One of my favorite things about the metal scene is the effort by underground labels into unearthing obscure bands who released material that was seemingly lost to time. I have no idea if this is common in other forms of music, I am not qualified to say one way or the other. But it is common in metal. This can take a few forms: re-releasing the material in its original state, re-mastering material if the original sources can be found, or compiling the material and releasing it new. That brings us to this release, which is a compilation of the two demos and a promo released by Singapore's Nuctemeron.
Nuctemeron was mostly active in the late 80's/early 90's in the underground extreme metal scene of Singapore. They were one of the earliest such bands and the first to release a demo. Singapore has never really been a metal hotbed, and at the time extreme metal was very rare in the very conservative country. But one band has risen from Singapore's extreme metal scene to become an underground legend. That band is Impiety, whose primary member Shyaithan helped to compile this release and write a brief band history in the liner notes.
That brings us to this release. The first thing to note is that the production is not terribly great, which is not surprising. None of the releases compiled here are professional releases. This was a very DIY band. It is a little surprising that the songs from the first demo generally sound better than those from the other two releases. And the promo songs from the third release sound really rough, with the vocals almost completely buried in the mix.
The band is an extreme take on thrash, bordering on brutal thrash and even death metal. The sound would fit in quite well with the South American scene at the time, in particular Morbid Visions-era Sepultura and Sarcófago. It is not terribly musical, existing more to simply make as much noise as possible. The riffs are fairly simple and the drums even moreso. The vocals are delivered in a shrieking growl similar to the aforementioned bands. The band gradually added more solos in the second and third releases, but retained the more straightforward aggression otherwise.
Overall, this is a far from an essential release. It is more of a curiosity than anything. It is certainly interesting that such an extreme metal band was able to find any sort of foothold in a country like Singapore. Nuctemeron did not exist for very long, but their influence can be heard in Impiety. That is something at least.
This is a hidden gem of an album. Released at a time when thrash metal was on its way back out of the public eye (thanks to Metallica's black album and the rise in grunge), it captures the spirit of early thrash metal and evolves the sound. Cyclone Temple was formed by the musicians from Znöwhite when vocalist Debbie Gunn left the band. I first heard about this release when I saw that drum legend Gene Hoglan listed it as one of his favorite metal albums of all time. I had to check it out.
The music fits in well with the direction that thrash metal was going. And no, I am not referring to the more radio rock-friendly sound Metallica was heading in. This is progressive-leaning thrash metal that retains a lot of the aggression of the past, yet develops a strong musical viability. The musicianship here is incredible. The riffs are complex, the bass is intriguing, and there are some amazing solos.
Now the band is not nearly as devastating as the Znöwhite albums, which were bordering on brutal thrash metal, challenging the likes of Slayer. But Cyclone Temple is devastating in a different way. There is a very somber tone to the entire album and the band tackles some weighty subject material, such as the death of a sister and suicidal thoughts. Brian Troch's dry, yet melodic vocals capture this dark mood incredibly well. The highlight of the album is "Words are Just Words" which is maudlin and melodic throughout the first half of the song and then turns punishing and brutally fast in the second half. It is a bit of a callback to the Znöwhite era.
Thrash metal was barely holding on in the early 1990's, but a few bands were still putting out quality releases. This is easily one of the best albums I have heard from the genre around this time. It is sadly forgotten for the most part because it arrived at such a bad time for thrash. That's a shame. This is a hell of a release.
I talk about German thrash metal a lot. Well, I am a huge fan of thrash metal, and despite discovering German thrash significantly later in my life, I actually prefer it to Bay Area thrash metal. In general. There are obviously bands such as Metallica, Testament and Exodus that I love, but I really do tend to like the more aggressive, rawer style of the German bands.
There are of course three primary bands that most thrash metal fans know of as the German Big Three. Of the German Big Three, the only sure thing is that Destruction is my least favorite. My views on Kreator versus Sodom change almost daily, but Destruction generally lags behind. That is not to suggest in any way that I dislike them, I just like the other two more. I love Release from Agony, and I believe Destruction is probably the best of the three currently, but those early albums cannot be ignored.
That brings us to today's review, Destruction's Mad Butcher EP. This was released shortly after the band's sophomore release and it featured two new members who were extremely technically proficient at their instruments. That is likely the reason the members were brought on as Destruction sought to distance themselves from the raw and dirty sound of their countrymen. It worked reasonably well as Destruction is generally known as the better musicians than Kreator or Sodom.
