by Ed Rivadavia

No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims was an outstanding international debut from Danish rockers D:A:D, following two promising efforts on the European Mega label. Irresistible lead-off single "Sleeping My Day Away" combined a rhythm guitar straight out of the AC/DC handbook, spiced by melody lines performed with a country-ish, '50s-style guitar twang -- a unique formula that the band successfully applied to other standouts like "Point of View" and "Lords of the Atlas." "Rim of Hell" is a stomping party anthem riding a monstrous, mid-paced groove, and the band also rocks out full-throttle on "Jihad," "True Believer," and the almost Metallica-heavy "Ill Will." And even though their command of the English language is hardly perfect (it's rather sketchy, actually), D:A:D transform a potential negative into a glowing positive by taking fearless poetic license with their lyrics. The results are often clever and always hilarious, as heard on "Siamese Twin" (sample lyric: "She's two of a kind and she's mine") and "Girl Nation" ("Bad bush and dangerous curves -- a female civilization"), among others. Why this record didn't become a huge smash is anyone's guess, but fans of raw, honest, hard rock simply can't go wrong with No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims.