Salem? Wait, is this the Israeli Salem, the brilliant extreme metal I reviewed a couple of months ago and made the album of the month?

Ehm, no, it certainly isn't. This is an entirely different ball game.

This band, ladies and gents, was there when the New Wave of British Heavy Metal started. The band rose out of the ashes of the band Ethel The Frog that appeared on the famous Metal for Muthas combilation where Iron Maiden was also found.

The present release is a collection of demo recordings of mixed standard and shouldn't be purchased for its hi-fi value.

Personally, I find it hard to get into the album. The quality of the music is high, but for me this is a case of 'you should have been there'. And I wasn't. I loved Iron Maiden and never really got into any of the other NWOBHM bands because I was soon onto harder pastures. I bow my head and admit that I never even heard of Salem.

'In the Beginning...' is in my view a piece of documentation of an outdated sound and a by-gone time and as such it is a true titbit for those of you who wallow in the history of NWOBHM and Heavy Metal. For me it's just nice and nothing more, really.