| |
|
|
1. Median
2. No Answers
3. Past And Present
4. The Fence
5. Act Of Jealousy
6. Elm Street
7. Time Has Come
8. Identified
9. Rise Of Baphomet
10. Terror Of Thoughts
During the shift in emphasis from thrash to death metal in the early nineties,
Baphomet were one of the better bands to incorporate elements from both genres
in their music. While the style of this German band later became more ordinary
death oriented, their debut No Answers features some great thrash metal
riffs that would put many other bands into shame. The title track, Elm
Street and Identified are just some examples of the evil but
impressive sound of this album. The guitar is very well done, with highly
memorable riffs and stylish solos. The vocals are not really your typical
death metal growls but rather hysterical, sarcastic, and plain nasty,
sometimes also unintentionally funny, but fit the songs pretty well. I must
say I really like some of the feel of this album - it's like a more extreme
variation of the traditional thrash metal sound but without losing too much
of its familiar base. Whether this was intentional or not, the result is quite
convincing and makes No Answers one of the best in its class.
|
| |
|
|
1. We Come To Fight
2. Nuclear Death
3. Knock On Your Door
4. Grave Of The Unknown
5. Possessed Preacher
Standing out as a curious exception in Battlefield's more power metal oriented
release history, the band's debut We Come To Fight is a decent but also
quite ordinary mini album of German speed/thrash metal. This vintage offering
is just slightly atypical because of the female vocals that are still strong
enough to meet your expectations about the intensity of this kind of music. It
plays rather nicely and all, but the overall impression is somewhat banal and
not terribly inspirational. Most songs flow almost exactly in the same tempo
with not much practical difference between them, and it is not until the last
track Possessed Preacher that there is finally even some brief
variation of the theme. We Come To Fight is certainly not too bad for
Battlefield's first release, but as it turns out there is no real reason for
big praise either.
|
| |
|
|
1. Unity
2. Vile Hypocrisy
3. D.O.S. (Desolation Of Sodom)
4. Tormented
5. Shadow Of Death
6. Blemished Sacrifices
7. Not Even One
8. Extraction From Mortality
9. Stress
One of the few thrash metal bands with strongly religious themes, Believer
delivered in quite a typical thrash metal fashion. Extraction From
Mortality does not exactly set itself apart from the usual standards of
the genre, and while the band's sound is fairly powerful it is difficult to
grasp finer details as most tracks are only semi-interesting at best. Although
the songs mostly flow without major headaches, the album on the whole sounds
somewhat forced and tedious and it probably wouldn't be a great injustice to
call it downright dull at times. Here and there you may notice a riff or two
worth a second listen but whole memorable songs are not so easily found, not
to forget about the one-dimensional shouting that seriously lacks depth.
Extraction From Mortality fits into the typical thrash metal formula
almost by the book, but the near complete lack of actually noteworthy music
does not really help its way any further.
|
| |
|
|
1. Sanity Obscure
2. Wisdom's Call
3. Nonpoint
4. Idols Of Ignorance
5. Stop The Madness
6. Dies Irae (Day Of Wrath)
7. Dust To Dust
8. Like A Song
Sanity Obscure was a proof of Believer's increased maturity after their
less impressive debut. The result is slightly more technical but also better
composed and more interesting. Unfortunately, the quality of the album as a
whole is a bit too uneven. From the title track to Idols Of Ignorance
you get a continuous stream of great raging thrashers with catchy riffs and
generally a more focused and refined direction than previously. Everything
fine and well up to this point, but the second half of the album loses almost
all of the momentum built up so far. Dies Irae (Day Of Wrath) is a
highly experimental operatic piece that you are guaranteed to either love or
hate, and Like A Song is something of a failed attempt at a U2 cover
song. That said, the band's growing progressive tendencies are still kept in
a good control for the most part, and the outcome is certainly worth hearing.
It's just that this album may still leave you slightly disappointed in the
end, despite the fact that the first half of it is near excellent.
|
| |
|
|
1. Renaissance By Death
2. The Invitation
3. Fallen Deceived
4. More Faith Than Me
5. Escaping The Altar
6. Assassins In The Midst
7. Mortal Flesh
8. Stroll Thru A Wicked Age
9. Prophets Of Baal
10. Plead The Blood
Betrayal's Renaissance By Death comes across as highly technical and
unorthodox speed/thrash metal with cross-genre influences of mixed quality,
comparable to Death Angel's more warped-out moments. Some gothic touches
especially in intros are nice, but on the other hand there are a few too many
throwaway tracks to go through. Chris Ackerman's bare, barking vocals may
initially sound a bit strange but actually they are one of the most consistent
elements on the whole album. Most people would probably do fine without giving
a second thought for this release if it weren't for one true gem in the crop;
Escaping The Altar is an excellent composition in its entirety,
combining frantic and totally hilarious thrash bursts with a great dramatic
middle part and an amusing moral story. Despite its length of nine minutes
this song never gets boring or tedious. Still, except for one absolute
highlight and a couple of other satisfactory tracks, Renaissance By
Death is quite a peculiar mismash of things and it might have been better
in a half of its current length, without all the unnecessary quirks and filler
material thrown in.
