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1. Deadly Assault
2. Widespread Affliction
3. Room For 1 More
4. Graven Scripture
5. I.O.H.
6. Killer Instinct
7. Behind Bars
8. Premature Burial
9. Street Queen
10. Supernatural Force
11. Evil Deceiver
12. Vacant Grave
Talk about a major surprise. With most no-name bands, any pondering over the
quality of their output in advance couldn't be more pointless as you can only
expect average stuff at best. In Vacant Grave's case, Life Or Death
proves such initial assumptions outright wrong, for once. Potential worries
over lacking production values are still not undeserved here, but the music
firmly holds on its own despite some technical disadvantages. It is not only
due to an ultimately harsh sound that this album carries a close resemblance
to Burnt Offering's debut, but in the end Vacant Grave sound less disjointed
and more forceful by a fair amount which is just enough to make a noticeable
difference in quality. Despite their seemingly basic appearance, most of these
tracks are seriously addictive. One could still wish for some more clarity in
the sound department, for other than that Life Or Death is a solid
package of honest, unrelenting thrash metal with no artificial gimmicks to
ruin the fun.
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1. Introduction
2. Ravens
3. Mystical Mass
4. Gala Drama
5. Fear Of The Night (Beast)
6. Scream From Hell
7. In The Heart Of Darkness
8. Valkyria
9. The Hangman's Dance
Valkyria's self-titled debut release successfully combined progressive
aspirations with some serious touches of originality. The classical intro can
only hint at the ambitious music to follow, therefore the effect may be
puzzling at first. The closest comparison would be Mekong Delta, with a lot of
intriguing fast riffs and somewhat unconventional yet elaborate arrangements,
but the regular use of keyboards every now and then adds a twist of its own.
The impression that comes from all of this can be quite melodramatic and
flamboyant - almost like Van Halen playing thrash metal, if you could imagine
that kind of thing. Although the sound quality is generally satisfactory, the
songs do appear a bit underproduced at times, especially the vocals could have
come out stronger. Worth a note, the fantasy-like lyrics almost make this seem
like a thematic album, which is not a bad thing at all. Maybe Valkyria's style
is something that the most hardened street punks would not touch with a
ten-foot pole, but when you consider how rare some true high-quality
progressive thrash metal can be, this is an album to grab without thinking
twice.
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1. Speed Revolution
2. In Nomine Satanas
3. Damned Love
4. The Exterminator
5. Loudness And Speed
6. Black Viper
7. Day Of Execution
8. Open The Coffin
9. Satan's Colours
10. Too Fast For Hell
As an authentic early example of speed/thrash metal, Vectom's Speed Revolution
is about as old school as reasonably possible. Although the general feel is
very nostalgic, many songs seem to follow the same formula which is kind of
simple and far from revolutionary. The most intense tracks like
In Nomine Satanas and especially Satan's Colours are worth
attention, but while the rest of this album remains quite consistent, the music
can be a bit too much on the repetitive side. While Speed Revolution has
a certain edge over the band's later and less energetic works, the value of it
all may be a matter of taste.
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1. Black Future
2. Oblivion
3. Destroying The Cosmos
4. Forests Of Legend
5. Hunger For Violence
6. Deoxyribonucleic Acid
7. Asteroid
8. Dark Nebula
9. Accelerating Universe
Vektor's Black Future starts like Destruction on steroids, with an
outburst of some positively intriguing riffs and frantic shrieks similar to the
output of Schmier at his best. The opening title track is simply one of the
most gripping and eerie pieces of thrash metal in the recent memory. But this
album turns out to be a lot more complex the further you get into it. Based on
the general science fiction theme and occasionally almost existential pondering,
Voivod may be an inspiration, but Vektor's sound is a lot faster, more accurate
and better controlled. Needless to say, the compositions and arrangements can
appear increasingly complicated though somehow there is always a common thread
to follow. Most of the time, speed is not sacrificed for progressive
aspirations, and even with several ten-minute epics the massive total length of
this recording does not seem completely excessive. It must be admitted that a
whole album of this kind can leave you exhausted for a while, and Black
Future is not something to be played as a piece of easygoing background
music. But as far as actual innovation is concerned, Vektor appear to be a band
at the top of the game.
