Band:	Defender
Album:	City Ad Mortis
Style:	Power metal, Thrash metal
Release date:	1987
A review by:	Marcel Hubregtse

01. City Ad Mortis
02. Die For You
03. Deadly Peril
04. In The Beginning
05. Counter Attack
06. Tales Of The Unexpected [bonus]
07. The Journey [bonus]
08. Labour Liberates [bonus]
09. Metal Church [live] [bonus]
10. Alison Hell [live] [bonus]
11. Pesante Assai [live] [bonus]

The Dutch Metal Cult Series is a commendable initiative by Dutch label Rusty Cage Records. Rusty Cage have taken it upon them to re-release classic Dutch metal from the Eighties and adding bonus tracks to the original releases and re-mastering the material. I, for one, could do with re-releases of such little gems as Jewel's La Morta and Defender's City Ad Mortis and the underrated Lunatics Without Skateboards Inc.'s Welcome To The Asylum amongst others. Well, luckily those three are among the first five releases, the other two being Mysto Dysto, and Hammerhawk. All five can be ordered together for 45 euro and separately for 10 euro each.

Defender - City Ad Mortis
The City Ad Mortis mini album was first released by CBS in 1987 and contained 5 state of the art power/thrash songs featuring great twin guitar work reminiscent of Iron Maiden. The songs at times remind me of a thrashier The Warning-era Queensrÿche, especially In The Beginning which is built up around a riff which sounds a lot like a heavier down-tuned version of Queensrÿche's NM 156 riff. The four other songs on this mini are all just as memorable and a must for fans of good power/thrash. Comparing this re-mastered version with the original I have to say that the re-release sounds less muddled than the original and a bit of bottom-end has been added to give it some extra punch.
Two years after City Ad Mortis Defender released a demo-single called Journey To The Unexpected which has been added to City Ad Mortis as bonus tracks. Other bonus tracks are three live songs from Defender's tour with Toxik in 1990. However since these are only 2-track recordings don't expect too much of them sound-wise. But what you get are two blistering covers. I'm especially taken with the rendition of Metal Church. Simon Menting comes eerily close to David Wayne's vocals here. Alison Hell is faithful to the original and showcases the band's technical capabilities.
As a final studio bonus track Labour Liberates has been included. This is a demo version recorded in 2001 and will be included on their forthcoming album.
All in all a very nice reissue which will hopefully get Defender the attention they deserve. And now let's wait and see what their forthcoming album will bring us.