{"id":47345,"date":"2014-12-09T19:37:17","date_gmt":"2014-12-10T00:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=47345"},"modified":"2014-12-09T19:37:17","modified_gmt":"2014-12-10T00:37:17","slug":"superior-moral-alliance-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/superior-moral-alliance-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Superior | Moral Alliance<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Superior\"The Divebomb label has reissued some interesting demo releases, both new and old, as part of their Bootcamp series, but this may be the best thing they\u2019ve unearthed to date. Way before they became one of the more innovative bands to emerge from the late \u201890s progressive metal explosion, Germany\u2019s Superior delivered a demo that fit in perfectly with the country\u2019s famous power metal scene. 1989\u2019s Moral Alliance<\/em> was released only on cassette, and until now was an unattainable curiosity to the band\u2019s fans.<\/p>\n

All but two members of the band had left in the time between Moral Alliance\u2019s<\/em> release and Superior\u2019s 1996 full-length debut Behind<\/em>, so it\u2019s not surprising that Moral Alliance<\/em> sounds so different from the Superior most fans are used to. What is a surprise is just how good this lineup was at playing power metal. Moral Alliance<\/em> sounds like the halfway point between Helloween\u2019s Walls of Jericho<\/em> and Axxis\u2019s Kingdom of the Night<\/em>, with a bit of Scanner thrown in for good measure. Michael Tangermann\u2019s unique voice worked quite well in a power metal setting, and the songs he sang had a great combination of speedy riffs and powerful melodies.<\/p>\n

Divebomb\u2019s 2014 release of Moral Alliance<\/em> puts this obscure gem back into fans\u2019 hands, and as usual they do way more than just a simple reissue. First, the original five-song demo tape has been newly remastered. That alone would be worth the price of admission, but there\u2019s also a booklet that\u2019s just loaded with band info, vintage photos and even the original Moral Alliance cassette liners. Oh, and there are a whopping eight live tracks \u2013 songs that had been written back in the Moral Alliance<\/em> days (aside from a Queensryche cover) and were recently performed at a 20th anniversary show. It\u2019s a fantastic reissue overall, and like all Bootcamp titles it\u2019s limited to just 500 copies.<\/p>\n

Moral Alliance<\/em> is the very definition of a lost classic. Not only is it an essential part of Superior\u2019s history, but it is also a look back at one of metal\u2019s most influential scenes. Moral Alliance belongs in the collection of any serious fan and collector of classic German power metal, especially now that such an impressive reissue is available.<\/p>\n

Genre: Power Metal, Heavy Metal<\/p>\n

Lineup:
\nPeter Sus (b)
\nMichael Muller (g) (k)
\nMichael Tangermann (v)
\nJurgen Walzer (g)
\nMike Bellum (d)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tFar Away
\n2.\tMoral Alliance
\n3.\tStrength in the Dark
\n4.\tOverlord
\n5.\tOdyssey
\n6.\tFighters for Rock (live)
\n7.\tVikings Fall (live)
\n8.\tCity\u2019s Burning (live)
\n9.\tLight Burns Out (live)
\n10.\tFire Child (live)
\n11.\tHere I Am (live)
\n12.\tQueen of the Reich (live)
\n13.\tAgainst the Grain (live)<\/p>\n

Label: Divebomb Records<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating: Original release: 8\/10, reissue: 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist — The Divebomb label has reissued some interesting demo releases, both new and old, as part of their Bootcamp series, but this may be the best thing they\u2019ve unearthed […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":47346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[2317,923,2491,10388,1097,10387],"class_list":{"0":"post-47345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-divebomb-records","10":"tag-heavy-metal","11":"tag-moral-alliance","12":"tag-power-metal","13":"tag-superior"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}