Blackout came out of the darkness in the mid 80?s, a time when metal music was just beginning to emerge. Formerly a pop-rock act, the band stormed into the metal scene with their classic Roadrunner debut ? ?Evil Game?

Blackout came out of the darkness in the mid 80?s, a time when metal music was just beginning to emerge. Formerly a pop-rock act, the band stormed into the metal scene with their classic Roadrunner debut ? ?Evil Game?. This exclusive re-release brings back one of the most intriguing, yet omitted musical gems in heavy metal history.

The origins of the group reach back to 1983, when from the remnants of the bands Van East and Zenith came a brand new project called Godzilla. The act specialized in mainstream pop rock, but soon found out that this formula was just not working for them. Thus the five musicians from Overijssel in the Netherlands ? Bas Van Sloten (vocals),  Mannes Van Oosten (guitar), Alfred Kers (bass), Jens Hofman (guitar) and Jan Boxem (drums) ? switched to speed metal and in 1984 changed their name to Blackout. Soon they recorded a demo which featured female vocalist Bianca van Wijk as the backup singer. The demo caught the attention of Roadrunner Records and soon a deal was secured. In the same year Blackout released their outstanding debut album ? ?Evil Game?. The LP conjoined all the best elements of traditional heavy metal, speed metal and hard rock. The music was catchy and melodic, but heavy enough to prove to anyone that it?s 100% metal. With such highlights as ?Bleeding Moon? and ?Demon Eye Woman? (with an amazing opening riff, a bit similar to Van Halen), Blackout managed to introduce a truly outstanding musical formula, comparable to top names of the genre at that time. Unfortunately, within a year of releasing their debut offering, the band split up?. But while their legacy consisted only of ?Evil Game?, this was enough to bring Blackout back from the dead in 1999. In 2005 the group released on their own a compilation album called ?The Final Set?, which included the material from ?Evil Game? and a bunch of past demo recordings.

While Blackout never managed to get the proper recognition they deserved, their music definitely passed the test of time - ?Evil Game? is now a mandatory pick for all fans of powerful and melodic heavy/speed metal. New digipak edition is limited to 2000 copies. Digitally remastered using 24-Bit process on a golden disc. Metal Mind Productions will re-release the album on 27th July in Europe and 8th September in USA (via MVD).

Blackout
?Evil Game? (remastered)

Label: Metal Mind Records
Cat. No.: MASS CD 1304 DG
Barcode: 5907785035171
Format: CD Digipak (limited edition of 1000 numbered copies)
Genre: speed metal
Release date: 27.07.2009 Europe / 08.09.2009 USA

Tracklist:

1. Motorcycle Bitch
2. Evil Game
3. Bleeding Moon
4. Demon Eye Woman
5. Screaming Metal
6. Black Out
7. Ice Age Hunter
8. Victim Of The Night
9. Doctor's Nightmare
10. Roadie