Finally! I remember first seeing this disc in the early-mid '90s at a used CD store in the same town where my aunt and uncle lived. It must have had the original hype sticker mentioning Jerry and Doyle on it, because I knew of the Misfits connection without ever hearing of the band before. It may have even turned me off to the band a little. The sword cover definitely looked rather metal, but ultimately I didn't get it, and probably bought something else that looked cooler or that I was already familiar with. I was only able to go there sporadically when visiting family, so it may have already been sold the very next time I went to the store. In any case, by the time I lived much closer to the store and knew it was worth whatever their regular used CD price was, it was long, long gone. Since this copy was from the cheapo bin, I felt a little vindicated after not buying it decades ago.
If you are like me and not a particularly big fan of punk, don't be concerned. This is quite traditional, full-on heavy metal, and certainly the most unambiguously metal project anyone from the Misfits (or Skid Row--Dave Sabo does some guest guitarwork on a track) sphere has ever been involved with. Even better, it leans more on the underground-sounding side and feels like it could have realistically been released a couple of years before it was. I can't think of any really good sound comparisons at the moment, but "March of the Mega-Mites" definitely has some galloping rhythms and tempo speed-ups that bring mid-'80s Maiden to mind.
I must say that I don't think Jeff Scott Soto was a great choice for vocals. Unlike Rising Force, Panther, or even Skrapp Mettle, there's hardly any room here for him to show off his range. Without much in high ranges for him to do, he sounds flat and unenthusiastic (in interviews he's said that he didn't particularly like the material musically and did it for the pay, which jibes with how it sounds). It's Jeff Scott Soto after all, so the performance has an acceptable baseline quality level, but I think the songs would have benefited from a more generic but better-fitting singer, like a gruffer USPM vocalist.
This is never gonna break into my list of all-time favorite US metal, but it's nice to see Jerry and Doyle had some real metal in them. Solid EP that I'll probably spin every once in a while.
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