There are just four songs on this release, including the title track, which has become something of an anthem for Destruction with the Mad Butcher basically becoming the band's mascot. The song acts as a showcase for the new members and the band's new direction. The second track is a cover of a Plasmatics song, which is emotionally-charged. I am not familiar with the original version, but the song is impressive. The third (and last real song) is a slow-burning one with more advanced composition than anything the band had done previously.
This is an impressive EP. It is not really a vital release, unless one is a huge fan of Destruction (particularly in light of its combination with the previous album into a compilation), but it shows the band maturing and is an interesting step in the band's progression.
This may be one of the heaviest thrash metal albums I have ever heard. I have been well familiar with this band, and even this album, for quite some time, having acquired it in a two CD release covering all of Demolition Hammer's music. But there is nothing quite like having the album in its original format. It feels more natural that way, the way the album was supposed to have been heard.
Demolition Hammer released just three full-length albums, and the last one was supposed to be released under the name of a new band, so really, they only had two albums. This is the band's debut and it is a terrific one at that. The band is still very raw, but their unbridled aggression and brutality shines through. It is because of this rawness that this album has gained a cult following among metalheads.
The songs are fast-paced and intense with neck-breaking riffs. I love the sound of the bass, which is a massive part of Demolition Hammer's sound. It is clearly audible, driving the riffs and playing some complex rhythms at times. It is one of the better bass performances in thrash metal, though not quite on the same level as work by Steve DiGiorgio or Cliff Burton.
The only complaints I really have about the album are the somewhat limited production and the vocals. With regard to the production, it would have been nice to have a meatier sound with the heavy, bass-driven riffs. The vocals are just sort of plain for the genre and do not really do enough to stand out.
This is yet another thoroughly underrated thrash metal album. Demolition Hammer straddle the line often between thrash and death and end up with an amazing, brutal thrash metal album.
Despite the kind of ridiculous album cover on this one, I have been looking for it for a long time. Whiplash is kind of known for having a few ridiculous album covers. Their debut puts this one to shame. This is one of those hugely underrated thrash metal albums that has been a target of mine for quite some time, just like Wargasm's Why Play Around? and a few others that I have picked up recently.
After an introductory track featuring the sounds of intense warfare, the band immediately kicks off into some high-octane thrash metal on "Walk the Plank". Right off the bat, it is clear that this is a much more aggressive and brutal type of thrash metal band than many of the Bay Area bands of the time period. Whiplash is from New Jersey, but they are also more aggressive than the Garden State's favorite thrash metal band, Overkill.
Despite a somewhat slower, yet still very intense, second track, the album generally continues in the same fast-paced and aggressive style throughout most of the rest of the album, other than a few slower melodic moments. Whiplash write some damn catchy riffs which often sound like a mix of Bay Area and German thrash metal bands. Something of a mix of Exodus and Destruction. Several of the songs are highly infectious and should be thrash classics if this album was better known.
This is a terrific thrash metal album from the 1980's, but it just fell by the wayside in a big scene. That is a shame, but it has gained cult status among old school thrash metal fans.
Yeah, I know I just did a similar post for a Sepultura album earlier this year when I covered Arise. Well, this album has been kind of begging for a closer look for some time as well.
As I have mentioned many times on this blog, I loved Sepultura when I was in high school. But this album eluded me for many years and it was the last of the Max Cavalera albums that I picked up. It was not until well into my first job after law school that I finally managed to track it down. And by then, my obsession with Sepultura had long since passed. So, it just did not make the impact that many of the band's early albums made. Add to that the kind of crappy production, at least on the copy that I picked up and there were a few reasons why this one really did not make much of an impact.
Schizophrenia is a transition album of sorts. It is Sepultura's sophomore full-length, arriving just a year after the proto-death metal stomp of Morbid Visions. That album helped pave the way for not only death metal, but also black metal. Two years later came Beneath the Remains, which is the band's most straightforward brutal thrash metal album. So Schizophrenia sort of exists in a state of limbo between the two sounds. It features the best of both sounds with the raw animal aggression of Morbid Visions and the uncompromising brutality of Beneath the Remains.
In addition, there are some terrific, classic Sepultura songs on this release. It features pit classics like "Escape to the Void" and "R.I.P. (Rest in Pain)". But it also contains the spellbinding instrumental "Inquisition Symphony", which remains one of the band's most ambitious songs from their early years.
