1. The Comediants 2. Disillusions 3. March To Death 4. Thoughts 5. The Last Child 6. Try Again 7. In The Beginning 8. Out Of This World 9. Behind The Wall

Ramp's Thoughts serves as a reminder of the low attention span of bands who tend to ride the wave of whatever is currently considered hot in the scene. While the band's debut release is almost as competent an example of thrash metal as anything out there, only a couple of years later and they had already jumped on the bandwagon of groove metal. But if you don't mind their career past this album, Thoughts is indeed not that bad. Sufficient speed, semi-catchy riffs, it's all there. The vocals have something of a nasty tone in them which adds some originality that this recording would otherwise lack. Also the production is meaty enough so that you don't need to give a second thought to non-musical values when listening to this one. Far from original but still worth another look if easily available, that's the main promise of Ramp's first offering.

1. Terrortophobia (Fear Of Giving Birth To A Monster) 2. Acid Storm 3. Divine Oracle 4. Producer's Edge 5. Sinister At Sunrise 6. Autopsy 7. Satrap 8. Transgression To Sin Under The Invisible Empire

Describing Rampage as an obscure technical speed/thrash metal act from Australia might not seem too appreciative, but that's what the facts come down to. Fortunately, the band's sole known release Veil Of Mourn is a bit more than just an exercise on the most stereotypical antics of the genre. While the songs are hindered by a hollow sound quality, there is some semi-intriguing songwriting going on here. It is obvious that Rampage were out to make some impact with this album, and as far as the music goes it is not totally without merits. With some more imagination than you could expect from an unknown band, the result does not fully shine but it is enough to give you a good reason to really look into it. Sometimes the band lose their focus and admittedly the quality is varied, but in the end Veil Of Mourn comes out as a satisfying release after all.

1. Devilish Aggressor 2. Massive Destruction Attack 3. Death In Vain 4. The Executioner 5. The Eyes Of Hate 6. The Hellbeast 7. Metal, Muerte, Destruccion 8. Diabolic Genocides 9. Dream Of Death

As far as stupid names go, Raped God 666 easily takes the cake as one of the worst offenders. When the artwork of The Executioner follows the same kind of politically incorrect approach, it is even more surprising that instead of some third-rate goat metal abomination recorded in someone's bathroom, this album actually contains fully traditional thrash metal and does not sound bad at all. In fact, this may be one of the most vigorous releases in recent times, with an appropriate slight unpolished edge on the production side. It is hard to avoid the word "energetic" when describing these songs, as the band essentially managed to create a whole album of credible non-stop thrashing that does not sound too repetitive. It also adds a nice touch that the vocal tone resembles the characteristic style of Steve Souza during his early Exodus days. In some ways the soothing old school sound of The Executioner feels practically timeless, and that is surely a sign of a good album.

1. Extreme Corruption 2. Brutalistic Terror 3. Welcome Terrible 4. H.O.G. 5. No Difference 6. Sergeant B. 7. Psycho Trilogy 8. Dying Without Sense 9. Covetous Souls 10. ? (bonus)

Except for maybe the fact that the band were hailing from Austria, Ravenous were not exactly too different from the majority of thrash metal bands in Europe. Book Of Covetous Souls has more than a decent production, with a very heavy and dynamic sound, but the music is not quite as strong as one could wish for. Although Extreme Corruption and Brutalistic Terror are some fine tracks, this album on the whole is a bit on the dull side and not too memorable. The band's sound is quite good with very heavy vocals, and the songwriting is not too bad though the lack of originality makes most tracks appear less distinctive. While it has no critical faults in any fields, Book Of Covetous Souls is simply missing some characteristics that would be necessary to make it really stand out.

1. Take This Torch 2. Fast & Loud 3. City Of Damnation 4. Escape The Fire 5. March Of Death 6. Distant Thunder 7. Hot Metal 8. Gatecrasher 9. Deathrace 10. Time Bomb 11. The End

One of the first bands in the Canadian thrash metal scene, Razor always remained faithful to the original thrash spirit. However, some of their early recordings were just a bit too primitive for their own good, and that's the case with the band's debut, too. Executioner's Song features mostly simple and easy-going, rather Motorhead-ish thrash metal with some rocking touches and a light-hearted "metal" attitude. In comparison to most other albums that were released even just a couple of years later, the result sounds awfully dated. Not only that, but in their early days Razor were an example of the most banal metal cliches both in music and appearance. Except for the short and foreboding The End, none of these tracks really does that much for me these days. This is by no means to play down the band's importance in the early scene, but considering their whole career Executioner's Song is nowhere near what I would call Razor's best work.

