Trial by Fire – Trial by Fire

Trial by Fire
Trial by Fire
1990 (no label)
Babylon, New York, USA

Side 1:

1. Exodus
2. Hell is Real
3. Sandcastle
4. The Quiet Ones
5. The Tide

Side 2:

1. Tell Me
2. Striving After Wind
3. Eternity
4. When You Speak to Me
5. Hell is Real (fake vocals)

Female-fronted heavy metal that reminds me of a bit more commercial Hellion. The guitarist can shred and the vocalist can belt it out like Hellion, but there are more ballads and grooves mixed in with the metal. “Hell is Real” is a killer song that should have gotten this band more exposure. “Striving After Wind” is an interesting keyboard-based song with a strong Led Zeppelin influence that works well. A Christian reference would be Scarlet Red – in fact, if Trial by Fire had been signed, I could see their album rivaling Don’t Dance with Danger. But it was apparently not meant to be, and there is very little to be found about this band online now. Can’t even find the band members – all the j-card tells me is that this band was based in Babylon, New York and that the cover was designed by Colette Hansen. Too bad – this is a very well written and performed demo that should have gotten more attention. The tenth song is not listed on the card, but it is a “version” of “Hell is Real” with the vocals messed with to sound like… a devil maybe? Pretty funny.

Missing Information: Names of people in the band and what they played