When you ask about hard rock or heavy metal from Australia, AC/DC or Rose Tattoo inevitably come to mind, but no one will mention Buffalo. That’s a shame, because the quartet, formed in Sydney in 1971, is now considered one of the cult bands of early heavy metal. Their legendary debut, with the morbid title Dead Forever, from 1972, was the first album to be released outside the UK on the cult label Vertigo – specifically in Australia and New Zealand, and, strangely enough, only in Germany. At that time, the band consisted of the two lead singers Dave Tice and Alan Milano, John Baxter (g), Peter Wells (b) and Paul Balbi (dr).

They played a successful blend of dark, guitar-heavy hard rock/blues rock with progressive rock elements, which was soon hailed as the first Australian proto-metal. In the finest heavy metal tradition, this was accompanied by a controversial album cover depicting the blood-encrusted face of a man peering out from the eye socket of a giant yellow skull, designed by Australian designer Ian Brown, who was also responsible for the cover design of their second LP Volcanic Rock. Their debut achieved reasonably satisfactory sales figures, which prompted the record label Vertigo to stick with the band. The original 1972 vinyl is a highly sought-after and iconic collector’s item, especially for heavy metal fans.