1. Lack Of Motivation 2. C.D.S. 3. Punishment Area 4. Rampage / Nothing Uncommon 5. Have No Fear 6. What Would You Expect 7. Darkside 8. Shadow Knows 9. Ripoffs 10. Time Bomb 11. Instruments Of Death

Faith Or Fear were one of those thrash metal bands who never released more than one album during their original activity in the late eighties. Punishment Area is a decent effort with actually a surprisingly more versatile sound than what some of the other lesser bands put out at the time. There's even some genuine creativity put into the songs although the music on the whole is not too memorable except for some small snippets. Tim Blackman's vocals are a bit on the emotionless side, but they are quite suitable for the music anyway. Punishment Area is not the most generic thrash metal album around but certainly not one of the most significant releases either.

1. Premier Parish 2. Ice 3. Spectacle Of Fear 4. Faith Fails 5. Injection - Overdose 6. At Night 7. Dental Surgery 8. Hangover 9. Another One 10. Visions Of Terror

Fallen Angel played some interesting speed/thrash metal on their only full-length release. Well produced and featuring a lot of memorable hooks in songs, Faith Fails is a stylish and intense demonstration of this band's music. Although the vocals sound a bit immature at first, this album is quite a professional piece of work, and the only thing that really prevents it from rising above the average is a certain superficial feel that can be sensed at times. Other than that, these tracks have stood against time pretty well and make it easier to give the album a spin every now and then. The guitars in particular have some fine moments with a few truly intriguing riffs. Though some parts of Faith Fails can appear a bit banal, this album is a nice example of old thrash metal done with style.

1. Rise From Ashes 2. Cerebral Infection 3. Looking Over The Walls Of Despair 4. Slaves In Words 5. The Essence Of Violence 6. Cries Of The Dying 7. Silent City 8. Massacred By Madness

If a vicious attitude was the only thing that matters then Fallen Angels would be a winner. Rise From Ashes features a heavy dose of hardened thrash metal with no soft moments or signs of weakness anywhere in sight. The band sound very determined, the vocals are appropriately rough barks, and in general the whole thing has a credible harsh edge. But while variation is not totally unheard of, most songs tend to sound quite similar to each other more often than not, which adds to the occasional feel of boredom. In some ways the band's grim approach resembles Crucified Mortals but does not quite have the same kind of impact. Rise From Ashes is by no means weak, the album is certainly better than many more restrained offerings nowadays. It's just that you may have to be careful and listen to it in short portions only, in order to avoid growing tired of it too quickly.

1. Chosen Fate 2. Psychotic Mind 3. Don't Criticize 4. Final Call 5. Backstabber 6. E.R.C. 7. Not Sure 8. Kill Rip Destroy

Another long lost minor thrash metal band of the eighties, Fantom Warior (sic) never had much of a chance to reach the ears of a casual listener. This is a slight pity as Fantasy Or Reality is nowhere near the worst of its kind, in fact this album provides a pleasant surprise with its powerful content. There are some fresh ideas, even hints of originality in this music, and the riffs are mostly very adequate. Just occasionally the band's output sounds almost rushed, as several tracks are quite short although they get their point through. Not holding back any speed, fine thrashers like Psychotic Mind, Backstabber, and especially the wondefully hard-hitting Final Call ensure that this is one of the more memorable albums from the old underground scene. Whoever designed the cover art certainly deserves to get slapped around a bit, though.

1. Demon's Massacre 2. Assassin 3. Doctrine Sickness 4. Hatebreed 5. Unholy Cross 6. Violent Sacrifice 7. Funeral Lust 8. Carrasco do Metal 9. No Remorse To Kill 10. Sacrifice

As time goes by, it must be getting increasingly difficult to stand out of the crowd when it appears that everything has been said and done in the field of thrash metal. Farscape's initial approach to the problem is vastly conventional and therefore does not feature any outstanding qualities - Demon's Massacre can be considered quite a stereotypical representative of the genre in almost every way. In this comparison, even the band's fairly energetic performance appears just typical at best. As most of these tracks effectively manage to escape all memory, it is not only on occasion that Farscape end up sounding seriously derivative. For a debut release, Demon's Massacre is not without value, but somehow even the Sacrifice cover song at the end turns out to be more interesting than all the previous tracks together.

