I was only sixteen years old, and already madly in love with the music of the German Thrash Metal outfit Destruction, when I came across an article in the news section of the Greek Metal Hammer which was announcing the departure of the band's charismatic frontman Marcel 'Schmier' Schrimer. As every young fan of the band at the time I felt confused and also betrayed, to such an extent, that I completely rejected the idea of getting my hands on anything that the tall singer was to become involved with outside Destruction. It took quite a few years to realise how silly that decision of mine was, by which stage I only managed to get my hands on the vinyl version of Haedhunter's second release "A Bizarre Gardening Accident", making the task of finding the remaining two releases that Schmier released with this Power/Thrash Metal outfit a really difficult task.

Fortunately for me and all those like-minded Destruction fans amongst you, AFM Records has decided to reissue these three albums, a copy of each soon ended up in my hands. Having decided to begin my quest from the very beginning, my focus was first placed on the band's debut release "Parody Of Life" and it only took a couple of good spins for me to realise that there are quite a few things that connect the music of this trio with that of Destruction. Even though Headhunter are far more melodic in nature, with great attention being placed on Uwe "Schmuddel" Hoffmann's guitar performances, the band's dynamic outlook is often reminiscent of that of Destruction and with Scmier's unique screams accompanying most compositions, comparisons are simply unavoidable.

For a debut release "Parody Of Life" comes across as quite mature and well thought out, yet it will become clearly audible even to someone with the least musically trained ears that it is divided into two uneven parts. Opening compositions are naturally assigned with the difficult task of introducing the album, and, as such, they need to be of a special nature. Well, that is indeed the case with the four minute killer "Parody Of Life" - a composition whose fast-paced Thrash main riff and flamboyant guitar solo will win you over in no time. Schmuddel is an amazing guitarist and he gets many chances to prove his worth, adding both power and colour to compositions like the dark/atmospheric opus "Plead Guilty" or the infectiously catchy fast tempo "Kick Over Your Traces".

Up to that point, and already being half way through the album, I was seriously considering giving this nine track release the highest possible rating, but much as I enjoyed the experimental nature of both "Caught In The Spider's Web" and the heavy Rock n'Roll riffs of the interestingly named "Crack Brained", I couldn't see how they would ever manage to compete with the above-mentioned Power/Thrash Metal dynamites. A small exception must be made for the last composition of the album "Trapped In Reality" - a five minute heavy metal song whose main riff will almost certainly remind you why you fell in love with Heavy Metal music in the first place.

Having never listened to the album's original recordings, I really cannot say whether it is because of the whole remastering process or the general quality of the nine featured compositions that this album still sounds so fresh and contemporary. One thing that I do know, though, is that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this release and that I have no reason not to recommend it to those of you who appreciate good quality Teutonic Power/Thrash Metal.

***½

Review by John Stefanis