After garnering some attention with their first album - a Mausoleum release, the band moved onto Phonogram and put out their second disc.

Now it should be mentioned that back in the lazy, crazy days of the mid 80s a band was not necessarily expected to make or break on their first album. In fact often it was the third release that was considered utterly pivotal, particularly with many European bands.

So bearing that in mind it comes as no surprise that Hellbound was an improvement over Burning the Witches yet not as fully realised musically as True As Steel.

It should be pointed out that I've given Burning the Witches two stars and the same with this one, but in reality this would  be about 2.5 stars.

The production is a touch better and some of the tunes are a little more mature. Once again we find Doro Pesch giving it her all and her voice is coming along nicely. All the gigging must of paid off as the band sound tight and there is a little more space in the tracks allowing some of them to breath, check out the slightly slower pace for chungs of Earthshaker Rock, the band opting for a full bodied sound but not cramming notes and riffs into every little space.

Obviously though, this is still quite formative. Many of the tracks don't grab the listener. And while it has nothing to do with the music, the cod piece Doro appears to be wearing on the back cover photograph (I kid you not) is somewhat ludicrous.

But hey, if you've checked out Triumph and Agony and True As Steel and are hungry for more - and you should be after hearing those albums - then strap this on. The title track is excellent stuff, Earthshaker Rock is anthemic and Out of Control sounds exactly that.
After garnering some attention with their first album - a Mausoleum release, the band moved onto Phonogram and put out their second disc. Now it should be mentioned that back in the lazy, crazy days of the mid 80s a band was not necessarily expected to make or break on their first album. In fact often it was the third release that was considered utterly pivotal, particularly with many European bands. So bearing that in mind it comes as no surprise that Hellbound was an improvement over Burning the Witches yet not as fully realised musically as True As Steel. It should be pointed out that I've given Burning the Witches two stars and the same with this one, but in reality this would  be about 2. 5 stars. The production is a touch better and some of the tunes are a little more mature. Once again we find Doro Pesch giving it her all and her voice is coming along nicely. All the gigging must of paid off as the band sound tight and there is a little more space in the tracks allowing some of them to breath, check out the slightly slower pace for chungs of Earthshaker Rock, the band opting for a full bodied sound but not cramming notes and riffs into every little space. Obviously though, this is still quite formative. Many of the tracks don't grab the listener. And while it has nothing to do with the music, the cod piece Doro appears to be wearing on the back cover photograph (I kid you not) is somewhat ludicrous. But hey, if you've checked out Triumph and Agony and True As Steel and are hungry for more - and you should be after hearing those albums - then strap this on. The title track is excellent stuff, Earthshaker Rock is anthemic and Out of Control sounds exactly that.