Thor
Mutant

November 2013
Released: 2003, Outlaw Recordings
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: JP

“Thor, The Mighty! Thor, The Brave! Crush the infidels in your way.” (Manowar, 1984)



Before Iron Maiden. Before Metallica. Before Slayer. Even before Manowar… there was THOR! In 1973, a young musician records his first demo/single in Vancouver, Canada what was to become the germination of ‘Body Rock’, and the eventual evolution into one of Metal mightiest warriors and most prolific and enduring acts...THE MIGHTY THOR! In celebration of his 40th anniversary and in tribute to Canada’s longest running Metal band, I am very proud to present short reviews of 13 releases from across his career. Feel free to enjoy all the reviews in this feature including…



-Keep The Dogs Away (1977)

-Unchained (1983)

-Only The Strong (1985)

-Live In Detroit (1985)

-Anthorology (1997)

-Thunderstruck (1998)

-Dogz II (2001)

-Mutant (2003)

-Beastwomen From The Center of The Earth (2004)

-Thor Against The World (2005)

-Rock And Roll Nightmare (2006)

-Into The Noise (2008)

-Thunderstryke (2012)



MUTANT was a very cool 30th Anniversary set of rarities. It originally came out on vinyl and then reissued a short time later with the gatefold sleeve but with a CD instead of the vinyl and the CD had five bonus tracks too! The runs were 500 each therefore it is a rarer piece of the Thor discography. It is his second of several compilations over the years.



The double Gatefold vinyl is very nice. The cover is a Mick Hoffman piece in the classic 70’s fantasy vein like Frazetta and others that you might see on the cover of Heavy Metal, the Sci-Fi/Fantasy magazine. MUTANT came out on Outlaw Records and had 11 cuts. The CD came with 4 more tracks and an interview with the BBC in 1984. The reissue also has a one-sheet with more info on the lost and rare tracks. The sleeve itself has lots of old photos, pictures of Thor on stage, hanging our backstage with Manowar and Metallica and other various shots. There is also a nice message to the fans. It’s really nice to look at and each song has a note about where it came from in the vaults.

The songs themselves span from Thor’s very first song in 1973 to rarities from the early 80’s. There is one new song, the title-track, ‘Mutant’ which was written and recorded in 2002. The sound quality ranges a bit but some of these old ¼ tapes were apparently found in old boxes and they had to be baked and then restored. Thor was always a rocker from the beginning and by 1980 he really had made the jump from ‘Hard Rock’ to Heavy Metal’ and often does not get enough credit for bringing Viking lyrics and imagery into heavy music.



For a new fan, this might not be the best place to start your collection but for members of the Thor Korr, this is an essential look back at the first 30 years of the Mighty One.