1. Nowhere Fast 2. Cross Me Fool 3. Legacy Of Doom 4. Evil Invaders 5. Iron Hammer 6. Instant Death 7. Cut Throat 8. Speed Merchants 9. Tortured Skull 10. Thrashdance

I must admit I really don't care too much about Razor's earliest efforts due to their primitive style and production and the band's overdone image, although they sure have their fans as well. A follow-up to the band's debut, Evil Invaders may be considered one of Razor's best releases by the die-hard fans, but to me it appears a bit too dumb and rough around the edges. The songs are admittedly very energetic and generally faster than on Executioner's Song, which is a good thing, but it's no use to try to find any long lasting appeal in them. Actually this album has a very Motorhead-ish feel with its rather simple, repetitive song structures and rough sound. While Evil Invaders has a few good moments, Razor certainly made better albums than this.

1. Tear Me To Pieces 2. Night Attack 3. Grindstone 4. Cage The Ragers 5. Malicious Intent 6. Rebel Onslaught 7. A.O.D. 8. Challenge The Eagle 9. Stand Before Kings 10. High Speed Metal 11. K.M.A. 12. Mosh

Malicious Intent is just another example of Razor's early style of undeveloped thrash metal. This album is not too much different from its predecessors though maybe slightly duller. The general sound is quite rough indeed, and the tracks are mostly pretty short and simple pieces, which is actually only a good thing, as any longer tracks of this style might be quite unbearable. Already now the album on the whole feels rather silly with its undeniably homespun sound, the overdone screeching vocals can be extremely irritating at times, and some lyrics are particularly cheesy. Don't get me wrong, sticking to one's own thing is perfectly fine and all, but if Razor had always stayed at this same level, there certainly wouldn't have been much reason to give them any higher recognition in the genre.

1. Survival Of The Fittest 2. Shootout 3. Forced Annihilation 4. Last Rites 5. Snake Eyes 6. White Noise 7. Going Under 8. Russian Ballet

With the self-released Custom Killing Razor finally reached a reasonable level of maturity in their music. Not anymore as dumb sounding as some older efforts, this album is possibly one of Razor's most advanced recordings ever. With some particularly long tracks and generally a less simplistic feel, the music quickly captures the listener's attention while it still preserves a lot of the customary Razor sound. While the album starts off as a bit incoherent, tracks like Forced Annihilation and White Noise are some good, straightforward thrashers whereas Last Rites remains one of Razor's most ambitious songs ever, with a truly dramatic and classy intro. The music does not contain too easy hooks, but somehow the band manage to make it sound interesting. Maybe due to some deviation from the band's traditional style Custom Killing was fairly overlooked upon its release, but the truth is that this is not a bad Razor album at all.

1. The Marshall Arts 2. Hypertension 3. Taste The Floor 4. Behind Bars 5. Below The Belt 6. I'll Only Say It Once 7. Enforcer 8. Violent Restitution 9. Out Of The Game 10. Edge Of The Razor 11. Eye Of The Storm 12. Discipline 13. Fed Up 14. Soldier Of Fortune

After some internal troubles and (ever lasting) problems with the music industry, Razor came back with some more serious attitude and conviction. Violent Restitution was the last album to feature Stace McLaren on vocals, and while the outcome sounds a little dry at first, the music keeps growing on you the more you listen to it. There's a lot of devotion and anger put into the songs with lyrics full of hatred, frustration, and violence. As always with Razor albums, most lyrics seem very personal to the band and guitarist Dave Carlo in particular since he wrote nearly all the music here. While this is not my top favorite Razor album, one cannot ignore the immense power contained in it.