1. Under The Loudness 2. Thrash Until You Drop 3. Killers On The Loose 4. Captors Of Hate 5. Celebrate My Death 6. Bizarre Sex Machine 7. Wild Rocker 8. Mutilation / Thermonuclear Devastation

Farscape's Killers On The Loose is slightly more diverse than the band's debut, but not necessarily for the better. Despite its title, Thrash Until You Drop is quite an easy-going piece of speed metal, in this company only comparable to light jogging at most, and Wild Rocker is literally a sleazy rock song. While the rest more closely follows the usual standards, every now and then there are moments when this album manages to sound even more lackluster than Demon's Massacre. Whether it is a matter of the band trying just too much or not nearly enough, the outcome does not sound authentic enough to give a highly credible impression. It is more like thrash metal just for the sake of it, and there is only so much that you can get out of that kind of thing. In this case it seems that Farscape exploited the possibilities, all few of them, already with their first release.

1. Torture Inception 2. Kill For Pleasure 3. Sense Of Ignorance 4. Drenched In Blood 5. Lust And Desire 6. Agony 7. Evil Force 8. Feel The Hatred 9. Eternal Pain

Fastkill must be the result that you get when the characteristics of Vio-lence and Holy Moses from the late eighties are added together, then multiplied together and finally added together again. Infernal Thrashing Holocaust effectively combines the riff-o-rama of Eternal Nightmare with the crazy drive of Finished With The Dogs, and the outcome feels like someone put a gun to your head and forgot to count to three. On top of it all there is a little dog yelping relentlessly, or actually it is the band's vocalist but you couldn't tell the difference anyway, even less decipher the hysterical vocabulary without a lyrics sheet. As far as sheer madness goes, Infernal Thrashing Holocaust is simply without comparison on this side of the new millennium and possibly the funniest thing in thrash metal since the original days of Holy Moses and Finished With The Dogs. Humor-impaired, conservative, and easily offended individuals are best advised to keep a mile away from this album like it was a plague.

1. Nuclear Devastation 2. Bloodbath 3. Die In Pain 4. Kill And Possess 5. Annihilation Betrayer 6. Hate, Destruction, Kill 7. Human Flesh 8. Sickness 9. Hunted Victim 10. S.D.T.D.

At the first thought it would seem impossible to make a decent follow-up to the large-scale nuclear blast that was called Infernal Thrashing Holocaust, but obviously that didn't stop Fastkill. The first moments of Nuclear Thrashing Attack are highly deceiving, as the surprisingly mid-tempo opening track is essentially just a warm-up of engines. Immediately after that, the usual chaos ensues as the band speed up to their customary level and beyond. Although one can at times sense hints of a tad more refined approach than previously, there is no doubt that this album is practically no less intense to average ears than Fastkill's debut. The only aspect where Nuclear Thrashing Attack may be slightly left behind its predecessor is that at this point the whole unruly behavior can be already expected, therefore it does not appear novel anymore. That aside, there is still a perfectly good reason why this band is called Fastkill and not Slowtorture.

1. Follow Your Nightmare 2. Under My Sadistic Reign 3. You Deal In Pain 4. The Last Rites 5. Point Of No Return 6. The Ultimate Aggression 7. Nocturnal Anguish 8. Breeder Of Insanity 9. Hate Remains 10. Bonded By Blood

While the roots of Fatal Embrace reach back to the early nineties, the band's first full-length album saw the light of day relatively late. But their long history shows in a positive way, as The Ultimate Aggression is in many ways more mature and complete than an average debut release. The band's sound is very heavy and pounding in a certain nice old-fashioned way, simply quite forceful even in comparison to countless other runners in the game. In particular, the vocalist deserves an honorary mention for his extremely powerful yet most of the time fully intelligible delivery, a total opposite of weak and whiny or just overly harsh styles. If such crushing tracks like The Last Rites and Breeder Of Insanity leave you cold, it's hardly the band's fault. The last track is indeed an Exodus cover and well-played as such, but the main impression of this album comes from the original material.

