CoC : H-Bomb - Coup de Metal / Attaque : Review

H-Bomb - _Coup de Metal_ / _Attaque_
(Axe Killers, 1998)
by: Matthias Noll (8 out of 10)

Europe, 1984. Not only the German metal scene was flourishing these days. France also had its share of fine bands, even if only four come to mind: Trust, Warning, Sortilege and finally H-Bomb. While Warning and and Sortilege featured a more traditional heavy metal style, H-Bomb took the full speed double bass attack of Motorhead and mixed it with clean, high vocals. Songs like "H-Bomb" and "Chasseur de Frime" from _Coup de Metal_, the debut six song mini LP, prove how effective this can be. Singer Didier Izard is something of a "love it or hate it" affair, while the music always stays simple but powerful -- and most of the time fast. Don't expect anything extraordinary from this band in a technical sense -- just power, speed and some good melodies. Unfortunately, instead of releasing both albums on a single CD, _Coup de Metal_ got some shitty bonus tracks from a period after singer Didier had left and the band had completely changed their style -- it's better to ignore these tracks. Despite the band sounding a bit tamer in comparison to _Coup de Metal_, the second album _Attaque_ is also a decent metal album. Songs like the fast paced "Exterminateurs" or "Double Bang" don't sound different from their great first effort and, even if I was a bit disappointed at first, I have played this record quite a lot in the last 13 years.

(article published 1/10/1998)