Shok Paris - Concrete Killers 192@

Of that highly venerated sub genre of metal we refer to as US power, there exist universally hailed titans - such as your Crimson Glory, and your Liege Lord, but equally a number of arguably as talented but underappreciated acts such as Damien or Slauter Xstroyes. I've always felt that Shok Paris falls within the latter camp. Along with bands such as Banshee, they kicked off with a bang, putting out a slew of rock solid records, carved out of pure fistbanging metal. Three full lengths of solid material, representing a balance of tough as nails attitude, stand-out riffage, killer hooks, overloaded with energy and even present with enough possibility for commercial success. Shok Paris, with their knack at crafting solid full lengths, their catchiness, and hell - even having track featured in the thrilling car chase scene in the ultra badass sci-fi action horr flick The Hidden (1987), seemed to have just about all the requirements to break into commercial success, but for various reasons, as with Banshee, they never quite made it. Shok Paris, though highly regarded in underground circles, never really is heard uttered in the same breath as Queensryche, Liege Lord or Flotsam & Jetsam. Slightly lower down the popularity scale (only a couple of reviews on Metal Archives at the time of writing), and though the band is being increasingly talked about more recently, I still feel they're somewhat under-appreciated, for what they managed to accomplish - again, i think of Damien and Banshee.