1. Warmaster's Revenge 2. 666 (Massacre In Paradise) 3. Legions Of Armageddon 4. Mentally Perversion 5. Returned To Hell 6. Trapped In A Violent Brain 7. Spellbound By The Devil 8. Depraved To Black 9. Wargods Of Thrash

Following the solid approach to thrash metal established on The Ultimate Aggression, Legions Of Armageddon is another powerful release from Fatal Embrace. It may not appear quite as novel as their first album since the content is practically the same with few actual differences, but the band's strong sound remains intact. The most intense tracks like 666 (Massacre In Paradise) and Trapped In A Violent Brain definitely hit the mark, but it seems that on the whole The Ultimate Aggression had some more distinctive songs. Now it almost feels like a certain numbness creeps in before the end of this album. The foundation is still robust, although this time the outcome could have utilized some more interesting developments as well.

1. Born In Blasphemy 2. Assassination 3. Don't Sacrifice My Soul 4. Storming In My Mind 5. Evil Dead 6. Beyond The Bridge Of Death 7. Damned Will Be Thy Name 8. And The Evil Walks Your Way 9. In Black Years Of Pain 10. Dark Pounding Steel

The title of Dark Pounding Steel is pretty accurate for the music contained within. The overall sound is essentially very similar to the band's earlier works, although it appears that the result has still no match for the best hooks found on The Ultimate Aggression. Maybe the biggest issue with this recording is that it simply does not raise any kind of response that wouldn't have been caused by the previous releases already. Except for the Death cover song Evil Dead, most individual tracks are not that memorable, and the easiest thing to remember about this album is indeed its consistent pounding sound. Dark Pounding Steel is still not a bad effort, but if you are just getting into Fatal Embrace then it's better to start with their earlier albums rather than this.

1. The Last Prayer 2. Wake The Dead 3. Nothing To Regret 4. Haunting Metal 5. Another Rotten Life 6. Empires Of Inhumanity 7. Into Your Face 8. Rapture For Disaster 9. The Prophecy 10. Way To Immortality 11. Ravenous 12. Killers

The debut album of Fatal Embrace was a fairly memorable release in its own right, but it seems that the band's output on subsequent recordings has never quite reached the same level. The Empires Of Inhumanity continues in a similar vein, featuring competent yet eventually quite forgettable thrash metal. There are no distinctive characteristics to speak of, even fewer actual highlights among these tracks, and in the end the album just plays effortlessly in the background until you notice it's actually over. And while the cover version of Iron Maiden's Killers provides some deviation from the norm, musically the choice seems puzzling and unnecessary. On the surface The Empires Of Inhumanity may be another fair effort from this band, but as such it is unlikely to raise any great interest among other than the most dedicated fans.

1. Sometimes They Come Back... 2. To Mosh 3. Fury 58 4. Die Toten Core 5. Moshoholics Anonymous 6. Paraskevidekatriaphobia 7. Agent Amy Steel 8. F.K.U. Says NO 9. C.H.U.D. 10. C.H.U.D. Pt. 2 11. Maniac Cop 12. Zombie Attack 13. Grave Robbing Mania 14. Motel Hell 15. Marine Marauders 16. Four Fingers Fatal To The Flesh 17. Disciples Of The Mosh

Freddy Krueger's Underwear sounds like a name that would be more fitting for some crazy Australian punk band instead of a Swedish thrash metal act. But F.K.U. is really of the latter type, a group with an obvious non-serious approach to their work. That aside, Sometimes They Come Back... To Mosh sounds surprisingly conventional as far as the music itself is considered. If the humorous lyrics were ignored, this album would represent almost typical B grade thrash metal that would have perfectly blended in the scene during the early nineties. The lyrical content is focused on moshing and cheap references to horror movies, most of which is mildly amusing but also quite forgettable in the long run. Among the best parts are a couple of abrupt blatant jokes like Paraskevidekatriaphobia and occasional, kind of novel tribute songs like Agent Amy Steel. It is far from the hilarious over-the-top style that their countrymen Cranium used to practice, but you could say that in this day and age there's some room for bands like F.K.U. as well.