This album is finally sinking in more these days. It is a fantastic raw and brutal album and exemplifies the amazing talent that Sepultura had in the early days. It is a shame that Sepultura spent so much time chasing trends. A few more albums like this would have been much preferred to the nu-metal direction the band took in the mid 1990's.
Ripped congealed in the same Ohio cesspool that produced the likes of Embalmer and Necrophagia. The band straddled the line between thrash and death metal and began incorporating more progressive influences as thrash was fading into obscurity. This is a very short little EP that was released between the band's only two full-length albums, and judging from the cover, is not to be taken too seriously. It was released on Wild Rags which had something of a controversial history as a label.
This EP consists of just five tracks, none of which make it to three minutes in length, and only three of which are actually songs. The songs are definitely weird, with spastic riff changes and the psychotic barking vocals of singer Rick Fisher. The band proves adept at changing speeds and time signatures. The bass is particularly intriguing, not content to simply provide rhythm, it is playing something of a funk-inspired throbbing bass line. Beyond that, there is some truly bizarre stuff happening with the guitar solo on "Happy Trails". The whole album is something of a mind-bender.
This one has been something of a grower for me. I really did not like it much at all the first time I heard it. It is kind of jarring, off-kilter and abrasive. There is definitely nothing melodic or pretty here, not that I expected as much, but the EP struck me as too much weird for weirdness sake. Repeated listens have uncovered some intriguing rhythmic talent in the band members. I still would not recommend this to just anyone and I am still not totally sure I like it all that well, but there is some interesting stuff happening and I definitely do not dislike it anymore.
Tastes change over time. That is not a controversial statement. For instance, I once considered Coal Chamber one of my favorite bands. Now, I cannot even listen to them. Which brings me to a less stark change. My tastes in Voivod's music.
I have been a big fan of Voivod for some time now, even though I got into them very late. They were always on the periphery of my musical tastes. I liked Negatron since it was the first album I picked up by the band in the mid 1990's, but I never got much into their earlier material other than songs like "Killing Technology" and "Astronomy Domine" appearing on a couple of compilations I owned. Much later, I finally picked up Nothingface and grew to love the album. Then, I went through a period of time where I started to check out everything Voivod ever did. The first five albums are legendary (and rival any other band's five album run) and quickly became my absolute favorites. Of the five, Dimension Hatross became my preferred album because it combined the raw thrash metal of Voivod's early material and saw the band headed in the progressive direction they perfected on Nothingface. I still like Negatron, but nowhere near as much. But this is not about Negatron's place in Voivod's history. It is about War and Pain.
Of the first five Voivod albums, I previously considered War and Pain the band's weakest. That is not terribly surprising as it was the band's debut album and was incredibly raw and almost sloppy. It contained few, if any, hints of what the band would later accomplish upon incorporating prog rock elements. Quite frankly, listening to War and Pain back to back with Nothingface, it is difficult to tell that it is even the same band.
Something has changed recently. I have no idea what, but upon repeated listens to the band's discography, it has been War and Pain that I have been going back to time and time again. What I once heard as sloppy has become endearing and just a sign of a very young and raw band doing the best they could with what they knew at the time. Several of these songs have become favorites of mine, including "Blower", "Warriors of Ice" and "Iron Gang". There is a lot of punk influence here that adds to the raw, unrefined sound of the band and makes it that much more intriguing.
Honestly, picking out a favorite Voivod album is very difficult. The band has changed so much over the decades they have been around that almost every album is truly unique in some way that sets it apart from any other Voivod album. That is what is so interesting about this band in the first place. They were never content to just put out album after album of the same stuff. And so even though War and Pain has risen in my eyes, who knows if it will stay in such a lofty place?
Despite coming just a year later, Death Angel's sophomore album is significantly different in sound to their debut. It came at a time when thrash metal was being forced to adapt. Some bands went in more of a progressive sound (Heathen, Metallica), others opted for a more melodic one (Testament), and still others went in a light-hearted, almost goofy direction (Exodus). Death Angel fell into a combination of the Testament and Exodus route with this album, and the quality was definitely a step down from their debut.
It is obvious from the album cover and title how much lighter the tone of this album was going to be. Where the debut promised violence and had a gritty album cover, this could not be farther away if it tried. There are still some dark themes present in this release, with songs like "Why You Do This" and "Mind Rape", but it is nowhere near as aggressive as the prior release.
