Italian heavy metal band Old Yron are the very definition of obscurity, and their lone homonymous EP would have surely crumbled to so much historical dust were it not for the insatiable musical scavengers at Shadow Kingdom Records, who issued it on CD in 2009. Still, even they may have gone too far this time, as the material contained herein is so far underground that listeners may have to bring a shovel to excavate what passes for a demo-quality carcass of what might have been quite viable ‘80s metal that has simply decayed almost beyond recognition due to inept recording practices, exacerbated later on by the advance of digital sound standards. For those willing to face the challenge, however, there are fairly memorable guitar melodies buried deep within "Old Yron" and "Crazy Lady," an interesting range of ideas to be found in clear standout "Lady in the Dark" (featuring guest female vocals from Ornella Da Corso), and a certain Manilla Road vibe informing the foreboding "Slave to Dream." But as for additional lo-fi exercises like "Strange Vision" and the instrumental "Up-Start," they manage only to showcase the impressive six-string abilities of band mastermind Antonio Ferrari. Speaking of whom: the final two cuts collected here are in fact his latter-day solo efforts, and more resemble eerie soundtrack work of a largely classical and synthetic bent -- interesting to be sure, but further evidence of the sparse body of work available for this particularly desperate salvage operation.
© Eduardo Rivadavia /TiVo