1. Welcome To Your Nightmare 2. Where Moshers Dwell 3. Twitch Of The Thrash Nerve 4. Faster Than The Shark 5. The Pit And The Poser 6. Dead Coroner 7. Almost Metal 8. Hate Your Guts (Love Your Brain) 9. Bedilia - Back For Cake 10. Worms 11. Sleepwalker Texas Ranger 12. He Knows The Drill 13. Six Feet Underwear 14. Phantom Killer Attack 15. Blairsville Blues 16. Horror Metal Moshing Machine 17. Highway To Horror

Where Moshers Dwell is a clear improvement over the previous works of F.K.U. in many ways. While this album may still be musically on the typical side of things, the execution is more intense and focused which does pay off to some extent. The sound is tighter and more consistent, and the most frantic tracks like Faster Than The Shark are simply quite entertaining scorchers. Maybe it can also provide some brief amusement to see if you can identify all the movies and TV shows that the lyrics continue to derive their inspiration from. It is still not the greatest piece of thrash metal, and the long-term value of F.K.U. and their music may be questionable, but the amount of effort behind Where Moshers Dwell is notable enough so that the presentation does not appear like a complete one trick pony.

1. Murder 2. Legend 3. Beloved Dead 4. Moorgle 5. Werewolf On The Hunt 6. Cocksuckin' Slave 7. Evil 8. Infidel

Flames surely were not a common example of a Greek speed/thrash metal band in the eighties. In addition to having possibly the most uncute cover in these circles ever, Merciless Slaughter functions as something of a bridge between the band's oldest, more traditional material, and later pure thrash metal. Murder opens the album already in that intense thrashy vein that would be in full force on the next release, and a couple of other tracks follow the same high-speed approach. Then again, there is still a fair share of less frantic performances as well, and in comparison to later Flames recordings this one is easily the most antiquated of the bunch. Nothing wrong with that, though, and if you can put up with some old-fashioned antics then Merciless Slaughter should be capable of providing a few entertaining moments, too.

1. Eastern Front 2. Summon The Dead 3. Kill For Mummy 4. Alcoholic & Beer 5. Legend II (The Demon's Mind) 6. Legions Of Death 7. Avenger 8. Slaughterhouse 9. Ballad Of A Skinbeating Maniac

Making a clear difference from the earlier works of Flames, the style of Summon The Dead is quite standard but still interesting heavy thrash metal - sometimes surprisingly similar to typical German bands of the time but with a twist of its own, while the vocal department reminds me of Exorcist. The music is very energetic, guaranteed to create some positive vibes based on its fresh sound alone. Although this album suffers from a mediocre production which makes it sound rather messy and rough, the songs more than compensate for this. Avenger in particular must be one of the coolest thrashers around. Even if their style was nothing that hadn't been heard before, Flames managed to add a good dose of fresh appeal to their sound. If you can look past the shortcomings in the production department, this album is likely to turn out quite enjoyable.

1. Revenge 2. Deathra 3. Agnostic Front 4. Destiny Of Hate 5. Red Terror 6. Silo 7. Acid Rain 8. Drinking All Night

Last Prophecy follows closely in the vein of Summon The Dead, with little difference between these albums. The songs may lack a little bit of the unchained feel of the previous release, but on the other hand the result appears more consistent in comparison. This time there are no such absolute killer tracks as Avenger (Agnostic Front may be the closest contender) but no really bad ones either, and some of the heaviest riffs here more than fit the bill. Considering the sound quality, this album is slightly better and sounds even a bit heavier than its predecessor although the production is still far from perfect. If Summon The Dead caught your attention then Last Prophecy is a safe companion for that one, with no radical surprises.

1. Savage Brains 2. Oath Immortal 3. Throne Of Pain 4. Never Ending Suicide 5. Pollution Attack 6. Shadows 7. Denied 8. Human Inhumanity 9. Reborn 10. Frei Statt Bayern 11. Revenge (bonus) 12. Red Terror (bonus)

Continuing their efforts to the nineties, Flames made an album that did not drift too far away from their legacy sound while it did develop the band's style by a fair notch. Although the general feel of In Agony Rise is somewhat more restricted and not quite as energetic as on Summon The Dead and Last Prophecy, there are some cool pieces to be found here as well (Savage Brains and Reborn immediately come to mind). The downside is that despite a couple of standout tracks this album on the whole is a bit too unsurprising and predictable to really make a distinctive impression, therefore the result does not quite match the previous releases. It's a good thing to see the band sticking to the traditional approach, though, and in that sense In Agony Rise is still a fair addition to anyone's collection.