Death Angel also began experimenting with different, non-metal styles of music. "Open Up", in particular, features a funky bass line, something Death Angel would return to on their third album Act III. There is also something generally lighter in tone about the band, with "Bored" and "Road Mutants" being examples of this. I do think the cover of KISS's "Cold Gin" is very much out of place here. It is not one of KISS's stronger songs and it completely breaks up the flow of the album.
This album is very much a product of its time. As such it sounds dated and has not held up well over time. This was a harbinger of things to come for Death Angel who would go further toward a more experimental sound on their next album before going on hiatus for over a decade. Out of Death Angel's early albums, the debut is definitely the best. This would be next.
In coming across a few lists similar to the Loudwire video I covered a week or so ago, I have realized there are some holes in my old-school thrash metal collection. One of those holes was some of the lesser Bay Area thrash metal bands. Groups like Forbidden and Death Angel are kind of underrepresented in my collection, which is weird for as much of a thrash metal fan as me. I have a few of Death Angel's recent albums, but only one from their early years. I decided to change that. Today and tomorrow's posts will cover the first two Death Angel albums.
The Ultra-Violence is Death Angel's debut album and it is a damn impressive one. There is a reason this album comes up in several lists like the aforementioned Loudwire one that covers best thrash metal albums not by the Big Four. Somehow though, Death Angel is rarely mentioned among the best the Bay Area had to offer, even among the second tier groups like Exodus and Testament.
One of Death Angel's biggest strengths is in the musicianship of its members, particularly lead guitarist Rob Cavestany. His incredible abilities has made it possible for Death Angel to experiment with a variety of musical styles in the future. On this release, the focus is on shredding guitars. There is a rawness and aggression, and definitely emotion, that is present in the sound of Death Angel that is missing in some of their more workmanlike peers. This is powerfully conveyed in the outstanding guitar work of Cavestany.
The other big strength the band has is the incredible vocals of Mark Osegueda. He is an incredible vocalist who is without peer in the Bay Area thrash metal scene. His best work comes on the track "Voracious Souls" where he really lets loose with haunting howls among his more standard vocal style. This leads to my only complaint about the album. With such a great singer, the band should showcase him more, but this album features two instrumental tracks and one track with very limited vocals. I get that Cavestany needs time to shine as well, but so should Osegueda.
This is a terrific debut album by Death Angel and really set the tone for what the band would do in the future. The band has a dynamic singer/lead guitarist combo that a lot of bands strive for, but fewer have. It is likely that this is the best album Death Angel has to offer.
Readers of this blog can probably tell a couple of things about my listening habits. One, thrash metal is my favorite of the major metal genres. This is likely due to my formative years as a metalhead spent being obsessed with Metallica, Megadeth, Sepultura and Testament. And two, I love exploring metal scenes in other countries.
Which brings me to Arakain, a thrash metal band from the Czech Republic. This is the second album I have checked out by the band, the first one being Black Jack, which was a decent melodic heavy metal album with some thrash moments. Unfortunately it was not quite what I was looking for when I picked it up. I had heard great things about their thrash metal releases and I just missed with that one. Well I fixed that minor miscalculation by picking up this, Arakain's debut.
The sound of Arakain is something of a mix between the early works of Teutonic thrash metal bands such as Destruction and Bay Area-thrash of Death Angel. The riffs are melodic but pack a lot of bite, and there are a ton of them, and most of the songs are fairly fast-paced. The songs are also ridiculously catchy, which is somewhat of a surprise given that 99% of the lyrics are not in English and I definitely do not speak Czech. Where Arakain really excels though is in the vocals which are delivered in a siren-like wail that calls to mind Artillery in their prime.
The only real issue I have with this release is the lyrics not being in English. Do not get me wrong, I have no problem with it, but it did likely prevent Arakain from breaking through to a wider audience. Now, there is of course a concern that if the lyrics were in English they would lose their effectiveness. I cannot really say because I have no idea what the singer is going on about anyway.
Thrash metal fans would do well in checking this out, if they can get past the lyrics. There is nothing really mind-blowingly new and original here, but it is a terrific blend of thrash metal styles. And it is one hell of a good time listening to it. Even though I have no idea what they are saying. Seriously, who cares?
I often find myself watching Loudwire lists. I don't often discover something new, but they can be mindlessly entertaining. And sometimes, I disagree strongly with things (I have a lot of issues every time they do a best new bands list). That brings us to this list. I am a huge thrash metal fan. As such, I feel qualified to examine this list and see if I have any problems with it.
Now, I am not going to quibble too much with the placement of the individual bands, arguing that one band should be higher than another. There might be a couple of notes on band placement as I go along. What I really want to do is examine the albums selected by each band. Are they really the best releases representing each band?
10. Voivod: Killing Technology
Well, let's kick things off, shall we? I am kind of surprised to see Voivod on this list at all. Not because they don't really deserve to be, but because Voivod is mostly known for their sound after they moved away from thrash metal. Only their first four albums can really be called thrash, and the first one has significant punk sound to it. I personally prefer Dimension Hatröss but I can't argue with this selection. The two are kind of a toss-up really.
9. Sodom: Persecution Mania
Here is my first major quibble. I like Persecution Mania, I really do, but it is not even close to my favorite album by Sodom. Agent Orange would have been my pick. I could listen to that album every day. I still think that the thrash break at the end of "Tired and Red" is one of the greatest riffs in thrash metal history. In fact, that album may just be my favorite release by any German thrash metal band. Therefore, I would have it a lot higher than #9.
8. Suicidal Tendencies: Lights...Camera...Revolution!
This is probably the best album by Suicidal Tendencies, but my problem here is that I don't really think ST should be on this list at all. The issue is that the band is not a true thrash metal band, being much more of a crossover group. There are several bands not present on this list that would have been better inclusions, such as Destruction, Forbidden, Death Angel, and others.
7. Nuclear Assault: Handle with Care
No arguments. 100% agree. "Critical Mass" is an amazing song.
6. Dark Angel: Darkness Descends
They fixed it. In an earlier incarnation, they had Leave Scars listed, which is a damn fine album, but this one is Dark Angel's best.
5. Overkill: The Years of Decay
Picking just one great Overkill album is a monumental task. I have said it before and I will say it again: Overkill is the most consistently great thrash metal band ever. So, it is hard to argue with this choice, and in fact, I chose it as my favorite Overkill album when I did my Top 100 bands list. Horrorscope, Under the Influence, and Taking Over would also have worked. I would probably put Overkill #2 or #3 on this list personally.
4. Kreator: Pleasure to Kill
I go back and forth on this one. I love this album and it is a terrific example of raw, brutal thrash metal. But I think Kreator really refined their sound later on and albums like Extreme Aggression and Coma of Souls are really damn hard to pass up on a list like. I would probably ultimately lean toward Coma of Souls.
3. Testament: The Legacy
Testament is my favorite band. I love almost every album by the band (Demonic being the only real exception). I would probably agree that this is the album that deserves most to be on this list, even though it is not my absolute favorite. The New Order is also in consideration.
2. Sepultura: Beneath the Remains
I talked about Sepultura a couple of weeks ago. A few years ago I would have 100% agreed with this album being on the list. But recently I have been hooked on Arise. I love "Inner Self" off of this album, but Arise has equally great tracks like "Dead Embryonic Cells", the title track and "Infected Voice". I am beginning to come around on it being Sepultura's best album.
1. Exodus: Bonded by Blood
No contest here and honestly, this may be one of the best thrash metal albums period. This is a thrash metal masterpiece.
So I don't have any major problems with anything on this list, other than I probably would not have Suicidal Tendencies on it. If I was doing this list, I would not be able to limit it to 10. There are so many great thrash metal albums that I would have to give some attention to. And so, here are some thrash metal albums that I would have to consider:
Deströyer 666: Cold Steel...For an Iron Age
Sabbat: Dreamweaver
Onslaught: The Force
Death Angel: The Ultra-Violence
Vio-lence: Eternal Nightmare
Destruction: Eternal Devastation
Holy Moses: Finished with the Dogs
Nocturnal Breed: Fields of Rot
Morbid Saint: Spectrum of Death
Apostasy can trace their origins back to the late 1980's. The band formed in Chile, which has birthed a few metal bands I thoroughly enjoy, including the terrific Thornafire. Apostasy released just one full-length album, Sunset of the End, before disbanding. Guitarist Cris Profaner recently reformed the band, this time taking on bass duties, and this is their first full-length since that reformation.
As a fan of thrash metal worldwide, I was all over an opportunity to hear some good South American-style thrash metal and Apostasy definitely delivers. This album has the feel of classic Sepultura mixed with some Slayer to it. The first song definitely has a tempo and style similar to pre-Reign in Blood Slayer. It is fast, with razor sharp riffs, and often air raid siren vocals. I kept waiting for him to shriek "Hell Awaits". The entire album possesses a dark, raw and evil atmosphere carried forward by the sinister riffs and hellish wailing vocals. Even when they slow things down, there is still a sense of unease building, a sense that nothing is entirely safe.
Apostasy builds on that early promise throughout the album. This is truly a callback to a time when Slayer was still playing Venom riffs as fast as possible and Sepultura was still shedding their blackened death metal sound. As that is my favorite era of Slayer's music in particular, I am fully onboard with Apostasy.
I love this album. I was always a little more partial to this type of thrash, barely skirting the surface of black metal. This is exactly the kind of sound I was looking for.
Blood Feast is a seriously underrated thrash metal band who came a bit late to the scene. They dropped their first full-length, Kill for Pleasure, in 1987 right at the height of thrash metal's popularity. Unfortunately, due to their much more brutal approach to thrash, they were looked over. They put out one more full-length (the excellent Chopping Block Blues) in 1989 then went on hiatus until reuniting in 2007. They have recently begun putting out new music, including this EP last year.
The only returning member of Blood Feast still with the band is guitarist Adam Tranquill. But the band sounds the same as they did in their original incarnation, that is to say, fucking savage. This is some absolutely brutal thrash metal with razor-sharp riffs and sneering, angry vocals. The album lasts less than half an hour, but it is sure to leave the listener breathless as it steamrolls over them.
I only have very minor complaints. Vocalist Chris Natalini tends to sound a little shrieky at times, which does not always fit the music well. It would sound better with more of a death metal-style singer personally. The other one is that the live track at the end ("By the Slice", which is not about pizza) sounds out of place. I know EPs generally do not follow any particular convention, but I would have preferred another studio track.
This is the third release I have picked up by Blood Feast, and I love every single one of them. This type of brutal thrash is absolutely underrated. This band would fit in well on a play list with Rigor Mortis, Demolition Hammer, Morbid Saint and others.
I am continuing to dive into lesser-known thrash metal bands, which brings us to Hallows Eve, from Atlanta. One would be forgiven for thinking that the album cover here would seem to indicate that this is more of a glam band. One certainly would not expect this style of aggressive thrash metal, not to say that Hallows Eve is a particularly aggressive thrash metal band, just that the cover art does not really convey how this album sounds.
But just as the album here is a product of its time, so too is the music. This is the kind of thrash metal that Exodus and Anthrax among others began to popularize toward the late 1980's. With less of a focus on biting riffs and shredding leads and more of a focus on rhythm and staccato barking. It is a style that by and large has not aged well. It is telling that very few neo-thrash metal bands recently have gone back to this style.
Despite the out-dated style, this is a perfectly fine album in a vacuum and it was probably awesome when it came out. There are some decent tracks here, such as "Speed Freak" and "Rot Gut". The best song is "Pain Killer" (not at all affiliated with the Judas Priest classic), which has a damn fine thrash break in the middle and a killer guitar solo. In general, the songs here are mostly short, sharp and fast without a lot of room for melodic detours. Hallows Eve gets right to the point and once done, moves on.
The band does make a bit of a mistake with "Sheer Heart Attack", which is a cover of a Queen classic. Not many bands can pull off a Queen cover competently, and unfortunately Hallows Eve is no exception. The song sounds very much out of a place here and breaks up the early flow of the album. The biggest issue with it being that the vocals are delivered in sort of a British punk sneer and it just comes off kind of laughable.
I am a huge thrash metal fan, as longtime readers know well and I love exploring the genre's history and obscure bands. Hallows Eve is by no means essential thrash metal, but that does not mean that it is not a fun listen. It has not aged well, but it is not at all bad. I need to remember to break out the denim vest, high-tops and a can of PBR next time I put it on.
Last year, I did a post arguing that Anthrax is currently the best band out of the Big 4. Much of that argument was based on the absolutely incredible Worship Music and their explosive live performances. I do kind of wish that I had heard more of this album before making that argument. I believe I heard it once or twice before writing that post, but only recently managed to add it to my collection. I am not rethinking my position, but this album is weaker than I remembered.
