| |
|
|
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.
|
| |