Band:	First Aid (RUS)
Album:	By Hands (Своими Pуками)
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	1989

01. Vremya Prozret'
02. Padshiy Angel
03. Posledniy Shans
04. Shag Na Eshafot
05. Moya Dusha (Posledniy Vizit)
06. Izverzhenie
07. Plamya Gneva
08. Sosed
09. Zhiv Ili Net (Sosed-2) [re-release bonus]
10. Izgonite Besa [re-release bonus]
11. Rok-N-Roll Stayer [re-release bonus]
12. Vzyat' Zhivym [re-release bonus]

I've never heard anything about First Aid before today but I can understand that it was not so easy for a Heavy Metal band of the 80's to cross the Russian borders and spread its music all around the world before the 90's. Now that Russia is a lot more open it's easier to discover the old school bands of the country and that's good thing because First Aid, really was an excellent band.

Released in 1989, "By Hands" is an excellent album of powerful Heavy Metal. Between Saxon, Maiden and Accept, their first release was a really good album of melodic and heavy Metal. The lyrics were written in Russian so I cannot talk about it (I don't understand Russian), but it's fun to listen to music with Russian lyrics. About the music, "By Hands" is composed of twelve excellent songs. Some are fast and heavy, some others are more Rock N Roll (a la Saxon) but they all have some really good catchy choruses. I really like the music of First Aid which is catchy as hell and really Rock N Roll in the spirit. The good thing here is that all songs don't sound old, at the opposite even if we can hear that the album was released in the 80's, it doesn't sound like some kind of rotten old Metal. Sure you cannot compare the sound of First Aid to the modern band of Power Metal (and that's good) but if you like good Heavy Metal bands and if you're a nostalgic of the 80's I will highly recommend you to check this album. This is a real good surprise for me at least.

"By Hands" is well played but you must be aware that the vocals can sound really weird if you don't understand Russian. The voice of the singer is really special, really high (a bit like Udo) and the lyrics in Russian are special with Metal. Though at least this is original and well, the music is good so I don't think that it will be a big problem if you're a bit open minded. Also the recording is actually really good. I don't know if the album was re-mastered or not but if it's an original recording then I must tell you that it's really impressive!

"By Hands" is an excellent surprise for me. I can already tell you that I will try to find (even if it will not be easy unfortunately) to discover the other albums of the discography of this Russian combo. Too bad that they didn't have the chance to play their music outside of Russia before today because I'm sure that, despite the lyrics in Russian, the band could have the chance to find success in Europe during the 80's and 90's. But it's past and we cannot do anything about it anyway so let's give a chance to a band which really deserves it now. Don't miss this album if you like good Heavy metal and if you have the chance to find it.