I do not want to give the idea that I dislike this album at all. I actually like it quite well and among the Big 4 most recent albums, I would place it second behind Megadeth's Dystopia and ahead of Metallica's Hardwired...to Self-Destruct. It is a lot of fun and there are some definite strong songs here. There just is no one single song that really captures my attention the way that Worship Music had with "Fight 'Em 'Til You Can't" and "The Devil You Know". The album starts out strong with "You Gotta Believe" and "Monster at the End", but then it just sort of hits a wall and never really comes out of it. Many of the remaining songs simply cannot keep the energy level up and the album sort of overstays its welcome.
There is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with the album. The guitar riffs by Scott Ian and Jonathan Donais are impressive enough and the songs are reasonably infectious while they are playing. Joey Belladonna's voice sounds great, easily on par with anything that he performed in the band's heyday in the mid to late 1980's. But again, there is no real huge standout track like the band had on their initial reunion album.
Anthrax seems to have dialed back the aggression quite a bit, resulting in a very melodic style of thrash/heavy metal. That is fine on its own, but it does not live up to the band's previous material as well. Now, Anthrax has never been the most aggressive of thrash metal bands, even compared to the other Big 4 bands. But there has generally been a sneering angst to their sound that seems to be a little lacking here. These are men now well into their 50's and they really do not have anything to be pissed off about anymore. That does not mean they can't still throw out some excellent metal, but they are not going to be as aggressive as they were when they were younger.
All that being said, I do enjoy this album, and it has been growing on me with each successive listen, which I suppose has been true of a lot of Anthrax's material over the years. However, there have been albums (Worship Music, State of Euphoria, Spreading the Disease) that I took to immediately and completely. This album just was not one of those. It does not change my premise from last year, Anthrax is still putting out better music than the rest of the Big 4 more consistently since reuniting with Belladonna, and is much more fun in a live setting. I fully believe this album will grow in my mind to be considered a classic based on how much more I am taking from it each time. It just is not there yet.
Longtime readers of this blog (there are a few of them left I think) know that I am a particularly big fan of American thrash metal. Of course there are the Big 4. Metallica was my gateway into metal and Ride the Lightning is the first metal album I ever bought and still probably my favorite. Megadeth quickly replaced Metallica as my band of choice early on. Anthrax is probably the best of the four still going. Of course Slayer is one of my favorite bands as well. But even beyond the Big 4, I am a huge fan. Testament is on the short list for my favorite band of all time. Exodus's Bonded by Blood is the greatest example of pure thrash metal ever, in my opinion. And then we come to Overkill, probably the most consistently great thrash metal band of all time, a band who has never released a truly bad album, even when they were experimenting with groove metal. Whenever Overkill releases a new album, I jump on it. And here we are.
So now that I have first sung their praises, I have to start off with a little bit of a disclaimer. I did not love Overkill's last album The Grinding Wheel. It seemed too similar to their previous album and it was a bit bloated and overly long. It was not a bad album by any stretch and was still better than anything Slayer has put out in a long time. It was just a mild disappointment. So now, we get to The Wings of War.
They fixed what was wrong with The Grinding Wheel. That is the first and most important thing to say about this one. The songs are shorter, tighter and punchier with the snarling attitude that has made Overkill so potent all these years. The album kicks off with the neck-wrecking "Last Man Standing" and rarely lets up on the throttle throughout the entire 50+ minute album.
The only misstep on the album is the much punkier "Welcome to the Garden State". Also, no one in their right minds believes fucking New Jersey is the best place in the U.S.A. as the lyrics proudly announce.
For a band that has been around longer than I have been alive, they still sound just as pissed-off and energetic as they ever had. It is quite easy to listen to this album back-to-back with something like 1987's Taking Over, and know that this is still the same band. Their sound has evolved very little over the years. We need bands like that. It is comforting knowing that we can count on Overkill to deliver the goods with each album.
This is actually the second album by a band called Solstice I have picked up, but it is not the same band. This is the U.S.-based thrash metal band primarily active in the early 1990's, though they have reunited (sort of) a few times and have been back together since 2006 or so, even releasing a new album in 2009. The other Solstice is a doom metal band from the U.K. The name "Solstice" seems to fit a little better with a doom metal band personally. The only other situation like this in my collection is the two bands named Sabbat. There is the Japanese black/thrash metal band and the U.K. thrash metal band whose singer went on to form Skyclad and thus primarily kick-started the folk metal genre.
