Headhunter - Rebirth (1994)

Marcel Schirmer, better known as Schmier, will always be known as the consummate, charismatic thrash front man, and a damn solid bass player, but I feel like his greatest contribution to metal music has been his eternal vigil as a stickler for quality. With the possible exception of his appearance in Bassinvaders, I don't think he's been a part of a single album that was less than good. Perhaps the post- Antichrist catalog of Destruction has felt like more of the same thing being recycled, but all of those works are still worth hearing to the thrash fan. His other, lesser known band Headhunter is even more consistent, having never released a full-length that was anything but great, and so, despite another lackluster, lazy cover image, the third effort, Rebirth, is yet another measure of quality.

While other bands, veteran and youngblood alike, were busy fellating the foul nu-groove waves that were erupting out of the States, the Headhunter trio were continuing to sharpen their mesh of power-infused thrash metal, and Rebirth sees a refinement in production and songwriting that slightly trumps its predecessor, A Bizarre Gardening Incident. Schmier turns in another superb vocal performance, stretching his unmistakable venom to the heights of the previous albums and beyond, and there is less of the 'fooling around' that threatened but failed to steer the sophomore album off the tracks. Jörg Michael is, as usual, the ready go-to drummer, but Uwe Hoffmann deserves special mention once more for his excellent riffing, transforming each track into a work of depth that sticks to the imagination more than even Destruction were able to do on several works of their prime years.

Rebirth is superbly written and well-paced, and once the flagrant "Auf Geht's" intro has passed, it is straight to business with the grooving metallic shuffle of "Armies of the Blind", a track that grows even more impressive the deeper it gets, with a chorus/bridge that will blow your fucking head clear down the tracks to the last station. "Warhead" is slower, surefooted, with Schmier's bass lines dancing a deadly waltz below the dire chugging and vibrant majesty of Schmuddel's crisp tone. Nothings lets up: "Unhuman World" positively gleams with incredulous riffing; "Are We Mindless" is a great power metal rush with a balladry to its intro; the deceptive "Disco" intro is broken down into the driving of "Scares"; "Adrenaline" and "Struck" are nothing less than glorious heavy metal.

The only exception to the rule here is the cover of Little Feat's "Don't Bogart That Joint", which seems half-baked and retarded, if you'll pardon the pun. It's not that Headhunter have lacked for a sense of humor in the past, but this was never really a good song to begin with, with its dull if peppy bluesy pallor, and it doesn't fare any better in these capable German fingers. Their version of "Rama Lama Ding Dong" from the last album was far better. But gladly, the band just threw this one onto the end of the album, so it's not like it stands as some obstacle to your enjoyment of the originals, and other than that, and some of the cheesier lyrics, Rebirth is pretty spotless, hovering close in value to the band's enormously underrated and overlooked debut, Parody of Life.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10] (you ain't old enough to understand)

http://www.official-headhunter.com/en/

Headhunter - A Bizarre Gardening Incident (1992)

With its surreal cover and strange title, one might develop the initial impression that Schmier, Schmuddel and Jörg Michael had lost their fucking minds in conceiving a followup to their superb debut Parody of Life. But while A Bizarre Gardening Incident certainly develops the style of this act further away from Schmier's legendary stint in 80s Destruction, the band has once again found a blissful medium between thrash, speed and power metal that succeeds on its hooks, despite the questionable looks. In fact, Headhunter are one of those rare bands that still manages to adhere to quality when they actually have gone insane, as they do a number of times through the 13 tracks by attempting to drag humor into the mix.

This begins immediately with the intro, "Oh What a Pleasure", an archaic, strutting radio jingle with Schmier singing about being a banana tree, but strangely enough, as stupid as this might seem, I'd actually consider it pretty funny. At least more humorous than most metal bands think they are when attempting such a travesty. Elsewhere, the band covers The Edsels' doo-wop classic "Rama Lama Ding Dong", transforming into an explosion of punk/thrash, with Schmier delivering some bloodcurdling, bratty screams, and once again it's amusing. The brash and wild finale "Sex & Drugs & Rock'n'Roll" is not quite so funny, even ironically, but the vocals fill in the blanks with about a minute of enjoyment. The 'fun factor' here also extends itself into some of the metal tracks, like "Boozer" and the rockin' "Rude Philosophy", but they've nonetheless got enough bang for the buck.

Otherwise, this is a damn fine metal album that continues to expand the work begun with Parody of Life. "Signs of Insanity" and "Character Assassination" both offer explosive, melodic thrash in the wake of Destruction, with a dozen or so riffs to die for. But what surprised me is that the band are also quite good at slower fare, with a more traditional metal gait, like "Pangs of Remorse" or the tempo shifting "Deadly Instinct". "Born in the Woods" is the best at this, a steady rocker with pumping bass and swagger that climaxes in a bridge of excellent guitars that even Mike Sifringer would drool at. Other notables here are the brief, instrumental flurry of "Domo" and the Grave Digger & Running Wild-like rampant power/speed metal of "Two Faced Promises" or "Hit Machine".