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1. Cosmic Cortex
2. Echoless Chamber
3. Dying World
4. Tetrastructural Minds
5. Venus Project
6. Dark Creations, Dead Creators
7. Fast Paced Society
8. Outer Isolation
If it weren't for those few bands like Vektor who actually bring some genuinely
interesting and even kind of novel ideas to the table, the landscape of the
current thrash metal scene would be hopelessly drained of all effectiveness by
now. So what if the vocals on Outer Isolation can sometimes notably put
a stress on your ears with their shrieky tone, or that some of the most complex
parts might make people with a limited attention span feel uncomfortable. This
is still sci-fi thrash of the highest order. Just try to find another album
with a ten-minute opening song as memorable as Cosmic Cortex, and the
competition will turn out seriously lacking indeed. Maybe the biggest advantage
for this band is simply that they don't blatantly underestimate their audience
by attempting to release the most commonplace thrash schlock as if several
decades of thrash metal never happened.
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1. Suicide Thoughts
2. Assassin On Attack
3. Captive Of Reality
4. Die Till Dawn
5. Brain Zombies
6. Armageddon
7. Silent Death
8. Forbidden Districts
9. Nightmare
Sometimes you are almost inclined to swear that all these most obscure bands
must have had a hidden nest somewhere in the 1980s. Vellocet's Captive
Of Reality is yet another one of those rare items that occasionally still
pop up out of nowhere, an album of German speed/thrash metal in the most old
school vein. The band's maneuvers tend to resemble the style of Vectom and old
Tankard to some extent, with constantly fast songs and a sound that is not too
heavy to begin with. One must admit that there is some long lost charm in this
kind of unstrained and even uplifting speedy attack, at least in small doses.
To consider also the other side of things, the music on this album is about as
dated as it gets, therefore the final value of it may largely depend on the
listener. But if the sound of the mentioned bands appeals to you, Vellocet
should easily meet the same requirements very well.
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1. Suicidal Lunacy
2. Go And Live... Stay And Die
3. Traitor's Fate
4. System Of Death
5. Drugs And Corruption
6. Revolution Command
7. On The Road
8. And The Brave Man Fails
Vendetta's brand of thrash metal was a bit more stylish than what many of
their German competitors put out at the same time. Go And Live... Stay And
Die has a crisp sound which supports the fast riffs very well. Technically
the band lacked nothing, and although the songwriting on this debut album is
not too original, even the fastest parts are handled with style. On the
downside the band's output is a bit generic despite all the fresh and
enthusiastic attitude that can be heard from the music. Though not too
distinctive, the band's sound is very energetic and this compensates for some
lack of stronger material. With some additional nice touches in songs, Go
And Live... Stay And Die is a pretty satisfying album after all.
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1. War
2. Brain Damage
3. Conversation
4. Precious Existence
5. Never Die
6. Love Song
7. Fade To Insanity
8. Dominance Of Violence
9. Metal Law
Brain Damage continued in the same style that was established on
Vendetta's debut release - quite fresh sounding thrash metal with some nice
details thrown in. Again, it is really nothing spectacular but succeeds fairly
well in its class. The direction had been developed a bit further from the
debut, high speed not being the only thing that matters anymore. Instead,
there's some additional variety in songs like the title track and Precious
Existence, not to forget the lengthy instrumental Fade To Insanity
that is not exactly a complex piece but provides some welcome change from the
more straightforward vocal tracks. Vendetta's two albums prove that the band
not only were quite skillful but also managed to create some interesting music
in the crowded scene.
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1. Human Sacrifice
2. Burn
3. Mulligan Stew
4. Receive Him
5. I Love Hating Evil
6. Fatal Delay
7. White Throne
8. Salvation
9. From The Dead
10. Ascension
11. He Is God
12. Fill This Place With Blood
13. Beheaded
Vengeance Rising were probably one of the best known religious thrash metal
bands in their time, and with a good reason. Human Sacrifice starts off
sounding quite ordinary, but when you encounter the first of a few tracks with
bluesy guitar licks, you cannot avoid a puzzled feeling. Add a couple of
hardcore-ish bursts, and the result is far from one-dimensional. Fortunately
these kinds of crossover elements are used rather sparingly, but they surely
add an original touch to the band's sound that is not dead-serious. Not to
forget Roger Martinez and his over-the-top vocals that you will never forget
after hearing them for the first time - the man's throaty output actually adds
a fair dose of comical appeal to some of these tracks, though only in a good
way. This is not to say that Human Sacrifice would be all funny bits,
actually it is quite a decent thrash metal platter in its own right. Even if
you have doubts about the lyrics, give it a try anyway as the music may
eventually win you over.