|
| |
|
|
1. Renouncement
2. The Usurper
3. Carnival Of Madness
4. Ichabod
5. Forest Of Horrors
6. Race Of Hypocrisy
7. As I Turned Away
8. Whispers Of Chaos
9. Strength Of The Innocent
10. Retaliatory Strike
11. Frantic
In retrospective The Passing is a lot more coherent release than
Betrayal's debut. The band sound more focused and intense than before, and
unlike the previous album there is a consistent style of songwriting audible
on every track. It does no harm that this album sports a better and heavier
production than Renaissance By Death that sounds rather weak in
comparison. While the finished product is not entirely of the most memorable
kind, it has a nice feel of uniform quality, and there are some quite fine
individual pieces like Renouncement and As I Turned Away on this
album. Also noteworthy are the surprisingly dark lyrics despite an obvious
religious tint in many of them. For a thrash metal album from the early
nineties, The Passing is quite a satisfying release - definitely it is
a lot less likely to leave you cringing your teeth in frustration in the same
way as Renaissance By Death might do.
|
| |
|
|
1. Fight For Your Land
2. The Real Me
3. Good Bye, Friend
4. The First Desillusion
5. Human Madness
6. 1879
7. Love And Pain
8. The Message
9. Critical Situation
10. Betrayed
Not necessarily a common example of this kind, Betrayed's 1879 Tales Of
War turned out to be a thematic album with a twist of its own. The lyrics
derive inspiration from the War of the Pacific in South America, with a
critical insight into war and politics. Despite not presenting any great
innovations over the standard thrash metal antics, the sound of this album is
quite fresh and energetic and the production is fully appropriate for the
music. The vocals sound somewhat careless in comparison to the band's
otherwise tight performance, but this is not entirely a bad thing as they
still add to the result in a peculiar way. With a consistent output and some
notable ambitions on the instrumental side, 1879 Tales Of War is a neat
little package that successfully avoids the most tenuous moments.
Note:
The cover layout and colors are different on the original tape and the later
CD release.
|
| |
|
|
1. Sex And Death
2. Guilty (Until Proven Innocent)
3. Just Say Yes
4. Beat The System
5. Profits Of Doom
6. Meet Your Maker
7. Harsh Realities
8. Save Us
9. Waiting For Death
10. Living Hell
Bitter End's style has been compared to Megadeth, but even though there are
some musical similarities between these bands, Megadeth was notably faster and
heavier at that time. In fact, Harsh Realities is neither particularly
fast nor heavy, instead the music is quite technical and diverse speed metal.
The band were evidently talented and even a bit original, but I don't find
their style too appealing. Despite the obvious effort and a fair amount of
complexity, most tracks do not really differ from each other and the album on
the whole sounds just bland. Just a bit heavier and thrashier approach might
have helped things, now Harsh Realities seems more like a clever
exercise on technicality than a convincing release.
|
| |
|
|
1. Immortal Aggression
2. State Of Decay
3. Make Love War
4. Corpses
5. Preacher Of Death
6. Trash
7. Another Day To Die
8. Kill The Priest
9. Animal
10. Lord Of The Darkness
11. I Am God
12. Evil Revenge
For those who value rawness and unrest over everything else in thrash metal,
Black Shepherd's Immortal Aggression must be a true gem. This Belgian
band provide a continuous stream of some of the most disorganized and frenzied
music that you can find - indeed, control and precision are not the words
here. Then again, you probably cannot call it downright sloppy either, it just
sounds as if the band did not exactly spend any great lengths of time on
rehearsals before putting out this release. The first couple of tracks can
appear such a mess that you don't even know where to start, although the band
actually tone it down a bit after that. Regardless, the vocals often sound so
amateurish you wouldn't believe, and tracks like I Am God are little
short of laughable. If a punk band of the late seventies had tried playing
thrash metal, it could have sounded something like this. Immortal
Aggression may at first sound rather surprising, then almost funny, but
eventually you might consider it just plain stupid.