1. Miami 2. United By Hatred 3. Violence Condoned 4. Electric Torture 5. Meaning Of Pain 6. Stabbed In The Back 7. Shotgun Justice 8. Parricide 9. American Luck 10. Brass Knuckles 11. Burning The Bridges 12. Concussion 13. Cranial Stomp 14. The Pugilist

Razor's music took another step forward on this album that may well be one of the fastest and most intense thrash metal releases ever. These songs feel like abrupt sonic attacks at your face; the immense speed makes even simple riffs sound like small explosions in a row. I rarely pay any special attention to the rhythm section unless there's something wrong with it, but this album is an exception as the awesome drum work by Rob Mills essentially breathes new life to the music. In the vocal department there are considerable differences when compared to Razor's earlier works, as Bob Reid was introduced as the new singer here, but his rough voice fits the new songs just perfectly. The lyrics are now filled with even more extreme violence and pure hatred against society and cheaters in the music industry and personal life. Shotgun Justice is definitely not an easy album, far from it, but it is guaranteed to give you a total listening experience.

1. In Protest 2. Sucker For Punishment 3. Bad Vibrations 4. Road Gunner 5. Cheers 6. Red Money 7. Free Lunch 8. Iron Legions 9. Mental Torture 10. Psychopath 11. I Disagree 12. End Of The War

The last album from Razor's classic period was almost a direct sequel to the style of Shotgun Justice. The music has a somewhat colder and more routine-like feel than earlier and the songs are not quite as violent anymore, but the raw style has essentially remained the same, actually to the extent of starting to repeat itself. The sterile drum sound is slightly annoying, but considering the problems the band had in the making of this album, one can probably live with it. In some way it is just another demonstration of the trouble that Razor had throughout their career despite all the effort. Even though Open Hostility appears somewhat unremarkable in comparison to the previous couple of releases, it's still not a bad album and even at its weakest it blows many other bands' efforts out of the water.

1. Decibels 2. Jimi The Fly 3. Life Sentence 4. Liar 5. The Game 6. Great White Lie 7. Open Hostility 8. Nine Dead 9. Goof Soup 10. Violence... Gun Control 11. Instant Death (bonus)

Decibels marked one more return to the tried and tested Razor style, although there were also some practical differences due to the years passed. One of the major nitpicks of this album is about Bod Reid's vocals that sound more or less processed almost all the time and never really come across as natural. Another bigger complaint you can have is how similarly formulated many of these songs actually appear. The drums repeat almost identical maneuvers from track to track, and Dave Carlo's riffs pale in comparison to the better moments of older Razor albums. You still cannot mistake the sound for any other band, but some weariness is more than obvious. Most of this album appears somewhat ordinary, although Great White Lie and the title track are quite fine pieces. While at least moderately satisfying, Decibels leaves something of a lukewarm impression and is not really one of Razor's best efforts.

1. Dawn Of The Shred 2. Annihilator 3. Slaughterotica 4. Desperado 5. Bleed On Command 6. Lobotomized 7. Dipsomaniac 8. Slave To The Maze

Yet another contender among dozens of similar ones, you may think and decide to let the platter spin for a while before tossing it over. But what do you know, this Razormaze production is actually not half-bad. The True Speed Of Steel appears somewhat unheavy and harmless, even lighthearted for a thrash metal album, partially because the band's guitar-driven sound allows for a fair amount of variety instead of pure speed. The songwriting is still nothing too spectacular, in fact, most of these tracks don't seem to possess much of long-time appeal on the surface. Also, some of the gang choruses are fairly overused. But when you are dead tired and cannot really focus on anything, this album can serve surprisingly well. Not to call it downright therapeutic, but The True Speed Of Steel can have something of a relaxing effect, no matter how unimportant this music on the whole may be.

1. Endless War 2. Slay The Oppressor 3. Eminence 4. Fate's Wind 5. Root Of Evil 6. Eleanor Rigby 7. This House Is Burning 8. Second Coming 9. All Heads Will Turn To The Hunt 10. Mang 11. Poisoned Minds 12. Theseus And The Minotaur (bonus)

When the best track of the album is a Beatles cover song, you know something has gone wrong in the first place. Realm's Endless War is basically an awfully unbalanced and immature mixture of some high-speed antics and progressive overtones. The production is slightly weird, clear but very thin, and it completely lacks heaviness. Among the most annoying features in Realm's sound is the worst screamer ever on vocals - his voice can make you reach for ear plugs in no time. Musically this album is not totally hopeless, as the band are quite competent and a couple of faster tracks are rather enjoyable after all (the title track and the cover song Eleanor Rigby stand out in particular). Endless War is probably one of the very few albums where the label "progressive thrash metal" really seems appropriate although the result definitely leaves a lot to be desired.

