Rapid Fire

Remember in the early '90s flick Airheads, when Brendan Fraser and Steve Buscemi are standing at the door of a recently acquired radio station, testing an alleged music exec by quizzing, "Who would win in a fight: Lemmy or God?" Unlike that undercover cop, the men in Rapid Fire would answer, "Trick question. Lemmy is God." In all actuality, Rapid Fire could have been the Lone Rangers in that movie. The local metal band's new disc, Brace Yourself, is more Motörhead than even Killswitch Engage. There is a trend growing in the metal realm to bring back the sounds of the Iron Maiden days, and bands like 3 Inches of Blood are doing it on the national scale. However, its Dungeons & Dragons tunes have more ferocity than Rapid Fire's "Only the Warrior Will Survive." Unfortunately, instead of giving listeners a nostalgic feel, Rapid Fire leaves them shaking their heads at over-the-top cheesiness. The singsong chorus of "See You on the Battlefield" could have been performed by the Von Trapp children. Still, the verses of the song have a bit more integrity. And while Rapid Fire misses the mark with the retro-metal kitsch of Brace Yourself, the band is trying something fun that can surely play out well in a live setting.