In 1984, they came, from out of nowhere: Five mysterious metal merchants with an
uncommon talent for fusing seemingly all of the genres most admirable attributes
into one breathtaking but enigmatic package. They secured a recording contract with a
small Belgian record label, and then proceeded to drop one of the unsung classic albums of
the metal genre on an unsuspecting world. And then, before the listening public even had a
chance to become aware of the masterpiece this mysterious band of rogues had wrought, they
were gone.
Okay, maybe Im exaggerating on the enigma bit. Hazzard didnt come out of
nowhere; they hailed from Germany. And they didnt entirely disappear after their
eponymous 1984 debut. The alchemist responsible for most of the music on this underground
slab has made a bit of a name for himself. His name is Herman Frank.
Now known in metal circles as the technically adept lead guitarist of Victory and
Moon Doc, Frank served a handful of brief tenures with other German bands during the
1980s. The most well-known of these was his appearance on Accepts 1983 release
Balls to the Wall. In 1985, he repeated this feat on Sinners 1985 release, Touch of
Sin. But what happened in the time between those two albums is an often overlooked chapter
in the story of Herman Frank. And its a crying shame, because Hazzard, in the
opinion of this author, is one of the most unspeakably, yet understatedly beautiful things
ever heard (or not heard) in the Heavy Metal genre. Maximum Metal hopes to rectify this
situation, and see Hazzard (the band and the record), finally get their just due.
Herman Franks exploits are fairly well-known in the metal realm. Following his stint
with Sinner, he joined the respected hard rock act Victory for several albums, before
forming his own band, Moon Doc in the nineties. More recently, he has been involved
in a Victory reunion album and tour, in addition to producing several other bands.
But what of the rest of the band? Despite their collective talent, there isnt a
single other member of the band whose name I have heard before or since that hallowed
debut LP. If you have any clues as to the whereabouts of vocalist Malcolm McNulty,
guitarist Gunter Sander, bassist Wolfgang Hettmer or drummers Dieter Schmidt and Tilo
Heider (Heider is credited as having played drums on all but one of the albums
songs, though Schmidt is listed as the bands official drummer), or if you happen to
be one of the aforementioned musicians, please drop us an email.