|
| |
|
|
1. Meltdown
2. Pig Slaughter
3. Omen Of Fate
4. Into The Ovens
5. Knights Of Old Bridge
6. Eternal War
7. Blessed Death
8. Napalm
9. Kill Or Be Killed
Blessed Death surely were an early starter in the scene, but unlike some other
releases of the time their debut Kill Or Be Killed has not aged too
gracefully. Whether it is due to the absolutely muddy garage sound that would
be already enough to destroy almost any effort, or the totally antiquated
style, this album sounds almost like it was recorded in the late seventies
rather than in the mid-eighties. The music sounds primitive and slightly
disjointed even when taking the age of this release into account. The vocals
are mostly tolerable as long as they stay in the medium-to-low range, but
the melodramatic screams are something one could easily live without. While
this album is not completely without merits, it is difficult to ignore some of
its apparent weaknesses.
|
| |
|
|
1. Digital War
2. Pain Killer
3. 10,000 Days (Of Bloodshed)
4. Incoming Wounded
5. Pray For Death
6. Death In The Sky
7. Curse Of Weapons
8. Alien Impregnation
9. Destruction's Eve
While Blessed Death's debut release left something to be desired, the band
totally jumped into high gear with Destined For Extinction which is
more vicious and energetic by tenfold. The vocals are taken into absolute
extreme, which sort of works here as the material is some of the most furious
around, too, though some of the screams can still get on your nerves. Tracks
like Digital War, Incoming Wounded and Pray For Death
are prime examples of this extreme intensity which occasionally borders on
ridiculous but also succeeds in making a strong impact, only hindered by the
lacking production values (again). From today's perspective Destined For
Extinction is a definite improvement over Kill Or Be Killed and
actually contains some fine thrash metal.
|
| |
|
|
1. Fallen Walls
2. You Are Nothing
3. Shadows Of The Living
4. Hour Of Pain
5. Black Snow Sky
6. Resurrection Earth
7. Atomic Fear
8. Global Confusion
9. Terminal Rage
10. Born Dead
11. Out Of The Void
Better late than never, Blessed Death's third album is a perfect reminiscence
of the past. Released fifteen years after the actual recording took place,
Hour Of Pain can be described as a cross between Kill Or Be
Killed and Destined For Extinction, owing much of its old-fashioned
feel to the band's debut album while still keeping up with a sufficient pace
and heaviness. The grand opener Fallen Walls gives way to speed/thrash
metal in the most vintage vein - if it is even remotely possible to think of
thrash metal bearing a true seventies feel then Blessed Death's style must be
the most prominent canditate for that. With very natural sounding instruments
and Larry Portelli's versatile vocals, Hour Of Pain is a welcome trip
to the original sound of the genre and beyond. It doesn't get much closer to
the old days than this.
|
| |
|
|
1. The Sane Asylum
2. Blood Shower
3. Vengeance Is Mine
4. Death Noise
5. Kamakazi
6. Smash The Crystal
7. Vicious Visions
8. Metamorphosis Of A Monster
In the list of old cult bands, Blind Illusion appear to have been one of the
most respected. While the band had numerous line-up changes with many
well-known musicians over time, their only release The Sane Asylum
seems to be much sought after nowadays. Maybe this is more due to the special
characteristics of the band than the musical values, as I've never been too
impressed by this album. The tracks are highly technical and progressive but
the result is anything but focused. Granted, there's some respectable
musicianship involved but the approach is way too academic and experimental
for my taste. At their best Blind Illusion put out some decent speed metal,
at their worst they sound just too disjointed and weird. As a collector's item
The Sane Asylum may deserve its status, but calling it a good album
would be stretching it a bit.
|
| |
|
|
1. Menacing Thunder
2. Kill For Pleasure
3. Cannibal
4. Vampire
5. Blood Lust
6. Suicidal Mission
7. Venomous Death
8. The Evil
9. Darkside
10. R.I.P.
Together with At War, Blood Feast were probably one of the better known acts
on the New Renaissance Records label though maybe not among the best ones.
The band's debut Kill For Pleasure is quite a primitive, Slayerish
debut of one-dimensional thrash metal with a very thin and messy sound.