1. Cain Rose Up (Scream Bloody Murder) 2. Fragile Earth 3. Energentic Discontent 4. Gateway 5. Final Solution 6. The Brainchild 7. La Flamme's Theory 8. Dick 9. Knee Deep In Blood 10. Suiciety

Realm's Suiciety is something of a tough call, with a lot more consistent and even appealing sound than on the band's debut release but still with a notably more technical approach than on your average thrash metal album. While the band's progressive tendencies are better controlled than on Endless War, the intricate riffs and arrangements still don't make it too easy to initially get into the music. The vocals remain very high-pitched but sound now smoother than on the debut release, and therefore they do not appear as distractive anymore. As a result, the music flows surprisingly smoothly even though it takes time to learn to fully appreciate it due to its apparent complexity. Some tracks have almost futuristic touches on them, which sort of adds to the occasional spaced-out feel of this album. As a whole, Suiciety is quite a stylish effort, sometimes a bit too tedious or complex for its own good, but eventually a release worth some interest.

1. Deny Reality 2. Follow The Masses 3. Fatal Descent 4. O.P.C. 5. D.U.A.F. 6. Re-Animator

Of all British thrash metal bands, Re-Animator were probably among the more talented groups at least in their early form. The band's debut mini album Deny Reality does not exactly contain any great innovations in the thrash metal field, but in practice the band's delivery is more intense and effective than one might reasonably expect. This album has more than a fair share of crunchy, memorable riffs, and the production is very rich and heavy. The title track and especially Re-Animator are very hard-hitting and memorable pieces that you will recall even years after, and the rest of the album is not bad either. Something of a positive surprise, Deny Reality was a release strong enough to give Re-Animator a good name already in the beginning of their career.

1. Low Life 2. Chain Of Command 3. Room 101 4. Condemned To Eternity 5. Shock Treatment 6. Buried Alive 7. Techno Fear 8. What The Funk? 9. Say Your Prayers

Re-Animator's full-length release Condemned To Eternity is maybe a bit less straightforward than Deny Reality. There are still some nice, even original touches in the music (take the long instrumental title track as a good example), and a lot of these riffs are fairly memorable. It is somewhat surprising that the production is not nearly as good as on the older mini album, though. The vocals on Condemned To Eternity appear seriously underproduced at times, and the general sound of the full-length release is not too heavy either. These technical factors unfortunately slightly weaken the result, although it is no reason to skip this album. As Re-Animator's later funk tendencies are still only briefly hinted at, the band's first two recordings unarguably remain their best releases to date.

1. Raping Death 2. Seizure 3. Necropolis (City Of The Dead) 4. Carnage 5. Gunned Down 6. The Aftermath 7. Fleshburn 8. Final Flight 9. Behind Closed Doors 10. Recrimination 11. F.O.A.D. (Intro) 12. Democratic Lie

With the average track length being around three and a half minutes and the music directly comparable to Slayer at their fastest, it's easy to imagine the sound of Recipients Of Death even without hearing a single note beforehand. In the vocal department this band had a slight hardcore-ish edge, possibly bands like Evildead and The Horde Of Torment being good references. The music is indeed quite intense and does not pale in comparisons with even many bigger bands, and this reissue mainly suffers only from non-musical factors like mediocre production and mastering. The sound quality of the band's debut album is really not much to write home about, very rough and dirty, whereas Final Flight is slightly better produced yet still sounds somewhat raw. That aside, Recipients Of Death got something right in their music as demonstrated by these powerful recordings. Just try not to care too much about the lacking production values with this one.

1. Frontline 2. Into The Ovens 3. Commando 4. M.I.A. 5. Power Corrupts 6. P.T.L. 7. Greenhouse 8. Smear 9. Disarm And Survive 10. World War III 11. Aftermath 12. Random Violence 13. Evil's End

Redrum were certainly a less known band in the genre. The band's only full-length release Power Corrupts is filled with fairly standard thrash metal, quite enthusiastic but far from extraordinary. Musically this album is just typical for the American scene. The production is sharp and clear for such a minor release though it almost completely lacks bass, which makes the album sound very thin and occasionally almost underproduced. The songwriting is basically decent but not exactly your state of the art, and no songs really stand out. Briefly put, Power Corrupts is sufficiently well done but even that just makes it another typical example of its kind and not too well distinguishable from countless others. Probably the best keyword to describe this album is "generic".