1. Black Rose Of Hades 2. Bitch 3. Holocaust 4. Nagasaki -45 5. Blind Acceptance 6. World Of Lies 7. Touch Of Death 8. Raped To The Core 9. Punisher 10. Skullfuck 11. Slave

On the surface, Flegma's Blind Acceptance appears like a strong offering at first. The opening track Black Rose Of Hades actually makes sort of a novel impression with its steady tempo - if Motorhead had played thrash metal in the beginning, it could have sounded something like this. But it doesn't take too long before you realize that almost all tracks run at the same pace and most of them even sound nearly identical from start to finish. It is not really bad but even in the short run the music can get quite monotonous if you listen to more than one track a day. This is a slight pity as Flegma certainly had some style, and their output on this album is definitely as consistent as it gets. With no variation whatsoever the result just doesn't get any high points in terms of long-lasting appeal.

1. Hammerhead 2. Iron Tears 3. Desecrator 4. Fade To Black 5. Doomsday For The Deceiver 6. Metalshock 7. She Took An Axe 8. U.L.S.W. 9. Der Fuhrer 10. Flotzilla (bonus)

The classic debut of Flotsam And Jetsam is a mixture of immense speed and some weird humor in lyrics. Although most of the songs do not have their original appeal anymore, sometimes the sheer speed still works fine on tracks like Desecrator. The band's vocalist Eric A.K. had an extremely high-pitched voice that is very distinctive but may not be the most appropriate for this kind of music (some of his squeals are particularly annoying). On this album the result is passable, though, as the production is not too heavy either. Without a doubt, the highlights of the album are the title track and its direct follow-up Metalshock, both of them epic songs with only the weird "metal" lyrics as bad points (I sure hope they were meant to be humorous in the first place). Of course, Flotsam And Jetsam may be best known for the fact that Jason Newstedt played on this particular album, but Doomsday For The Deceiver is still an interesting piece of old thrash metal and probably one of the more remarkable releases this band ever made.

1. No Place For Disgrace 2. Dreams Of Death 3. N.E. Terror 4. Escape From Within 5. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting 6. Hard On You 7. I Live You Die 8. Misguided Fortune 9. P.A.A.B. 10. The Jones

The second album of Flotsam And Jetsam had a lot more serious tone than their debut. Except for the stupid Elton John cover Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting, No Place For Disgrace has almost a melancholic feel while it remains reasonably fast and thrashy. The vocals sound now more stylish and convincing, and with a bit better production this album could have scored even higher. Now the very thin, buzzing guitar sound is just too irritating at times and seriously lessens the impact of this release. Nevertheless, No Place For Disgrace features some of this band's best work, including Escape From Within and I Live You Die. With a little more effort on the production side this could have been a great album, now it's just pretty good.

1. The Master Sleeps 2. Burned Device 3. Deviation 4. October Thorns 5. No More Fun 6. Suffer The Masses 7. 6, Six, VI 8. Greed 9. E.M.T.E.K. 10. Scars 11. K.A.B.

Flotsam's move to a major label made their style change to a more polished and less aggressive direction. While When The Storm Comes Down is reasonably heavy and there are still some thrashy moments here and there, a certain slowdown of music is evident. The songs are generally more thoughtful and mature than before, which also makes the album sound a bit dull and soft. Certainly the outcome is a professional effort, but it is also rather unexciting and uninspiring. At least on the previous two releases Flotsam had a great deal of energy and some fresh ideas. When The Storm Comes Down is a piece of polished speed metal that doesn't exactly appear too original or interesting anymore.

1. Chalice Of Blood 2. Off The Edge 3. Through Eyes Of Glass 4. Forbidden Evil 5. March Into Fire 6. Feel No Pain 7. As Good As Dead 8. Follow Me

Forbidden were one of the more interesting bands coming from the US west coast in the late eighties. Forbidden Evil is a convincing debut release, featuring some inspired guitar work and a lot of memorable songs. Russ Anderson's vocals are very powerful and distinctive, and the music is generally more original and stronger than what many other bands of the era had to offer. There's some roughness in the sound but the overall production is sufficiently heavy and clear. Although the first half of the album from the furious Chalice Of Blood to the striking title track appears more impressive than the second and the band sound a bit immature at times, on the whole Forbidden Evil contains some of the better thrash metal of the time.