Solstice, this one anyway, is a particularly heavy thrash metal band, even bordering on death metal at times. The riffs are down-tuned and fast, but not lightning-fast as is typical of many other thrash metal bands. The riffs bear more resemblance to the early works of Death and Possessed when the bands were crossing the border between death and thrash metal but not full-on death metal riffs yet. The songs are very intense due to their speed and heaviness of the riffs.
I can not decide whether I like the Carnivore cover in the middle of the album though ("S.M.D."). It kind of breaks things up a bit because it is a decidedly different sound right in the middle of the album. On its own it is fine, not the best cover in the world but not bad either, it is its placement that bothers me more than anything. Carnivore was kind of a goofy band and this song in particular is pretty odd (stands for "Suck My Dick"), and Solstice seems much more serious.
A part of that is likely due to the fact that Rob Barrett, of Malevolent Creation fame primarily and now in Cannibal Corpse, plays rhythm guitars on this album. Barrett also lends his vocals to the band, delivering them in a harsh, malevolent bark that is much more similar to early death metal bands than anything that thrash metal bands were doing at the time. Barrett and drummer Alex Marquez left Solstice to join Malevolent Creation soon after this album was released.
I guess the key question is which Solstice do I like better? Well, being more of a thrash metal fan myself, it is pretty obvious and predictable that I prefer this Solstice. I do like the other one, but this one fits in more with my preferred style of metal.
Even though I am a huge fan of thrash metal, for some reason the Swedish scene has mostly eluded me. Oh sure, I have checked out The Crown and Carnal Forge, but I still need to hear quite a bit more. The Swedish thrash scene is not as highly regarded as the German scene or the U.S. scenes, or even the black or death metal scenes from Sweden, but it does still have a following. And so, I need to check out more Swedish thrash.
That brings us to Entrench, a newer band whose sound is mostly rooted in the German thrash metal scene. The album cover calls to mind Sodom, and they seem to be the primary influence musically. The music here is dirty, raw and fast. It is the sound of warfare, of bullets flying, and bodies piling up. On occasion, the band comes close to crossing the line between thrash metal and death metal, particularly on the track "Enter the Fray", which sounds like early Death. The vocalist delivers his lines in a gruff bark, which calls to mind the early works of the German thrash masters Kreator and Sodom.
This is an excellent album that calls to mind early German thrash metal classics. Yes, it is really nothing new and it is by no means a perfect album, but there is a reason that the early German thrash metal scene was so good and this album captures that. Entrench has a couple of other albums out there and I will have to check them out. I do not think the band is terribly representative of the Swedish thrash metal scene due to the heavy German influences, but it is still damn impressive.
Yes, this album is already several years old. I just recently picked it up though and that does not stop me from reviewing it now. Especially since Hellwitch is a band that more people should be aware of.
Hellwitch's debut album Syzygial Miscreancy is revered as an underground metal classic. Unfortunately, the band split up before they were able to release a worthy successor. For a while anyway. The band re-formed, sort of, a few years later, but it still took until 2009 before the follow-up to their debut was finally released. Only singer/guitarist Patrick Ranieri has remained with the band throughout its history, with a bit of a revolving door of other musicians. So it is probably fair to say that the band is his brainchild.
The sound of Hellwitch is rooted in the technical thrash that was emerging in the late 1980's/early 1990's with groups like Atheist, Heathen, Sadus, and the like. But Hellwitch is more extreme with more of a death metal leaning through the heavier riffing style and the rougher vocal style. Think a thrashier Death on Individual Thought Patterns, and you have a pretty good idea. But where Death started heading in that direction after releasing a few standard death metal releases, Hellwitch was always on that track. It seems almost backwards then that Hellwitch covers the Death classic "Infernal Death".
Hellwitch is damn fast, with blindingly fast riffs, pounding drums, and throbbing bass. The vocals are delivered in an aggressive sneer that Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth would be proud of. The band keeps things interesting by employing frequent time signature changes, tempo changes, and even the occasional out-of-left-field passage that sounds like an entirely different band. All of this results in one hell of a good listen. My personal favorite track on the album is "Epitome of Disgrace" which seems to be the best example of all of the technicality and brutality coming together for one perfect song. Everything Hellwitch was working towards throughout the album came together with perfect clarity here.
As I said before, Hellwitch should be a more well-known band. They remain legends in the Florida metal scene for good reason, but they are criminally overlooked elsewhere. It has already been ten years since this album was released without much new material from them. Hopefully something else drops soon.