The music is constantly fast and sounds fairly nasty but it's not exactly
original or remarkable in that sense. A notable feature of the early Blood
Feast sound was Gary Markovitch's nasty vocals that add to the somewhat wicked
feel of the music. However, the production is really of mixed quality and can
make this album quite an unpleasant experience. Except for the constant high
speed, Kill For Pleasure is quite a forgettable effort on all counts.
|
| |
|
|
1. Face Fate
2. Blood Lust
3. R.I.P.
4. Vampire
With only the title track being a new song and the rest three taken from the
debut album, Face Fate is not exactly significant as an individual
release. The band re-recorded the old tracks for this mini album, though, and
with some slightly better production values and a tighter sound the result is
something of an improvement over Kill For Pleasure. For example, the
new version of Blood Lust benefits greatly from the more refined
execution which actually makes it one of Blood Feast's best songs ever. The
music on the whole is still not particularly noteworthy and the vocals are,
if possible, even more over-the-top than before, but at least Face Fate
manages to have some raw appeal of its own.
|
| |
|
|
1. The Last Remains
2. Hunted, Stalked & Slain
3. Chopping Block Blues
4. Hitler Painted Roses
5. Dropping Like Flies
6. Born Innocent
7. Turn To Dust
8. The Chemically Imbalanced
9. Spasmodic
10. Remnants
Compared to the early Blood Feast albums, Chopping Block Blues sounds
almost drastically different. The production is much heavier and gives the
music some totally new dimensions. More importantly, the songs are not such
simplistic splashes anymore but instead there's a new sense of conviction in
them. One of the bigger changes is the vocals that are now lower, effective
shouts in a style that I really prefer over the exaggerated nasty whining that
prevails on the band's earlier releases. The band sound clearly more mature
and convincing, yet without losing any of their speed or aggression. Despite
some more controlled presentation on Chopping Block Blues, Blood Feast
remained about as fast and extreme as ever.
|
| |
|
|
1. Happily Married
2. Son Of Sam
3. Live To Kill
4. Good Hearted Man
5. Treatment Of Death
6. Death By A Clothes Hanger
7. Belligerent Youth
8. Harrassment By Farm Animals
9. First To Die
10. Sike-O-Path
11. Testing My Doorknob
Although Bloodcum's Death By A Clothes Hanger is a seemingly standard
package of street-level thrash metal of the most compact kind, there is some
genuine value in it after all. The album has a fresh 'live' sound that fits
the songs very well without appearing downright sloppy - the impression is
definitely not the most refined around, but after a while you'll hardly mind
anymore. In other words, if Slayer had recorded their albums with a lesser
focus and a shoestring budget, the result might have sounded similar to this.
It is still a nice demonstration of pure high-speed frenzy, and tracks like
Son Of Sam and Live To Kill are pretty cool pieces no matter
what, short but vivid bursts of nasty spirit. Probably it's not exactly high
production values that this release is best remembered for, but then again,
the result is more than funny enough to justify its existence.
|
| |
|
|
1. Terminal Velocity
2. City Of The Forgotten
3. C.T.R.
4. Semper Fi / Guilty As Sin
In all fairness, Bloodlust's Terminal Velocity is very much like your
basic example of old speed/thrash metal, somewhat effective with its plain
energy and typical raw sound. Bloodlust's style is pretty banal though, even
clumsy at times, and except for a couple of short moments during the latter
half of this mini album you are not likely to remember too much about the
whole thing even after giving it several spins. Let it be said that really bad
this is not, just too ordinary and unsurprising. In the big scene of thrash
metal, albums like Terminal Velocity have more collector's value than
actual importance to the genre.
|
| |
|
|
1. God Hates It
2. Coming Again
3. Kids Of God
4. Nightmare
5. Descent
6. Choose
7. God's Love And Rage
8. Fire
9. Ultra
10. Defy
Bloody Cross were surely not the most notable performer of their kind, but as
usual the band's offering comes across at least fairly acceptable even though
it is left short of being truly satisfactory. A staple of German speed/thrash
metal with a certain rough edge and all but subtle religious lyrics, Coming
Again has basically everything that is deemed necessary in this class, but
something in the whole thing still leaves me pretty cold. Maybe it's just the
fact that this music goes only so far without actually reaching its mark.