1. Faces Of Fate 2. Mentally Disordered 3. Heroine's Death 4. Murder 5. Normal Person 6. Parasite 7. Power Thrashin' Death 8. Shadows Of Insanity 9. Holocaust Of Pain 10. Suicidal Moments 11. Wasted

Faces Of Fate is one of those releases that an impatient listener might initially toss away as totally unexceptional. Yet the more tracks you get to hear from this album, the less straightforward it becomes to completely ignore the effort. There is no way Released Anger could be considered even half-way innovative, but they surely know how to play. While this recording would not deserve much attention based on pure musical achievements, the frequent high tempo, tasty guitar work and generally the band's determined and vibrant approach save the result from total oblivion. The style is consistent and intense enough so that even the faithfully rendered Whiplash cover Power Thrashin' Death blends seamlessly with the other tracks. There is nothing novel about this album, and still it can turn out to be a fair deal just based on the uplifting feel of the whole thing.

1. Necromancer 2. Decapitation 3. Black Ritual 4. Lucifer's Reign 5. Total Armageddon 6. Riot Squad Gladiator 7. Maneater 8. Threshold Of Death

Renegade's Total Armageddon is not as dark for a thrash metal album as the title might suggest - in fact there's some undeniably positive attitude in it, something that could be only expected from an Australian band like this. The album starts off in a wild fashion with the energetic Necromancer making way to a number of fairly intense tracks running rampant. To be honest, Renegade's style is not too memorable in itself, and except for a couple of tracks this album doesn't feature too many highlights, but on the whole the experience has a certain uplifting quality. Although one should not expect any real surprises from Total Armageddon, its unstrained sound is guaranteed not to leave you indifferent.

1. Feel Your Pain 2. Escape From Reality 3. Moshpit 4. Locked In Myself 5. Endless War 6. Black Path 7. Embryonic Grave 8. Killer 9. Revenge 10. Never Fallen Tear 11. In The Beginning...

While Repent may not be among the most prominent examples of German thrash metal, based on their release history the band have been through some interesting developments. Escape From Reality is still somewhat rough around the edges, a debut album with some technical leanings and no firm direction. The vocals in particular don't quite fit the music, being too much on the weak side to properly accompany the heavy riffs. Even with some apparent disadvantages, the first couple of tracks manage to maintain a certain level of eagerness, but it doesn't take too long before the songs basically start slipping through your ears. Escape From Reality is not a totally failed attempt, but it appears that the album may have had more potential than what was ultimately brought into reality. It's as if the band were a bit too ambitious with their first release, as the result is definitely not the most coherent.

1. Trapped 2. Course For Power 3. Disciple Of Decline 4. Thrash Attack 5. Mendacious Peace 6. World Supremacy 7. Business Whore 8. Life Is Lost 9. Sake Of Living 10. The Undead 11. Anarchy

Disciple Of Decline would make a good example of some of the most drastic improvements between two albums. The songs on this recording are positively more focused, tighter as well as shorter than on Repent's debut release, and the level of energy is definitely something else. There is a lot of quality riffage on this one, too - not in the sense of making these tracks immediately stick to your head, but more of a kind that grows on you over a long period on time. Worth a separate note are the vocals that have gone through a total overhaul and now sound much more powerful than before. Not to mention that the whole album actually sounds like a real band playing together instead of just some unpassionate session musicians going through the motions. Disciple Of Decline is not really a masterpiece in the true sense of the word, but there is no doubt that Repent deserve an "A" for the effort.

