Stay True Or Die!!!

THIS BLOG IS NOT DEAD!!! Okay with that out of the way allow me to introduce you to a band I recently stumbled across who just blew me away with a youthful vigor and unyielding love for real Heavy Metal. No retro cool, no ironic facial hair, no tattoos, just five baby faced bangers from Daly City calling themselves Hell Fire. These duders are just barely out of high school and already outplaying many of the seasoned Shreddy Roosevelts out there, and doing it on some right crappy gear no less. Kind of sounding like the classic German bands Grave Digger and Helloween, Hell Fire also inject a bit of Bay Area dirt head thrash in their trip. They were cool enough to flow me this cool CDR demo with a the humble caveat that this is a bit outdated and may not be the best representation of the band. I tend to agree, the drums are a bit "suspicious" sounding and this piece of plastic can in no way truly convey the sheer joy of playing and charm Hell Fire overflow with in the live setting. Seriously, support these kids, they absolutely deserve it. 

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Doomsday

Doomsday for the Deceiver was Flotsam and Jetsam's debut and the only album to feature some guy named Jason who soon after became a millionaire with a terrible haircut. Flotsam and Jetsam were one of those bands that sat on the fence between Heavy Metal and the new Thrash, sometimes being referred to as "Speed Metal." Doomsday for the Deceiver is a plucky energetic album full of razor-sharp riffing and top notch performances from all involved, particularly the Jason kid. It is easy to understand why that rich band would want to snatch this kid up and totally mix him out of their albums. My only beef with Doomsday... is the songs seldom shift outside of the formula, plaguing a great album with a bit of sameness and lack of dynamics. But fuck if this band wasn't already at the top of their game on their first album, these dudes did their homework. This is a great for careening down a highway or ripping a drained pool on your stick. The pace is relentless. Protect your neck, son.

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The Legacy

Testament, some people call them "thrash for girls," but duuuuude, the first two albums kill, okay? Much of the magic of The Legacy is the solo work of Alex Skolnick, the guy writes songs within the songs. Testament were slick and technically proficient from the get go (having cut their teeth under the name of Legacy) and The Legacy is about a strong as a debut album can be. Seriously, even if you thought you didn't care for thrash before, The Legacy could change your mind. Mandatory!!!

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Power From Hell

When I wrote about Black Uniforms I mentioned Onslaught, then realized I haven't featured the British thrash masters on the Hearse before. Onslaught started in 1983 in the bullshit town of Bristol as a punk band, but by 1985 the young men of Onslaught were possessed by Satan and opted to play more metal on their debut. You can still here plenty of Discharge influence, and I think this is precisely why Power From Hell is Onslaught's best release, and one of the coolest thrash albums of the 1980s. With each album, they became less punk, more polished, and eventually enlisted Steve "Grim Reaper" Grimmett to front the band for 1989's underwhelming In Search of Sanity. Onslaught reformed in 2006 and has since released two more studio albums, but I have no idea if they are worthwhile or not. I don't need to know, I have Power From Hell on three formats.

Power!

Illusions

One of the most perplexing album covers in Bay Area thrash metal history, and one of the more interesting releases to come from that fertile scene. Sadus hailed from Antioch, a bullshit town about a half hour's drive north of the bullshit town I call home. Antioch was a gold rush town, settled in 1850, it is one of the oldest cities in California. As well as Sadus, the town can boast notable natives like The Mitchell Brothers, and a bunch of stupid football players that I could' t give a rat's ass about. Anyways, the four disenfranchised bangers of Sadus combatted the dusty ennui of Antioch life with lots and lots of weed, sci-fi novels, horror movies, and the proto-death metal thrash of Possessed, Kreator, Slayer, and Death. Darren, Rob, Steve, and Jon, formed Sadus and took their time honing their sound and chops with a few demos, but waiting almost four years after their inception to cut a proper album. Their patience and commitment paid off, Illusions is an astonishing achievement of breakneck tempos, precision playing, and unhinged mania. On their first album Sadus were already faster, tighter, and more inspired than any of their peers or influences. Why Illusions isn't hailed as a classic, a milestone, and a thrashterpiece of unparalleled aggression is completely unbeknownst to me. The cover art perhaps?

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Brutal Aggression

Here's some mega-fucking-evil death/thrash from Spain and 1989. There were about a million metal bands in the '80s calling themselves Aggressor, most were pretty aggressive as I imagine, but for my money you can't do better than these venomous Valencians. They only managed to eke out one demo, Brutal Aggression, before they aggressed no more, but damn, what a demo it is. You get some Kreator style thrashing, proto-Death Metal vocals from some guys named Captor, Animal, Pelufo, and Chapa. Also want to add that this Aggressor has perhaps one of the coolest logos of all time.

Brutality

None Shall Defy

Fuck, I love this. Sometimes I think if Infernal Majesty had a better name and weren't from Canada they might now be hailed as one of the more important thrash bands of the '80s. Seriously, have you heard this? Right out of the gate it's ripping with speed, and solos, and roto toms. None Shall Defy was Infernal Majesty's debut and these calamitous Canucks wasted no fucking time. Musically, these guys kind of worshipped at the same inverted church as Possessed and Slayer. Fortunately Infernal Majesty mixed up the tempos and had a firmer grasp on dynamics and arrangements than alot of their contemporaries. This keeps None Shall Defy. This is mandatory, even if you don't generally care for the thrash. This one may just change your mind.

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Darkness

I like Dark Angel simply because they were the most German sounding American thrash band of the '80s. They were all skilled, but they also weren't afraid to be a bit rough around the edges, and they fucking played fast. Most will agree that Darkness Descends was the band's benchmark release, but I would go as far as to say it is one of the five best American thrash albums of all time.