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1. Warfare
2. Can't Get Out
3. Cut Into Pieces
4. Frontal Lobotomy
5. Herod's Violent Death
6. The Whipping Post
7. The Wrath To Come
8. Space Truck'in
9. Out Of The Will
10. Arise
11. Into The Abyss
12. Among The Dead
13. Interruption
While Once Dead introduced certain refinements in Vengeance Rising's
sound, most of the familiar elements remained unchanged. Roger Martinez still
sounds like he's about to puke over the microphone at any moment, and combined
with some blatantly bluesy guitar licks like on Can't Get Out the
outcome is so hilarious that only the most hardened cynics could pass it
without a smile. The only problem is, after the first few tracks this album
starts getting quite tedious in comparison to its predecessor. Even though the
band didn't exactly hold back, the novelty of this style had worn off, and
overlong and somewhat plodding tracks like The Whipping Post and
Into The Abyss just tend to leave you bored and make it harder to
follow with the band despite their good intentions. It's still not half bad,
but Human Sacrifice gave a bit more fun for the money.
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1. You Can't Stop It
2. The Rising
3. Before The Time
4. The Sword
5. He Don't Own Nothing
6. Countless Corpses
7. Thanatos
8. You Will Bow
9. Hyde Under Pressure
10. Raegoul
After some radical line-up changes Vengeance Rising were back with only Roger
Martinez left of the original group, which probably had a serious impact on
the new album. Destruction Comes demonstrates a much more streamlined
sound with very little of the previous variety left. It is unarguably quite a
lot more one-dimensional in comparison to the old, even considering that the
new band were able to maintain a constant speed in a respectable way.
Everything pretty much follows the same formula, complete with nearly
identical tempo and vocals on almost every track. After the first couple of
songs have passed you effectively fail to notice any real difference between
the rest, and by the end of the album you've probably given up paying any
attention a long time ago. Maybe Destruction Comes is not a total loss
after all, but it can be surprisingly tiresome to listen to it even halfway
through.
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1. Help Me
2. The Damnation Of Judas And The Salvation Of The Thief
3. Released Upon The Earth
4. Human Dark Potential
5. Instruments Of Death
6. Lest You Be Judged
7. Out Of Bounds
8. Bishop Of Souls
9. Tion
10. You Will Be Hated
Vengeance Rising's last album Released Upon The Earth brought back some
of the variety known from the band's first releases, which undeniably did
improve the situation quality-wise. This time you could actually distinguish
the songs from each other and a lot of this album is fairly memorable enough.
With the help of the chilling Help Me and the rampaging Tion
that are great tracks even considering the band's whole discography, the
result is more interesting and versatile than Destruction Comes.
Occasionally the vocals appear to experiment with a typical death metal tone,
but that's pretty much the only exceptional detail. Despite a haunting sense
of bitterness that may be noticeable on a couple of songs, most of the lyrical
content is still no less heavy in trying to hammer the word down to your
skull. In all honesty, Released Upon The Earth may be far from
perfection, but for some reason it is the Vengeance Rising release that has
got the most spins from me so far.
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1. Warlord
2. Hellbound
3. Militia Of Death
4. Prelude / Scavenger
5. Valhalla
6. Burning From Within
7. Berseker
8. Killer Unleashed
9. Do Or Die
Viking's debut album is certainly an amusing affair. The production is
absolutely muddy, the drummer sounds like he's leading his own show separate
from the rest of the band (or vice versa), and on top of this wonderful mash
come the barking vocals with lyrics about ancient warriors, endless war and
death. But even though Do Or Die is not exactly an exemplary piece of
good music, one got to recognize the great energy of the band. After the first
few songs you cannot help but be already amazed at the relentless speed and
intensity. Against all odds, the band manage to create something of an original
sound with a primitive, almost tribal feel to it (very suitable for the theme).
In the end, even the mediocre production somehow seems to fit the music
perfectly. This is by no means a great album, but it surely can provide some
entertaining moments if you're in the right mood.
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1. White Death
2. They Raped The Land
3. Twilight Fate
4. The Trial
5. Case Of The Stubborns
6. Winter
7. Hell Is For Children
8. Creative Divorce
9. Man Of Straw
Compared to Do Or Die, Viking's second album is technically like from
another planet and shows how much the band had matured since their debut. The
production is clear and sharp, the lyrics are more versatile, the songs are
more complex and still well structured, and the musicianship in general has
improved immensely. As a result, Man Of Straw is a piece of some very
cool thrash metal. Although none of these songs is really extraordinary, the
riffs throughout the album are good and the band play like never before. Even
the cover song Hell Is For Children is not too bad though one could
certainly do without it as well. There is much to like about this album, really
- too bad they called it quits after this one.