1. Parting Of The Ways 2. Infinite 3. Out Of Body (Out Of Mind) 4. Step By Step 5. Twisted Into Form 6. R.I.P. 7. Spiral Depression 8. Tossed Away 9. One Foot In Hell

Forbidden's second release took a step into a lot heavier and more controlled direction. The general tone of Twisted Into Form is dark and classy and the music is less flashy than on Forbidden Evil. Considering vocals and guitars, this more focused approach is only good as the music now involves more conviction and credibility. On the other hand, a couple of tracks sound a bit too forced (Step By Step in particular is such example) although there's a bigger number of vivid, crushing tracks as well. Twisted Into Form shows some essential development in Forbidden's sound, though, and the resulting album is very impressive and directly comparable to Forbidden Evil in quality.

1. Distortion 2. Hypnotized By The Rhythm 3. Rape 4. No Reason 5. Feed The Hand 6. Wake Up! 7. Minds "I" 8. All That Is 9. Undertaker 10. 21st Century Schizoid Man

After some problematic years in the music industry, Forbidden finally returned with their third album. Distortion carries the customary Forbidden sound, now with some additional diversity incorporated in the music that remains heavy though not quite as fast as before. The band still had their roots in thrash metal, and in the end Distortion is not too radically different from Twisted Into Form. The quality varies a bit too much, though, as some tracks are just excellent whereas others sound forced and less impressive. The first few songs in particular are stronger than the rest of the album (the overlong King Crimson cover 21st Century Schizoid Man with its distorted vocals is plain horrible). Distortion is a fair release on its own but not quite on par with the first two Forbidden albums.

Note: This album has been released with at least three different covers depending on the record label. The original (and most politically incorrect) cover was drawn by Kent Mathieu who created the cover art also for the first two Forbidden albums.

1. Bludgeon 2. Kaleidoscope Of Pain 3. A Look Through Glass 4. Anaconda 5. Octoclops 6. Unrest They Find 7. Morgulon 8. Foreign Policy

It can be surprisingly tiresome to listen to some thrash metal bands who didn't start until the very late eighties or early nineties. Forced Entry's debut album Uncertain Future is just one example of a release that doesn't exactly get high points for its content as far as the originality of music is considered. The band do sound very heavy but that's about the only good thing. On the downside, the whole album sounds very strained, especially considering the vocals, and despite the obvious effort put into it the tracks are often plodding, tedious pieces of work. Some fresh energy might have helped this one a lot, now the result is rather dull and pointless. Probably it shouldn't be for the musical values to include Uncertain Future in your collection.

1. Bone Crackin' Fever 2. Thunderhead 3. Macrocosm, Microcosm 4. Never A Know, But The No 5. We're Dicks 6. Apathy 7. The Unextinguishable 8. As Of Yesterday 9. When One Becomes Two 10. How We Spent Our Summer Vacation

Forced Entry's second release showed some progress in the band's style, and thanks to the more dynamic production As Above, So Below does not appear as dry as the debut release. For a while this album even manages to sound really promising as Bone Crackin' Fever is a total steamroller for a song. Unfortunately, the initial highly favorable impression doesn't last through the whole album. Although these tracks are slightly more diverse and appealing than those on Uncertain Future and there's a good deal of complexity in the music, the songwriting is not quite distinctive enough to make this album rise above the average. At least As Above, So Below is somewhat more convincing than the band's debut and occasionally it sounds even quite fine.

