IRON AGE – CONCUSSION OF THE BRAIN + BONUS CD

IRON AGE were formed in 1990 in the quiet town of Elmshorn and can be considered part of the Hamburg scene. From quite early on, they were playing gigs almost every month in clubs and youth centres across Schleswig-Holstein. Drummer Ines Baum took care of the management, and it wasn’t long before the band’s gig dates were featured in Metal Hammer and Rock Hard. Even though the band’s name comes from a MOTHER’S FINEST album, their influences couldn’t be more diverse. They cite Death, Queensryche, Motörhead, Voivod, Dio, Helloween, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Steve Vai, Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, Metallica, Gamma Ray, Rage and Megadeth. This makes it clear: they are diverse, yet never stray from the traditional spectrum. And what is normal today was still unusual in the early nineties: a mixed line-up consisting of women and men. A demo was released in both 1993 and 1994, then the decision was made to produce an EP with the small label Crossroads (Hamburg), which was released as „Concussion Of The Brain“. The CD was recorded half analogue, half digital. Distribution was handled by Semaphore, and this was followed by very good reviews in the relevant magazines, as well as many gigs in and around Hamburg. Work on the first full-length album began following a line-up change, also at the Crossroads Records studio. The material was even more ambitious and would certainly have stood a good chance in 1998. Unfortunately, there were internal problems, partly due to the wide range of styles among the individual musicians, so the band parted ways with Jan Eichelbaum, whom they claimed they were subsequently unable to replace. This marked the end of IRON AGE. Thanks to this re-release, the EP now gets a second chance, and the previously unreleased album can now be heard for the first time (as a bonus).