Anvil's hammer blow

THEY were the hardest, heaviest, fastest force in rock.

Anvil added lead weights and a turbocharger to the blistering guitar riffs and powerhouse drums of heavy metal.

They partied with Van Halen and Black Sabbath - accumulating so many groupies that the corridors to their dressing rooms were lined with girls - hung out with Bon Jovi and took drugs with Motörhead.

Their albums, including Hard 'N' Heavy, Forged In Fire and the classic Metal On Metal, inspired rock giants like Guns N' Roses, Slayer and Metallica.

Legendary manager David Krebs - who masterminded Aerosmith's rise to superstardom - signed them and vowed he'd make Anvil even BIGGER than clients such as Ted Nugent and Def Leppard.

They got so close to stardom that Whitesnake star David Coverdale boasted to them about going onstage with a million-dollar cheque in his back pocket. Success seemed assured.

And then, after their extraordinary Super Rock '84 tour of Japan with Scorpions and The Michael Schenker Group, their promising career suddenly hit a brick wall.

"Not only did the phone stop ringing," drummer Robb Reiner tells A-Listed, "people wouldn't even take our calls."

The band, from Toronto, Canada, spent the next TWO DECADES in obscurity, taking low-paid jobs in catering and construction just to eke out a living.

But they never forgot the pact they'd made when they were just 14 - to rock together FOREVER - and kept recording album after album, playing gigs sometimes to less than a dozen people.

But then a real-life rock 'n' roll miracle happened in the shape of Anvil! The Story of Anvil, the lovingly-crafted award- winning documentary that details the band's struggle for survival against ALL the odds.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW IN OUR e-VERSION OF ALISTED

ANVIL play with Saxon at HMV Picture House, Edinburgh, on Friday. Tickets are available from ticketweb.co.uk

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