Asiana - Out On The Street (1990) - Heavy metal also exists in Korea - 85% (17/01/13)

It was about time! As a big fan of Korean culture, I have seen many outstanding Korean movies, eaten many delicious dishes from that country and learned quite a lot about its culture. I've done a radio show about the country and stumbled over many famous pop or hip hop acts but one thing had definitely been missing: a solid hard rock or heavy metal band. While other Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Japan, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China or even Vietnam have a promising and emerging metal scene, the Republic of Korea has a certain delay on the mentioned countries. That's why I was pleasently surprised when I discovered the short living heavy metal band Asiana around singer Im Jae-Beom who has also been involved in other promising heavy metal projects such as Foreign Legion, Project Rock in Korea or the more popular Sinawe before he started a career as rock and pop singer.

This record is a pleasure for any fan of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. It was even recorded in the United Kingdom and still has the spirit of the early or mid eighties. The sound is quite unpolished and direct as it should be. This record should also please to those who like other popular British bands such as earlier Black Sabbath and especially Judas Priest that seem to have inspired this band. The songs also remind me a little bit of the Japanese heavy metal legend Loudness. Now, you should really know what to expect.

What we get here are energizing heavy metal tracks with quite unique vocals. They sound rough and sometimes a little bit out of tone but this gives a chaotic charm to the band. It's hard to believe that such as singer made a commercial career later on. He is emotional and variable but is not such as big talent in my ears. His passion though compensates his lacking skills more than enough. The mid tempo riffs are heavy, the solos are well played and not overdone. Some songs have a slower pace such as the somewhat chaotic "Tom Kat" while other tracks are faster and include fist pumping and simplistic choruses such as the noisy and direct opener "Breaking Out" that sounds like a mixture of Judas Priest and Motörhead.

The band offers no big surprises on here but varies enough to convince. My favourite track is the very rhythm orientated "Paradom" that reminds me of early Savatage. It includes a simple but extremely catchy chorus, a diversified vocal performances and a short melodic break with a few Oriental folk sounds that work surprisingly well even though they come as an unexpected surprise. This is what I would call something like a Korean version of Iron Maiden's "Powerslave" track. Another instrumentally appealing highlight is the band hymn "Asiana" that includes anything a good heavy metal track needs. It's a dynamic piece with heavy riffs, a pumping bass guitar, slightly chaotic drums that seem to be played by an octopus in its best moments, agressive breaks with straight guitar solos, angry vocals and a yelled out chorus that you won't forget anytime soon.

The band also has its calmer tracks with "Missing You" and "Dancing All Alone". These ballads are domianted by the emotional and nevertheless very rough vocals that remind me of Iron Maiden's Paul Di'Anno or Loudness' Minoru Niihara. In some ways, these ballads make me think of Grave Digger ballads, too. As you can see, the band stays even in its sweetest moments faithful to heavy metal. On the other side, you will only like these ballads if you like the vocals because the rest is more or less of an average quality. My favourite song of these two is clearly the album closer "Dancing All Alone" because of its once again simplistic but very emotional vocals and few beautiful guitar melodies that end this record in a very male but also peaceful way.

In the end, this record a definite must hear and if possible also must buy case for those who like traditional heavy metal. The Korean metal scene is somewhat overlooked but I'm finally about to discover its qualities. It's sad that the band released its record in a time when traditional heavy metal was slowly disappearing and that they didn't stay together for a second record. If this record had been released in the early eighties, this band would have maybe been mentioned in one sentence with acts such as Loudness. As it is now, this here is an enjoyable underground release that doesn't reinvent anything but that is still a pleasure to listen to twenty-three years later. I clearly prefer this kind of release to most of the younger bands that try to copy their idols without bringing the much needed fresh blood into the genre. If you feel the same, go and enjoy this entertaining record right away.