1. Believe In You 2. All The Worst 3. Tehom Rules 4. Duality Closes In 5. That's Enough 6. Seed Of Evil 7. A Cry From The Dark 8. Tears

For most people, hearing about Restless from Brazil probably wouldn't ring a bell to any extent. There is a fair reason for that, as the band just happened to follow the same path with their debut release as countless others before and after this one. Their music tries to be kind of atmospheric, occasionally in an intriguing way even, but something seems to prevent the full power from being unleashed. There is a nice hardcore-ish piece Tehom Rules with funny vocals and all, but this short track alone is enough to leave most of everything else in its shadow, thus rendering the rest of the album rather forgettable. A couple of more memorable tracks on the whole thing and who knows, it might have been a better effort.

1. Dimension Of Sin 2. Total Aggression 3. Jesus On The Cross 4. Bloodfist 5. Revenge 6. Evil Nightmare 7. Antichrist 8. Morbid Revelation

Revenge's From Hell has been compared to Sepultura's earliest works (after all, Antichrist is a well-known song from Bestial Devastation), but the band's sound also effectively reminds you of their countrymen Piranha from the early nineties, with the same kind of deep vocals and high tempo in general. Regardless of their influences, Revenge succeed in implementing their vision quite nicely. This album has a genuine captivating feel of its own, unlike many other productions today, and the sound quality is very good and appropriate. The music is not an instant hit in the sense that it would immediately stick to your memory, but the band's musical ambitions are high enough to catch your interest - so much that it should not be surprising if you feel compelled to return to this album soon after the initial listening round.

1. Inside A Torn Apart 2. Bullet In Point 3. Insane War 4. Die Like A Dog 5. Tsavo: The Place Of Slaughter 6. Njord Hymn (Instrumental Delirium) 7. Big Anesthesia 8. Cancer 9. Sacrificed By Mistake 10. Doomsday 11. Eternal Sorrow

Without prior knowledge it could be hard to expect anything special from Embryo Of The Endless Sands, but it becomes evident already during the initial listening round that Rhestus have the right spirit. Inside A Torn Apart is almost a perfect opener, a very strong and fast thrasher with infectious riffs. After the striking start the album shows also its less frantic side, most of the tracks alternating between pure high-speed parts and slower controlled passages. Regardless of what the tempo may be, there is usually some decent quality riffage on every song, accompanied with fitting Mille-like vocals. It is the only major disadvantage of this album that no other tracks tend to make the same kind of immediate impact as the opening song. Apart from that, Embryo Of The Endless Sands is simply quite a comforting and promising debut release in the classic vein.

1. Welcome To Your Funeral 2. Demons 3. Bodily Dismemberment 4. Comdemned To Hell 5. Wizard Of Gore 6. Shroud Of Gloom 7. Die In Pain 8. Vampire 9. Re-Animator 10. Slow Death

Rigor Mortis were called the musical equivalent of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and with a good reason. Rigor Mortis is a mix of rough thrash metal, some impressive guitar work by Mike Scaccia (of Ministry fame), and particularly extravagant, gory lyrics with lots of humorous overtones. Fortunately the band didn't take themselves too seriously, otherwise this kind of album would be probably just unbearable. Even considering the over-the-top lyrics, most tracks are full of wonderful energy, partially due to Bruce Corbitt's strong vocals that add to the powerful feel of this album. Funnily enough, the goriest tracks Bodily Dismemberment and Wizard Of Gore are also the most memorable ones. It must be said that even with its comical image this debut release is a bit too rough around the edges, and in the long run the musical values are really not that high. However, Rigor Mortis can be quite an entertaining pick if you don't mind the exaggerated content.

Note: This album has been released with three different color variants of the cover; the original Capitol release (orange-red), the unofficial Old Metal Records reissue (black), and the official 2003 reissue (deep red).

1. Freaks 2. Cattle Mutilation 3. The Haunted 4. Six Feet Under / Worms Of The Earth 5. Chained In The Attic

With this mini album the music of Rigor Mortis changed towards more standard and less distinctive thrash metal. Freaks introduced a new vocalist, Doyle Bright, who sounds very uninspired, strained and flat when compared to Bruce Corbitt's more powerful delivery. Even though the production is better than on the debut, the result lacks strength and energy. The music sounds darker and less humorous than before, and although the horror-inspired lyrics are still there, this time the general feel is seriously one-dimensional. One part of the original charm of the band's debut album was the fresh and even cheery attitude which is absolutely nowhere to be found on Freaks.