Despite the band pushing a dedicated message, the album feels somewhat
pointless, not to mention goofy at times, and the songs don't really feature
anything that would help to distinguish them from all the other contenders'
efforts in a notably positive way. Bloody Cross just seem to have been one of
those groups who were bound to stay below the fine line between obscurity and
recognition.
|
| |
|
|
1. Scientific Lie
2. Mind Bitch
3. Death Patrol
4. Brain Manipulation
5. Silent Scream
6. Victim
7. Saddam Satan
8. War In The Nursery
9. Bang Your Head And Dive
Another little known band in the German scene, Brainless sound so typical for
their time that it's not too easy to find any really distinguishable features
from this music. Brainless World is rather consistent and focused for
a minor thrash metal album but most of the time also quite dull and
unimaginative. In a way this is just another example of decent production
values and adequate technical abilities while the actual content never really
catches on. Despite a few good moments on the lead guitar, the riffs here are
mostly quite unremarkable and the songs in general do not provide much
highlights to talk about. For completionists Brainless World probably
fits the bill as well as any other, but better not expect anything truly
noteworthy from this one.
|
| |
|
|
1. IX
2. Desert!
3. Ilona The Very Best
4. Misogynists
5. Heaven's Jail
6. Rob "Klister"
7. The Derby
8. No-Way
9. The Vision Never Fades
From their early days with a more Motorhead/Venom-like sound, Bulldozer had a
long presence in the Italian metal scene. On IX some of the old
influences are still audible, but as a whole this album is already a sufficient
package of some rough thrash metal. Today Bulldozer's sound is really more
nostalgic than exactly effective, but this just applies to many other old
releases as well. With some less serious overtones, many tracks are rather
cheerful, some even a bit silly, and they provide enough amusement even just
briefly. Maybe the best track on the whole album, Misogynists is a
great piece of thrash. It's true that in the long run this album may get
somewhat tiresome, which is just due to Bulldozer's mostly simple style. In
comparison to your average thrash metal album, IX may be something of
an acquired taste though it is not too difficult to learn to appreciate its
straightforward nature.
|
| |
|
|
1. Overture / Neurodeliri
2. Minkions
3. We Are ... Italian
4. Art Of Deception
5. Ilona Has Been Elected
6. Impotence
7. Mors Tua Vita Mea
8. Willful Death / You'll Be Recalled
Probably Bulldozer's most advanced release ever, Neurodeliri opens with
a dramatic organ intro that quickly evolves into the massive title track.
Although this album still features the band's familiar characteristics, the
result is considerably more focused and intensive than on IX. Despite
some more serious touches, the music on the whole is strangely uplifting with
all its crude charm. Highlights include the title track and Art Of
Deception, not to forget about Ilona Has Been Elected which appears
to be another amusing song about the band's favorite Ilona Staller. It is
still somewhat rough around the edges and I'm certain there are people who may
not be able to take Bulldozer's sound, however, all the pieces fit together
quite nicely here and I cannot help but really like some of this album. It
seems that with Neurodeliri Bulldozer finally refined their style to
the maximum effect.
|
| |
|
|
1. Kick Your Dirt
2. Leatherface
3. Prisoner Of War
4. Snow Death
5. Power Of Death
6. Beware The Axe
7. Desecration
8. Slaughterhouse Grizzle
9. Black Blasphemy
10. Graphic Violence
11. Pure Fuckin' Death
There is a strong feel of sticking to absolute core values on Burnt Offering's
debut album. The sound is harsh and unpolished, guitar solos are ascetic at
best, and the near total lack of technical finesse is self-evident. But you
know, in the end it works to some extent, some of the time. With a couple of
exceptions, most tracks last no longer than three minutes which leads to a
certain lack of continuity, not to mention kind of a rushed feel in the band's
performance every now and then. When Burnt Offering do stay within reasonable
speed limits, they prove themselves capable of handling heavy basic riffing in
a fairly convincing way, and the band's blunt and honest output does have its
good points no matter how few. There is some moderate appeal to be found here,
but it may require that you survive through the most chaotic rhythms featured
on this album to really appreciate it.
|
| |
|
|
1. Hell Is Yours
2. Thou Shall Not Kill
3. With All The Blood
4. Nailed
5. Walk Of The Dead
6. Black Metal
7. The One
8. Mother's Shallow Grave
9. Time To Close Your Eyes
10. Snow Deadlier
11. Burnt Offering
Released a little short of ten years after the band's debut album, Burnt
Offering's Walk Of The Dead carries the rough and unforgiving tone of
its predecessor almost unchanged. Most notably, the sound quality is better
than in the late eighties, which adds to the more controlled feel of the music
this time. Nearly one hour in length, this album is still a heavy and forceful
experience like no other. It is essentially a hammering thrash metal attack
with overwhelming primal power, and if anything, the vocalist deserves a medal
for his relentless efforts. At some point this kind of strict adherence to
bare-bones rules inevitably starts to get old, but you cannot deny that this
album makes a perfect example for those people who don't know what 'integrity'
means. While Walk Of The Dead is still hardly something that a casual
listener would be comfortable with, it is at least a bit more accessible than
the band's first release and may turn out as a pleasant small surprise to
those who care to really dig into it.
|
| |