTube, it's very strange why they were not included. Both the songwriting and the audio quality is superior to the bonus material included. That would have made a great release even better!

Rating an old release as this is always hard and for the time (the mid-1980´s) this was a really great album that unfortunately got lost in the shuffle. Lynx was good enough to compete with the best. I would give this reissue a 7/10 and maybe would have been even higher if the bonus material had been different. I can´t shake the feeling that the four demos for the second album should have been on as bonus tracks! No Remorse Records are doing a fantastic job of bringing all these old and great releases out again, often for the first time on CD. The Lynx album is no exception and is one of their best releases.

Let´s just hope that something comes out of the newly re-established connections between Larsson and Feretti. Maybe they can bring the original Lynx back together again – who knows. There are plans for a new record with both old material and some new songs and I´m still hoping that record will bring us the 4 missing demos because they are so good that they need to be heard!  Until then I strongly recommend a listen to Caught In The Trap.

BUY: Lynx - Caught In The Trap

The Lionsheart

Lynx homepage      No Remorse Records

No Remorse Uncovers Long Lost Hammeron albums!

American power metal outfit Hammeron, based in Chicago, started out in the early 1980's with a different lineup than the one that would come to release the cult album Nothin´ To Do Again But Rock in 1986. Vocalist Brian Troch joined the band early on and soon after talented guitarist Jack Lazor also joined in. By the mid-1980's, these two were complemented by guitarist Mick Vega, bass player Danny Vega and the only original member, drummer Pete Pagonis. Just before recording their debut album Pagonis left the fold to join Damien Thorn, leaving the band without any remaining original members. Enter Jeff Ward, a powerhouse drummer with a great timing and feel and also the brother of Flotsam & Jetsam bassist Jason Ward.

The classic line up was now in place and would last until the band broke up in 1990. In 1985 the band managed to get two songs published on two sampler collections; ”Marching Off to War” (Chicago Class of 1985) and ”The Only One” (Chicago Metal Works Battalion 2). Why these two were omitted from these reissues I do not know.

Nothin´ To Do Again But Rock!
In 1986, Hammeron entered Tanglewood Studios in Brookfield, Illinois to record their debut and, until now, sole album. Nothin´ To Do Again But Rock may seem, judging by the title, as some kind of banal and simple hard rock album. You cannot be more wrong! What you get here is classic American power metal in the vein of Queensryche (Rage for Order era), Lethal or Heir Apparent! Nice guitar duels by Vega/Lazor and fantastic guitar harmonies spiced up by crystal clear vocals from Brian Troch. Slighlty progressive in the song textures and great vocal and guitar harmonies build up these songs with memorable hooks and choruses. The production is of course, judging by today's standards a bit dated. This album should have been far more successful than it was in the mid 80´s. Being a self-financed release such issues as lack of distribution and marketing made the album doomed from the start commercially. Thanks to Greek label No Remorse Records (Great job guys!!) everybody gets the chance to discover this lost gem and pay tribute to what could have been.

Wired For Sound!
No Remorse Records has also issued the 1987 demo and the later Sponges demo, all on one CD aptly renamed Wired For Sound. For the first time, these are now available to the public. This Wired For Sound album offers varied material in terms of quality. The 1987 demo portion continues on in the vein of the first album with heavy but melodic songs building on strong hooks with lots of melodies and harmonies but the sound quality is a bit on and off being a demo. The last three songs are taken from the Sponges demo and they really lower the grade on this album. To me it only sounds like a wall of sound with no memorable hooks or riffs. Troch screams and shouts like hell but nothing good comes out of it. I´m sorry to say, but it´s pure crap to me. Trying to sound like Pantera was obviously not the right choice. You could call it evolving but in my opinion it was a nosedive into obscurity.

Music style changed for the band and they started to grow apart, not being in agreement on where to go, Hammeron parted ways in 1990. Jeff Ward would then move on to play with Ministry and Nine Inch Nails, however, he struggled with a heroin addiction and tragically took his own life in 1993 (RIP). Guitarist Jack Lazor went on to sing for Widows Rose in Arizona with Jeff´s brother Jason (also in Flotsam & Jetsam). Mick Vega moved on to play with Syndrome, Mad Dog, The Plague and Rising Up Angry. Dan Vega also played with Widows Rose and Mind Bomb. Lead vocalist Brian Troch took the job as frontman with Znowhite and later on Cyclone Temple. Later on, he teamed up with Joe Stump, Jeff Tortora and Jimmy Pma to form Shootinghemlock and released two albums with them. Currently, Brian is playing with the band Flywater.

