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| OZ - Fire in the Brain CD | |
HRR 1032CD, extensive booklet, slipcase, poster | |
| Ape DeMartini - vocals Speedy Foxx - guitar Spooky Wolff - guitar Jay. C. Blade - bass, vocals Mark Ruffneck - drums | |
| 01 Search Lights 02 Fortune 03 Megalomaniac 04 Black Candles 05 Gambler 06 Stop Believen' 07 Free Me, Leave Me 08 Fire in the Brain | |
AVAILABLE | |
Transfer, audio restoration and mastering by Patrick W. Engel at TEMPLE OF DISHARMONY in April 2025.
The follow-up album to OZ’s first studio album was issued in 1983 under the name of »Fire In The Brain«. With high-energy heavy metal anthems such as “Fortune”, “Megalomaniac” or “Gambler” it was an even more striking effort than the band’s debut record.
In his »Collector’s Guide To Heavy Metal« Canadian metal journalist Martin Popoff awarded the album 9 out of 10 points and remarked: “»Fire In The Brain« is a dark, depressing freight train of a record, a richly European work, which pounds relentlessly from the opening heaves of the brilliantly apocalyptic ‘Search Lights’, through the slow death trudge of ‘Black Candles’, to the violent concluding wails of the title track.”
Drummer Mark Ruffneck puts it in his own words: “»Fire In The Brain« was more pure heavy metal compared to the first OZ album, more straight music and not so much old-fashioned blues-based style. After playing in Stockholm on June 2nd, 1983, as the opening act for Trash, we agreed with Börje Forsberg that we would make a new album with a new OZ line-up as soon as possible. We didn’t have a specific plan for the recording though. We practiced all the songs so much that we knew them in our sleep. After a few weeks, Börje had booked Electra Studio in Stockholm. We recorded and mixed everything there for a few weeks. The album was produced by OZ and Börje Forsberg. The time in the studio was total chaos, but in a good way, and everyone was happy with the final result.”
»Fire In The Brain« received fantastic reviews in the underground metal press (first and foremost in England’s Metal Forces) and went down in history as the band’s most popular album.
With the overwhelming success of »Fire In The Brain« not only in Scandinavia but all over continental Europe, Oz decided to permanently move to Stockholm, a much larger city than their original hometown, in order to follow a professional recording career. Mark Ruffneck gives the reasons for that: “OZ moved to royal Stockholm after recording the »Fire In The Brain« album. When the album was finished and Börje Forsberg sent the album as a sample to different record companies around the world, the fax machine in his office nearly exploded. Within a few weeks, Börje had signed licensing agreements in the USA, Canada, Japan and Europe. This album changed everything for OZ. Before it we had been a band that had an impact in Finland and Sweden, and the next minute Oz were selling records all over the world. Stockholm is a great place to live, I am still based there and enjoying it. So that album changed the lives of all the members who played on it, and we got to experience things together in Stockholm for a few years, which would not have been possible if we had stayed in Finland at the time.”
Looking at the sinister cover artwork today, this surely was some sort of blueprint for the first wave of (Scandinavian) black metal bands, Bathory first and foremost, wasn’t it? Mark Ruffneck travels back in time: “Well, that period was probably the starting point for the first wave of (Scandinavian) black metal bands, including Bathory. When Jay was writing new songs for the upcoming OZ album (»III Warning«), he came over excitedly to tell the rest of us in the band that this new song was going to be a really hard number with some rough lyrics. We just told Jay, no problem, go ahead writing a song with rough lyrics. When the rough song was ready, we started putting it together in the rehearsal room. This was how we did it in the 80s. The songs were pretty much finished with the band playing together in the rehearsal room, before they were taken to the studio to be recorded. When »Turn The Cross Upside Down« was ready to be recorded, I contacted Börje and suggested that we make it a maxi single, just like other bands did in the 80s. He was enthusiastic about it and said that it would be a good option to release a maxi single before the next album was due. We recorded and mixed the whole song in one weekend and we were all excited about the song. I don't know if other bands or artists were influenced by that song, but Bathory and Quorthon were definitely inspired by it because we were constantly in contact with each other back then. Later on, Bathory started releasing black metal music through the same label as OZ.”
MATTHIAS MADER