Street Fighter - Second Hand Hero (From The Vaults)

Those of you with a keen eye for such things will know multi-instrumentalist Marco Angioni primarily perhaps, from his work with Danish heavy metal outfit Meridian. That band have released four albums on Denmark’s premier metal label, Mighty Music, and now Angioni is here on MM spinoff imprint From The Vaults with what might be termed a solo project, Street Fighter. And pretty lipsmacking it is too, it has to be said.

The premise of the project is essentially to make a record that sounds like it was recorded in 1986, and in those narrow terms at least, it’s hard to describe Second Hand Hero as anything other than a stunning success. Even the cut price feel of the album’s cover fits the brief!

Thin Lizzyish opener The Fall of the Ash is a stunning piece of melodic metal, Stefan Jensen‘s John Sykesish vocals evoking those mid eighties halcyon days with spine-tingling accuracy. And closing anthem Nordic Noise isn’t far behind, pulling together a raft of Danish metal’s finest to guest star on a life -affirming sing-it-shout it call to arms that won’t fail to get you absent mindedly punching the air and singing along as you go about your household chores…

Jensen is joined on lead vocal duties by Sofia Schmidt (who you may remember from Ethereal Kingdoms) and the pair’s voices complement one another nicely as the band (actually mainly Angioni, who plays everything) romp through a set that overall hits a sweet spot somewhere in the middle of the first three Dio albums.

At the end of the day Street Fighter aren’t going to shake too many foundations with Second Hand Hero, but that’s not really the point; Sometimes well played, brilliantly sung heavy metal is enough, and that’s exactly what this excellent album provides. Enjoy!