Track By Track Comments (Nothin' To Do Again But Rock)

Picture courtesy of Underground-Empire.com

The album starts off with the fast paced rocker ”Silent Victim” with a simple but nice chorus. The song has some interesting tempo changes with a slow mid-section and it keeps me interested throughout the song. A good way to start off the album! This is then followed by the title track, ”Nothin´To Do But Rock”, with it's midtempo during the verses and some intricate beats. It steps up a gear for the chorus, but it is a really strong effort! Troch shines on this one providing a great vocal effort and this song has a nice melodic guitar solo. The album then picks up with the song ”So True” which is one of the strongest tracks on the album. Nice guitar licks by Vega/Lazor and heavy riffing during the verses with Troch's melodic vocals on top. Again the song is slightly progressive but in a very positive way making Hammeron stand out from other bands. Keeping up on the high end another strong effort is to follow in ”Jealousy” which is a semi-ballad type of thing. The verses are sung in a ballad context, but the song evolves into a heavy and faster song for the really strong chorus. Another slower song follows suit in ”Endless Nights” and it's also a very strong song with it becoming heavier again for the chorus. Yet again, it is a really strong one with a nice vocal from Troch. ”Why Lie” starts off with a weird beat which then introduces Queensryche-like guitar licks and then turning into a strange but interesting chorus with a faster pace. Probably the oddest song on the album and it demands listening to a couple of times. Not the instant hit but that goes for the whole album I think. The next song, "Sleepwalker", is a faster-paced rocker with a more direct approach. ”Sands Of Pyre” offers a heavier and grooving sound than the previous songs with the tasteful use of keyboards. The song adds nicely a new element to the mix with the album then rounding off with a nice and melodic rocker in ”To The Top”. This should have been a first single in my opinion having the melody and commercial feel the radio was looking for in the 80´s with a direct and simple hook line and a great chorus!

Track By Track Comments (Wired for sound)

Picture courtesy of Metal-Archives.com

The album starts off in great style with a really strong song, the fast paced rocker ”One More Time”. Just as strong as "Silent Victim” which started off the debut album. It is continued with album highlight ”Hold You” which features some really nice guitar licks from Vega/Lazor once more and a great melodic chorus! In the next song, ”Hungry For a Fight”, you can clearly hear the band going for a heavier sound with a straight ahead rocker based on heavy riffing and Troch stretching his vocals to the limit on the chorus. The album then continues on with another fast paced heavy rocker called "Journey's End". With the faster songs, the progressive beats also fade away which is too bad. ”Journey´s End” is still a really nice song with a melodic chorus and the song features a nice guitar solo duel. With the next song, ”The Way”, we´re back in ”Queensryche-land"! The song could easily have been an extra track on The Warning or Rage For Order albums with Troch reaching a really high pitch and both beat and riffs taking me back to the early Queensryche years. Together with ”Hold You”, these are definitely the album's highlights! Next song is ”Living On The Edge” and the last song from the 1987 demo included here. It´s a good straight ahead rocker but nothing that stands out. The last three songs ”Full Force”, ”Sponges” and ”Hammer and Sickle” are nothing short of an attempt at the Pantera sound and they fail miserably. Only gives me earache and a bad way to round off an otherwise interesting album.

Summary
No Remorse marketed this re-release as a long lost US metal masterpiece. I have to say it´s pretty damn close to that. For being a mid 80´s release these guys deserved so much better. They recorded a very consistent debut album (Nothin' To Do Again But Rock) – which had the songs and the musicianship to compete with the best. Yet, they faded into obscurity and I certainly did not catch them in the day. It's only thanks to the enthusiasts at No Remorse that I (and maybe you too) get to hear it! Back in those days there were no internet, no facebook, no twitter. I must say this is a great release that deserves a 7/10 points. When it comes to ”Wired For Sound the sound is not as great and the band are going for a heavier sound. The song quality is very varied with the end of the album being absolutely below par and pure nonsense. I would give the album a 4/10, the last three songs lowering the grade by at least two points and the sound quality deducting the last one in comparison with the debut album. It would have been better to include the two early songs and leaving the Sponges demo off the album in my opinion. My advice is to start off with Nothin´ To Do Again But Rock if you are not familiar with the band. I hope you all will give it a listen because it will be worth it. If your into melodic metal with pinch of progressiveness then this one is for you!

The Lionsheart

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