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1. Welcome To Arabland
2. A.L.I.S. In Arabland
3. I Bomb New York
4. Der Arabische Bosewicht
5. Terrorist Metal
6. The Aftermath
7. Eye The I In Kill
8. Terrorplane
9. Lockerbomb
10. Ta3ala Bei Nana
11. Post Bombem (A Song For Osama)
If anything, I Bomb New York must be the favorite thrash album at the
National Security Agency. Appropriately touted as "terrorist metal", the good
thing about Villainizer's full-length release is that it proves there's no
topic in this world that couldn't be satirized. The bad thing is that although
the whole effort seems interesting already based on the face value only, the
execution could have used a bit more work. Apart from a couple of instrumental
tracks that are a neat addition, most songs are somewhat one-dimensional and
occasionally appear rather hastily crafted, down to some shameless rip-offs of
certain classic works. As such, the impression is not of the best possible
quality. While I Bomb New York had potential to become a real riot, this
promise was not fully realized in the finished product.
Note:
The CD release also contains the band's very first mini album
The Villainizing EP as remastered bonus tracks.
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1. Chant
2. Turbanator
3. Bomberman
4. Random Act Of Violence
5. Twin Tower Two-step
6. The Magic Lamp
7. Terror Abraxas
8. Re-Bomberman
9. Raining Bombs
Reign In Terror much better demonstrates the possibilities that
I Bomb New York only hinted at. This album is simply pretty well
composed, performed and produced, and the reoccurring brief pseudo-Arabian
touches in the music give it a unique flavor. Although the handling of the
subject matter is still far from dead serious, the effect is more polished than
previously, and the lyrics are actually fairly cleverly written if you look
past the surface. While titles like Turbanator and Twin Tower Two-step
may seem silly, the actual songs are not half-bad at all. Maybe this release
could have ended with something more original than a re-interpretation of
Raining Blood, but then again, the cover art was already a direct
indication of nothing being too sacred. It's not like Villainizer's music would
have suddenly reached outstanding levels, but the enjoyable characteristics of
Reign In Terror ensure that a mere curiosity item this album is surely
not.
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1. Fresh Outta Hell
2. New Clear Assault
3. Deathfront Demons
4. Hallow's Eve
5. Pain And Suffering
6. Shrapnel
7. Thrash And Destroy
8. Vindicator
9. Gore Orphanage
10. There Will Be Blood
Maybe it could not be helped, but the cover of Vindicator's There Will Be
Blood is simply nothing short of laughable. Fortunately the music on this
album is a lot better than that, very traditional speed/thrash metal that
sounds surprisingly similar to the most typical old recordings of this kind.
The production appears so naturally old-fashioned that in a blind test you
would almost need to perform a careful comparison to some authentic 1980s
release to reveal the truth about this album's origins. The same approach is
followed in songwriting, and while the result is hardly a new masterpiece in
thrash metal, all these tracks are fairly entertaining pieces. The band's
namesake song Vindicator is a prime example of material that
successfully recalls some nostalgic feel of the old days. Usually you cannot
expect anything special from releases done in blatant retro fashion, but
There Will Be Blood is actually a worthy piece of work above the average
level.
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1. Gates Of Inequity
2. Beneath The Guillotine
3. Fearmonger
4. Sewn To The Flesh
5. Quarry Rats
6. The Antique Witcheries
7. Raze The Dead
8. Communal Decay
9. Dead In The Water
10. Pit Of The Shoggoths
11. Strange Aeons
As a proof that Vindicator's take on vintage sounding thrash metal can span
more than one album, The Antique Witcheries serves its purpose well.
Arguably the production is not anymore as blatantly retro-oriented as on
There Will Be Blood, but it can be hardly called modern either. More of
a disadvantage is that there appears to be less variation and distinctive
moments. The songs sound more consistent on this second release and the album
has a coherent style for sure, yet in comparison it's still the band's debut
where the catchiest tracks can be found, despite some rougher corners. From a
pure technical point of view this follow-up release shows clear progression,
however. And it is certainly a good thing that they used a proper cover artist
this time.
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1. Global Warning
2. Gears Of Fate
3. Man Undone
4. Bastards Of Noise And Aggression
5. Fatal Infection
6. Hail To The Thief
7. End Dependence
8. Divided We Stand... United We Fall
9. At War With Thy Neighbor
10. Fire Escape
11. Nationwide Ruination
12. Obsoletion
It seems that despite all technical progress, Vindicator's style is becoming
more dry and less appealing on every release. The most notable element of
United We Fall must be the lyrics that essentially make this a strongly
thematic album, a manifestation of political and environmental consciousness to
such extent that Nuclear Assault's classic albums from the 1980s come to
mind. The problem is, these songs are not nearly as catchy or imaginative, and
even the most delightful moments of There Will Be Blood are nowhere to
be found. This just makes United We Fall a fairly advanced but easily
forgotten release of contemporary thrash metal that carries a serious message,
yet fails to present it in an absorbing format.
