Reign of Fear

Reign of Fear is the debut of the band that had just renamed itself from Avenger to RAGE, driving speed-metal momentum forward with cutting guitars and Peavy Wagner’s raw vocals. Short, aggressive songs such as “Scared to Death” and “Deceiver” follow one after another, yet the riffs carry small variations rather than simply charging in a straight line. The title track “Reign of Fear,” along with “Echoes of Evil” and “Raw Energy,” combines an uneasy atmosphere with sheer speed, and the rough energy typical of mid-1980s German speed metal runs through the whole record. Its appeal lies in a rawness that feels captured before any polish set in. The playing is sometimes crude, but the freshness of the early drive stands out all the more, and the structural touches in “Hand of Glory” and “The Scaffold” already hint at the craft RAGE would later refine — a historic starting point after the name change.