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Apocalyptic Raids

Yes it is one of the greatest and purest Metal albums of all time, but lyrically it is often dismissed as the ESL ramblings of bored Swissy teenagers looking to shock. However, if you were to think of Tom (working as Satanic Slaughter) as a poet meditating on ancient culture's perceptions of their own thanatopic obsessions, armageddon, and the futility of faith, then Apocalyptic Raids takes on a whole new depth and beauty, and reveals much more than just hellish crossfire, axe assault, and deadly bassdosing. I must thank Malcom Tent of Broken Talent for making me a cassette copy of this life-changer some 26 years ago.

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Socialized Hate

Here's some raging, puffy-shoe, thrash from Arizona. Atrophy hailed from Tucson, but were in keeping with the sort of thrash being lauded in the Bay Area at the time. Socialized Hate was the band's debut, it was released in 1988 by Roadracer Records. All the bases are covered here lyrically, with songs about drug addiction, religion, beer, serial killers...Socialized Hate doesn't stray far from the formula but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable, hell, it might even add to it. Bonus points for Bill Metoyer production and a classically cold war themed Bally Video Game style airbrush cover art.

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Sentence of Death

Destruction, and this record in particular, is almost enough to make me forgive Germany for certain transgressions in their past. I could write a tome on the cover alone: the clothes, the hair, the sunlight that comes either at the beginning or the end of a day of evil... but then there is the tunes, wild and unhinged, amateurish but so full of youthful thrashing exuberance.

Death Sentence

Eternal Nightmare

Could we really spend a week on Bay Area related posts without some bonafide puffy sneaker thrash? Okay, so here is Vio-lence's 1988 debut Eternal Nightmare, a record, that for me, is somewhat marred by the rather choppy, one-dimensional performance of vocal dude, Sean Killian. However, Eternal Nightmare packs so much chunky wallop and delicious riffery that I can live with whatever Mr. Killian is arbitrarily shouting at me in lilting staccato. Vio-lence often sounded like a less skilled Slayer meets a more skilled Kreator, seriously, not a bad thing at all.

Mosh!

Crossover

So enamored with the trend of mixing metal and hardcore in the late '80s was D.R.I. that they even titled their second album Crossover, and while it may not be Dealing With It, if all thrash was this good in 1987, I too may have invested in some stretch jeans and some huge puffy white sneakers. Funny, but I think this album informed 99.9% of Municipal Waste's aesthetic and sound, and MW influenced a veritable onslaught of teenage Civil War Reenactment style retro thrash bands, thus making Crossover a highly influential album. When it was released people fucking hated it. Way better than most of the other hardcore band's forrays into metal at the time.

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The Revelation of Higher Mysteries

Deviser are a pretty odd, thrashy black metal band from Greece whose history can be traced back to 1988. This EP, The Revelation of Higher Mysteries was recorded and released in 1994. It has obvious production problems and a rickety performance, but still manages to capture a certain old school atmosphere and mystique that is nearly extinct in metal today. Deviser cram a lot into these three tracks, a scant nine and a half minutes, with secret rites, Lovecraftian horrors, gore, maggots, and a name drop to both Crowley and Manson. Excellent Hellenic kult weirdness.

Μυστήριος

The Day of Wrath

How is it that you love Bathory's first album so much, but you seem wholly indifferent to Bulldozer's debut The Day of Wrath? Is it because they're Italian? Is it because you haven't been bombarded with pictures of people in Bulldozer shirts? Is it because bands seldom cover their songs? Is it because "AC Wild" is not as mysteriously cool a moniker as "Quorthon?" Is it because their logo is pink? I just don't fucking get you, man.

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Diseased

Okay, so not the most obscure metal record there is by a long shot, but still a fantastic piece of work by an often unremarkable band. Riffs for days and and the signature wail of Joey Belladonna. Play it loud and MOSH!!!

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No Mercy

Hey Homes, you ready to knuckle up to another Venice style double-dipped beatdown from some beach bum cycos hell bent on motor-thrash and botom-shelf angel dust? Good, because this bit of chunked up cholo aggression comes ripping from No Mercy, a band of bandana-clad badasses with Suicidal's Mike Muir on vocals. Also appearing on this slab of vato violence is one Ric Clayton, the guy behind much of the Suicidal Tendencies artwork over the years. However the cover art of Widespread Bloodshed Love Runs Red was done by the amazing Eric Gottesman, whose bizarre airbrushings can be seen on albums by Beowulf, Dr. Know, Excel, and of course Suicidal. Put this on, get some loveboat coursin' through the ol' veins, hop on your stick and head out to crush some skulls. Pendejos just don't understand, fuck 'em.

Y Que?

Vacant Grave

Vacant Grave and their mustaches formed in 1986 in the bullshit fuck-all town of Manchester, Missouri. They wanted to outevil Slayer and came pretty close. This is a party, but one where no chicks show up and shit gets all weird when the beer runs out. Here's three demos bundled in one easy download because I love you.

Vacancy

The Mist

The Mist were a thrash band from Belo Horizonte Brazil. In 1991 they unleashed their second album The Hangman Tree, and it's really fucking good, and a vast improvement over their debut Phantasmagoria. Generally I don't go for this kind of slick thrash but The Hangman Tree is really fun in a sort of less accomplished Coroner way. At times it reminds me a bit of old Sepultura (guitarist Jairo Guedz was a founding member of Sepultura and played on Morbid Visions) and on occasion they channel classic Megadeth. Periodically The Mist ventured into some introspective cornball keyboard and acoustic guitar moments, but this keeps the album dynamic and interesting. The Mist were cool, but '91 seems a bit late for this type of thing. Oddly enough, if this came out last year I could see it getting some attention.

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