1. No Return 2. Maniac 3. The Last Flight 4. Awaiting Your Death 5. Blood In The Night 6. Another Sacrifice 7. Sueno Maldito 8. Born To Die 9. Black Magic

This band's sole existence must have caused hilarious moments in record stores in the past: "Hello, what are you looking for?" "Fuck Off." Seriously though, there's more to it than just the amusing name. Another Sacrifice was the debut album of this Spanish group and not such a bad one at all. The production is surprisingly adequate, and the vocals have an original nasty tone in them, which is probably the most distinctive feature of this record. It's not exactly a showcase of memorable riffs, quite the opposite, and this is one of those albums where you'd be hard-pressed to remember individual songs from (except for the faithfully rendered version of Slayer's Black Magic, of course). The general good sound and attitude of the band eventually leads to something of a positive impression, though. Not really a highlight of the genre but worth a listen if easily available, that's what this album is mostly about.

1. Embrion 2. Witch (Hell Below The Belly) 3. Blasphemy 4. Midnight Confession 5. Whom You Never To Say His Name 6. Don't You Have Fear 7. Hell On Earth 8. Inquisition 9. In Your Grave 10. Cyclone

Hell On Earth was quite a familiar-sounding follow-up to Another Sacrifice. While this album features a different vocalist, there are no great stylistic differences although the new singer's strong accent occasionally adds some unintentional humor to the mix. Although the mood has essentially remained unchanged, some tracks are slightly more memorable than those on the previous release, mostly due to their good steady pace. Still, it would be stretching it a bit to call any of these riffs downright catchy. It seems as if the band's sound had matured by a small but audible measure, which probably shows best in the instrumental Cyclone - even though the average quality of this track does not quite justify its length of nearly ten minutes. Apart from that, there are no real surprises to be found on Hell On Earth, which just proves that the band had a consistent style already in the beginning.

1. Ernest Goes To Hell 2. Thrash Is Back 3. Striking Death 4. Spread The Fire!!! 5. Betrayal 6. Massive Execution 7. Metal Forever 8. Dreams Of Terror 9. Command Of The Beast 10. Chaotic Punishment (bonus) 11. Put To Death (bonus)

The first release of Fueled By Fire seems to have drawn influences from several directions at once, and the output is not the most coherent or memorable. Spread The Fire sounds like a recollection of numerous long forgotten thrash metal albums from the late eighties, while a couple of less frantic moments with galloping guitars bring even Iron Maiden to mind. At times this non-refined approach kind of works for the band's benefit, as there is some refreshing quality in the way that riffs and guitar solos are almost casually thrown around. The "metal" lyrics of this album are terribly dumb, but as bad as it may sound, there are some other contemporary bands that actually perform even worse in this aspect. On a grand scale of things Spread The Fire can appear completely unremarkable, and still it sort of manages to beat expectations in the sense that this is far from the real bottom of the crop.

1. After The Battle 2. In God We Trust 3. Your Time Has Come 4. The Dark 5. Reign Of Death 6. Misery 7. In Silence 8. Midnight Hour 9. Molded From Sin 10. Eternal Promises 11. State Of Insanity 12. Sign Of Baphomet 13. The Abyss

If it weren't for Slayer and Infernal Majesty in their early days, Funeral Nation's sound could have been rather novel. Now the feel of After The Battle should be quite familiar to almost everyone, complete with the general satanic theme. However, the result seems to lack some of the appeal found in older recordings. Most of the time this album tends to repeat itself, and many tracks appear somewhat uninteresting, even dull in the long run. Often the band's playing sounds just a bit too tense and forced. Although the output has a certain level of grim quality, it could have been beneficial to have some more dynamic and unconstrained sound. After The Battle has its moments, but on the whole this thing could have used some improvement.

1. Decompression State 2. Always From Inside 3. The Last Stop Is Mortuary 4. Lives In Incubator 5. Every Indetermination Is Complete 6. Homo Superior 7. Which Theory 8. Way Of Brutality

It rarely happens that a recording is kept waiting to be released as long as Theory Of Diversity. As it finally turns out, Furious Barking's full-length album has some features that prevent it from becoming just another faceless release. With a focus on thrash metal with strong technical leanings, the band's sound as a whole is not of the most stereotypical kind. A notably worthy detail is the vocals that have been stripped of all gimmicks and still appear almost overwhelming in power, despite their slightly hollow sound. Musically this album can be a bit challenging as the riffs are far from catchy, also the songs sometimes only progress in a fairly plodding manner. The way this band avoided taking the easy way out is respectable, though, making Theory Of Diversity a practical opposite of the most disposable kind of thrash metal these days.