Remember NWOBHM? No? Well, maybe your daddy will do, because it happened some 27 years ago after the decline of the old hard rock and the short-lived punk movement which died away in 1979. Then, all of a sudden, millions of bands spawned from nearly every corner of Great Britain. Satan, Angel Witch, Diamond Head, Raven were among the most prominent names, although only Iron Maiden and Saxon (to some level) survived the test of time. Others, like Tresspass, Holocaust and, yes, Blitzkrieg, would be completely forgotten if it wasn’t their reputation of being inspiration to Metallica. And, believe it or not, this very reputation is the reason for still having (even if not noticing) bands like Blitzkrieg around. “Theatre of the Damned” is their tenth release, and like most of the previous ones it lacks some substantial ingredients that could make it at least interesting. Let’s face it, nobody expects Blitzkrieg to be exciting again. First, Brian Ross has this annoying habit of never changing the way he sings the end curves of each line, which almost makes you feel like you’re listening to the same “Blitzkrieg” song again and again, no matter which album it is. Then the lyrics are really funny, almost cartoon-like as if you penned them in the pre-school years. Despite the all negative sides, Blitzkrieg are still - like in the old days - able to impress with uncompromising heavy riffs, even if you have the feeling that you have heard those countless times. As a NWOBHM fan it’s a hard task for me to hammer down this album, but there are certain reasons that make me think that today Blitzkrieg are hardly needed by anyone.