Death Metal

Death Metal is a 1984 split compilation on Noise International, bringing together four bands from the Central European scene: Helloween, Hellhammer, Running Wild and Dark Avenger. Despite the title, the music isn't death metal at all. Dark Avenger's contribution is the only recorded material the German group made apart from a 1985 demo tape.

It works as a snapshot of a scene in transition. Helloween sound more thrash and speed metal here than the melodic power metal they would soon develop. Running Wild are still in their "satanic" lyrical phase, well before the pirate theme took over. Hellhammer are the darkest and heaviest of the four and later evolved into Celtic Frost. If you want the tracks today, Helloween's appear on the second disc of the 2006 expanded Walls of Jericho, while Hellhammer's turn up on a 1990 reissue of Apocalyptic Raids.