It is safe to say I was not a fan of Enforcer’s studio album released just prior to this live album being recorded, ‘Zenith’, but I must say the live album is much more enjoyable, even though it is way too tongue in cheek. Imagine Spinal Tap, Steel Panther, Raven and Stryper getting together to produce some 80’s commercial metal which at times veers into thrash territory then you might get close to what this is like. The crowd in Mexico City are certainly lapping it up, and singer/guitarist Olof Wikstrand does have some fine screams, but there is no depth and brutality to this at all. They want to be heavy and nasty, and some of their song titles and lyrics do go in that direction, but the music is just too nice!

Each time I play this I get a picture in my mind of Michael Sweet throwing bibles into the crowd on their ‘Live In Japan’ video from 1985, and I am convinced that is not what they are working towards. That the quartet are very good at what they do is never in doubt, but to my ears this is incredibly dated and there was a reason so many other genres exploded out of the scene in the Eighties and Nineties, and many bands playing this style of music went into heavier or grungier directions. I am sure there will be plenty of people who enjoy this style of metal, but all it does is make me smile and think of days gone past.

Rating: 6/10

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/enforcerofficial
https://www.nuclearblast.de/