It's amazing to think that while his alma mater was withering into a cesspool of misled ideas and pathetic execution, Schmier was excelling in his new home. However, we should also extend credit to the other musicians here, who are quite excellent on their own. Michael needs no introduction, perhaps, but Schmuddel is simply an ace, a riff wizard whose presence lightens each composition into the rugged bliss I so enjoy in German thrash and speed. The production of the sophomore isn't quite perfect, and the songs perhaps not so pristine as those found on Parody of Life, but as a work of increased variation, it delivers on a lot of the debut's promise, with a number of songs that I'd want to see in either a Headhunter or Destruction set any day. The album has been re-issued through AFM a few years back, so it's not quite as hard to get a hold of. If you like Schmier, and you like fun, then by all means check this out.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10] (the swindle of our century)

http://www.official-headhunter.com/en/

Headhunter - Parody of Life (1990)

So, as it turns out, Schmier got the better end of the deal after his shocking departure from Destruction. The band had clearly been on the rise through the 80s, and who knows what they might have created together had they stuck it out, but separation anxiety was not kind to his alma mater in the 90s, the band releasing a number of EPs and a full-length which they are embarrassed with to this day (rightly so). On the other hand, we got Headhunter out of the deal, a band that was consistently good and constantly underrated, a band Schmier formed with guitarist Uwe Hoffman aka 'Schmuddel' of the trad. metal band Talon, and the enormously talented drummer Jörg Michael whose resume reads like a whose who of greatness in various Euro metal genres.

The recovery did not take long, and Parody of Life arrived the same year as Cracked Brain, only with far better music. The best means to describe Headhunter is classical Destruction with a firmer grasp of melody in Schmier's vocals, and a lot more influence from traditional hard rock and metal, which manifests in a warmer, more positive atmosphere through the lyrics and guitars. Speaking of guitars, Hoffman had seriously improved himself here from his years in Talon, and if anyone is the hero of the Headhunter tribe, it must be him, because despite the snarling Schmier's excellent presence in both verse and chorus, the riffs truly rule the day on this album. Diverse and exceptional, Parody of Life is not only one of the best German thrash efforts of 1990 (besides the obvious Kreator album), but superior to almost anything he's ever done with Destruction (Sentence of Death and The Antichrist excluded).

This album rocks and it does not stop, from the frenetic pace of the title track and it's myriad melodic riffs to the savage, tactful finale "Trapped in Reality". Along the way we are gifted with such numbers as the flowing speed metal of "Ease My Pain", the tremendous escalation of the emotional "Plead Guilty", the bristling melodic "Kick Over Your Traces", and the eccentric, bludgeoning "Caught in a Spider's Web". But really, there is not a single song on this album without at least something great to offer in it, even the swaggering mechanics of "Force of Habit" and the clamor and mystique of "Cursed". There's also a shot taken here, and not subtly, at Destruction, called "Crack Brained", but it's actually a really good song, and the lyrics don't seem to entirely involve his previous band. It's not the only one, apparently, because the very end of "Trapped in Reality" also seems to throw in a brief nod to the "My Sharona" cover on Cracked Brain.

Such elegance aside, this is a fairly magnificent collection of tunes which Schmier had and has every right to be proud of, cementing his importance as one of the best bassist/frontmen in all of thrash metal. Further Headhunter records would expand upon their influences and explore other genres a little more directly, but this is a pretty straight up example of where Destruction might have been had they fostered a finer progression in their 90s work. The mix is bright and crisp, still sounding superb 20 years later, and it's listenable from front to back. The individual tracks might not bear the same resonance as a "Curse the Gods", "Mad Butcher" or "Eternal Ban", but they're close in quality, and the vocal performance is a clear step forward for Marcel Schirmer without leaving his comfort zone.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (we've got unreal impressions)

http://www.official-headhunter.com/en/

Headhunter - Parasite of Society (2008)

2008 has had yet another thrashing surprise in store for us with the first Headhunter album in 14 years. As if Schmier weren't busy enough with the extremely productive schedule of Destruction these past few years, he has decided to resurrect his other kickass band. Jorg Michael is back on the drums and Uwe Hoffman on guitars, and the trio deliver yet another high impact, energetic thrash/speed album with the usual tight focus on wild rock-infused songwriting (which is how their sound avoids sounding exactly Schmier's more popular band).

The album is loaded with melodic thrashers such as the title track,
"Read My Lips", and "Doomsday for the Prayer". Occasionally, the tunes have an almost power metal edge to them like the excellent "Silverskull", and the very 80s rocker "Backs to the Wall". Speaking of rockers, the band also includes covers of "18 & Life" by Skid Row and "Rapid Fire" from Judas Priest. The latter is pretty good but I'm not so sure about the "18 & Life" rendition. Pretty much the sole weak point on this album, which is otherwise a lot of fun.

I'd daresay this is even better than the most recent Destruction album. Headhunter isn't quite as heavy or consistently thrashy, but that's what I enjoy about it. It gives Schmier to breathe and perform in a more rock oriented sound, and it really works, just like their past three albums. Along with the new Paradox this is among my favorite thrashing records of the year. Go Germans.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (fight the lonley fight like you have sworn )

http://www.official-headhunter.com/en/