1. Dying In My Sleep 2. Mummified 3. Throwback 4. Contagious Contamination 5. The Rack 6. Psycho Therapy 7. City In Fear 8. Asphyxia 9. Dead Fish 10. SOG 11. Speedwhore 12. Afterbirth Of A Midget (S.Y.G.D.P.)

The last album of Rigor Mortis is a mixed bag of ordinary thrash metal and some blatant punk elements (including the Ramones cover Psycho Therapy). Rigor Mortis vs. The Earth is admittedly more diverse than the Freaks mini album though it is also somewhat unbalanced and definitely no match for the band's debut release. Except for a couple of tracks, the music is pretty rough and uninteresting, partially due to the fact that about half of the songs on this album were sung by the bassist Casey Orr whose voice is very raw and sounds just ugly. The guitar work does have its moments again, especially on the first and the last track which are nice instrumentals. Despite all its shortcomings, there's still some unpolished appeal left in Rigor Mortis vs. The Earth although not quite enough to make it score any better.

1. Servant Of The Black 2. The Unjust 3. Succumb To The Beast 4. The Highest Law 5. Master 6. Domain Of Death 7. Chaos And Mayhem 8. Damnator 9. Metal Forces 10. Attack 11. Death Metal

Ritual Carnage's The Highest Law was a breath of some new energy to an already defunct scene, although at this point it was still a mere indication of something greater to come. The opening Servant Of The Black is forceful enough to drop weak individuals to the ground at the first listen, after that it becomes more difficult to find similar highlights. It is obvious that on this debut release Ritual Carnage's style was still fairly one-dimensional and dry, especially considering the large number of fast-moving tracks that simply do not differ too much from each other. But although the band's first effort is more promising than satisfactory, their attack was already so keen that the cover version of Onslaught's Death Metal feels like a soft landing after all the preceding demolition.

1. Awaiting The Kill 2. 8th Great Hell 3. Death, Judgement, Fate 4. Burning Red, Burn Til' Death 5. End Of An Ace 6. World Wide War 7. Scars Of Battle 8. Every Nerve Alive 9. The Wrath 10. Escape From The Light 11. Far East Aggressors

Every Nerve Alive has everything that The Highest Law only hinted at, and more. After the lengthy intro, Ritual Carnage's sophomore effort reveals a full pack of killer thrashers like End Of An Ace and World Wide War that are short, sharp shocks with hardly any time left for breathing in between. When the third track from the beginning starts running with exactly the same kind of relentless beat and precision as both the previous pieces, you know that it will take time to recover after this one. This is an example of traditional thrash metal taken to an extreme level, an intense performance that is decorated with some very tasteful guitar leads. It is still not really the most varied presentation full of rich artistic nuances, but the result makes the strongest possible impression. While The Highest Law was not too remarkable, Every Nerve Alive is actually better than most older albums in the genre - and that is an awfully lot.

1. The Sixth Sense 2. The Birth Of Tragedy 3. Burning Eyes Of Rage 4. Paradox Of Democracy 5. Fall Of The Empire 6. Shroud Of Secrecy 7. Sanity's Thin Line 8. Grave New World 9. Dawn To Decadence 10. Psycho-Sadistic Psychosis 11. Infernal Death (In Memory Of Chuck Schuldiner)

After such an outstanding album as Every Nerve Alive, any band would have had a hard time trying to compose the follow-up. Ritual Carnage's response was to introduce some audible changes in their sound. The Birth Of Tragedy is still full of high-speed frenzy for the most part, but the production is less meaty than on the preceding releases and the vocals are more normal shouts and howls instead of the previous low roar. The effect is not nearly as unforgiving and persistent as earlier, but the music is fairly interesting in its own way even though the outcome lacks a definite distinctive punch. With some strong thrashers like Burning Eyes Of Rage and Grave New World still capable of gaining your attention, this album was at least a passable continuation of the development for this band.

