Brutalism

Iron Man's debut album "Black Night" has always been one of the most sought after albums from the original "Hellhound Records" back catalog. Originally released in 1992, it is a timeless document of the Maryland scene of the early 90's. The reason I am reviewing it now is it has been re-mastered and re-released by Shadow Kingdom Records. The other reason I am reviewing this early masterpiece of Stoner Doom is the some of the reviews I have been reading for this reissued album. The reaction from some of more mainstream websites like Blabbermouth (Blabbershit more like it) has been nothing but negative. What some people don't get is how ahead of its time, this album was. The amount of bands more or less copying this style these days is staggering and I think if you were not part of the Maryland scene back then or didn't follow what was going on back then, you cannot appreciate what a great album this was and still is. Its a album that has been largely forgotten by most people so its awesome that Shadow Kingdom has given this album a re-birth that it so deserves.

The Iron Man line-up back then of Iron Man lineup of Al Morris, Larry Brown (bass), Ron Kalimon (drums) and Rob Levey (vocals) had their roots firmly planted in Black Sabbath style Heavy Rock but this debut album showed the band developing its own sound while still retaining that traditional approach to Metal. Tracks like "Choices", "Life After Death" and "A Child’s Future" still sound fresh as they were back in the day of its original release. Iron Man made no apologies about ignoring the musical trends of the time, there is no Grunge, Thrash Metal or Hair Metal influences here. They were underground and proud of it, the album captures a sound that would be prove to be a major influence in years to come. If you only recently discovered Iron Man after Shadow Kingdom released their last album "I Have Returned" last year then its time to go back and discover where it all started. Give up on trying to find the original Hellhound version, chances are you wont find it anywhere these days and if you did it would be from someone on Ebay basically ripping you off. The album might not be their best piece of work but it is easily their most important giving the era in which it was released.