Since 1971, Blue Öyster Cult have been stormtrooping and spell-weaving their way into the hearts and guts of thousands of loyal fans. With The Revolution by Night, the band's ninth studio LP, the Cult prove they can still pump it up, though they may be running more on momentum than inspiration.

Combining patented BOC pop occultism with Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser's incendiary guitar solos, songs like "Feel the Thunder" are heavy-metal bonecrunchers meant to be played while you're breaking the land-speed record on your motorcycle. Air-guitar specialists, on the other hand, will be sent into spasms by the dazzling sonic effects of "Take Me Away."

Unfortunately, unlike such earlier Cult efforts as Spectres and Agents of Fortune, which carefully balanced more diverse, mystically sober tunes with rude head-banging, The Revolution by Night continues the band's trend toward heavy reliance on wrenching metalisms. Unfortunate indeed, because "Light Years of Love," with its stately synthesizer-guitar harmonies and elegiac melody, and the mesmerizing "Shooting Shark," enhanced, oddly enough, by a relatively restrained (for the genre) sax solo, remind us that Blue Oyster Cult are capable songwriters at both ends of the rock & roll Richter scale.

Fair-weather Cult fans be forewarned; as finely crafted as the LP is, The Revolution by Night is anything but revolutionary. In fact, it could be passed off as a vintage mid-Seventies release without raising an eyebrow. And other than the reckless, anthemic chanting of "Let Go," BOC's latest is also a little too polished for its own good. Still, few bands mix aesthetics and ass-kicking rock to such good advantage. So give it a shot, but cave at emptor. (RS 416)

ERROL SOMAY