1. Imprisoned Secret 2. The Perfect Strain 3. I, Infidel 4. Thirst For Blood 5. These Chains 6. Do Not Resuscitate 7. Axiom 8. Straight To The Nether Regions 9. Room 101 10. All Too Human 11. Terror Ends Here 12. I Am War

I, Infidel leaves no doubt about the steady course that Ritual Carnage keep following. Immediately after the short intro, The Perfect Strain re-defines fast thrash metal and the title track follows in the same vein. Both musically and production-wise this album sounds like an improvement over The Birth Of Tragedy, with generally a better and more streamlined flow of content. The most notable practical difference is in the vocals that have evolved into a distinctive form of clean high shouts, similar to Sean Killian from Vio-lence and Katon W. De Pena from Hirax. As there are not too many practitioners of this kind of vocal style, the album gains something of a characteristic touch from it. With already several quality releases that do not sound like mere carbon copies of the old, you could easily consider Ritual Carnage one of the better pure thrash metal bands that rose against all odds in the nineties.

1. Thought Free 2. Till I Die 3. What A Creature! 4. Positive Ruin 5. Hungry Child 6. Dual Attack 7. Cutting Edge 8. Slavish Charge

Despite being an established band with a long career, Riverge managed to make a positive surprise with the energetic feel of their first proper release. If anything, the fresh sound of Rebirth Of Skull should be capable of raising the spirits of nearly anyone, excluding the most cynical listeners out there. It may not be the most sophisticated or serious attack, but there is some uplifting quality on this album that cannot be often found from standard thrash metal. As the songs are fairly compact and the recording as a whole is a bit on the short side, it is definitely not too dull either. Maybe the long-time appeal of Riverge's music will be somewhat limited, but based on the initial impression that this debut album makes there should be no objections to hearing more about this band in the future, too.

1. Column Of Grey 2. The Way Of All Flesh 3. Within The Silence 4. Esoteric Traditions 5. Autocratic Faith 6. Nothing But Something Remains 7. Aren't You Bored Enough 8. Back In The Habit 9. Defy The Oppression 10. Do You Know Who You're Crucifying

For a Swedish band, Rosicrucian sounded pretty much like Testament or Defiance with minor touches of variety. Especially the vocals on Silence are almost a perfect imitation of Steev Esquivel's style on Void Terra Firma, with some additional growls that occasionally border on laughable. Production-wise you could hardly wish for more as the sound of this album is remarkably thick and heavy. As for the music itself, listening to it can be a massively boring experience if you cannot really appreciate this kind of unimaginative pounding. An honorable mention must be given to the most politically incorrect intro of Back In The Habit, but that aside, most tracks here are just a major drag. All props to the band for their skills and good production, but without any real spirit Silence fails to make the day.

1. The Church Cries 2. No Promises To No-one 3. No Nazis 4. The Return Of The Commercial Bastards 5. A.M.F. 6. The Earth Is Turning Red 7. Genocide 8. Is This The Reason? 9. Can't Understand 10. Mirror Of Fortune 11. Outro

Rumble Militia have taken a long stride since their primitive beginnings in the German metal scene, crossing over several genre borders in the process. At one point this development resulted in a couple of full-fledged speed/thrash metal albums, of which They Give You The Blessing is nothing short of essential. You can still hear some of the band's original influences in Staffi's vocals that are not the heaviest around, at least in comparison to the norm, but in other respects this album is strong enough to easily put certain more official thrash metal classics to shame. Nowhere else you can find such awesome thrashers like No Nazis and The Earth Is Turning Red, and even the few lightsome moments are such uplifting pieces that it would be hard to imagine this album without them. Put your prejudice aside, They Give You The Blessing not only contains some great speed/thrash metal, it is also one real feelgood album.

1. Intro 2. Boys In Blue 3. Reflection Of Your Videoprogramme 4. You're Sure 5. Stop This Shit 6. Save Yourself 7. Way Of Violence 8. Kindergarden ('82) 9. Waiting For Death 10. Stop Violence And Madness

The successor to They Give You The Blessing sounds a tad heavier but otherwise very similar to Rumble Militia's previous album. Stop Violence And Madness is another quality release from the band, and it must be only a matter of taste whether this album as a whole appears slightly less striking when compared to its impressive predecessor. Such immediately convincing tracks like Reflection Of Your Videoprogramme and Save Yourself are just some examples of the most hard-hitting songs here. The band still throw in an occasional light and blatantly happy piece like You're Sure, but with two albums in a row repeating the same trick, it could be already considered a characteristic feature. It is probably not too far from the truth to say that very few bands have brought something fresh to the genre with their recordings - Rumble Militia must be one of the notable exceptions.