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1. Let The Violation Begin
2. Thrash Maniacs
3. Artillery Attack
4. The Plague Never Dies
5. The Shadow Of Death
6. Killer Instinct
Following on the heels of Bywar, Farscape and the like, Violator must be one of
the better known names from Brazil recently. The band's first proper release
Violent Mosh is basically a slab of middle-of-the-road thrash metal with
all the usual genre antics in place. The result sounds almost too familiar,
though, and it seems that there was not too much creativity lost in the making
of this recording. Nevertheless, the band sound credible enough so that their
mostly ordinary style of songwriting does not totally negate the effort. The
production quality is pretty good, solid but not overwhelming, and Violator end
up sounding fairly heavy and tight. One could still hope for some more
distinctive output from the band, now there is little incentive to return to
this album after you have heard it a couple of times already.
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1. Atomic Nightmare
2. UxFxTx
3. Destined To Die
4. Addicted To Mosh
5. Brainwash Possession
6. Ordered To Thrash
7. Toxic Death
8. Lethal Injection
9. The Plague Returns
10. After Nuclear Devastation
Although Chemical Assault could be considered to have introduced slight
improvements in Violator's sound, the album is mostly a direct sequel to
Violent Mosh with the same kind of unexceptional compositions and
stereotypical lyrics. What really contributes to something of a positive
impression in the end is that the band never let off the speed pedal. Their
music remains so consistent and relentless through this whole full-length that
it starts to gradually win you over, a little bit of surprise actually. Maybe
in the late 1980s an album like this would have disappeared in the crowd
without much fuss, but in its current state Chemical Assault is not a
completely lost case after all. Not to forget that the ending of UxFxTx
(aka United For Thrash) is mad funny, too.
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1. Poisoned By Ignorance
2. Uniformity Is Conformity
3. Give Me Destruction Or Give Me Death
4. Apocalypse Engine
5. Deadly Sadistic Experiments
6. Futurephobia
7. You'll Come Back Before Dying
Violator's releases may be among the safest picks in the contemporary scene, in
other words, you can be perfectly sure about what to expect every time and not
be surprised in the least. Annihilation Process is a bit on the short
side, but otherwise this album fully complements the band's previous
full-length release Chemical Assault. As usual, there is no great amount
of variation in these songs, no matter whether you would actually wish for
some, and without better knowledge even the Executer cover song at the end
could be easily mistaken for Violator's original material. Which just brings
the whole thing as close to true thrash metal as anything that's been recorded
over the years.
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1. Echoes Of Silence
2. Endless Tyrannies
3. Dead To This World
4. Respect Existence Or Expect Resistance
5. Waiting To Exhale
6. Death Descends (Upon This World)
7. Colors Of Hate
8. No Place For The Cross
9. Unstoppable Slaughter
Scenarios Of Brutality does not really differ from Violator's earlier
works, in other words, this is fast thrash metal in the most traditional sense.
There isn't much diversity among these riffs and songs, and in some other hands
the result could have turned out a lot less appealing - but boy, can this band
play or what. Their presentation on this release is about as eager and
relentless as ever, without going totally overboard. This somehow makes even
the most basic compositions worth listening and effectively prevents serious
boredom from occurring too easily. While it is hard to escape a feeling that
Violator's material so far hasn't quite fulfilled the band's full potential,
this album continues to demonstrate that sometimes a devoted performance is
enough to overcome lacking qualities elsewhere.
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1. Eternal Nightmare
2. Serial Killer
3. Phobophobia
4. Calling In The Coroner
5. T.D.S. (Take It As You Will)
6. Bodies On Bodies
7. Kill On Command
I remember the very first time when I was listening to this album. After the
first minute or so, I couldn't help but start laughing - not because of the
vocals or anything like that, it was just the sheer intensity of the music
that really struck me hard. Except for maybe Slayer's Reign In Blood,
I had never heard anything so hilariously violent in thrash metal before. In
my opinion, Eternal Nightmare is one of the best thrash metal debuts
ever and a nearly perfect album. It starts off with furious speed and keeps it
up until the very end, no slowdowns between. The songs are such wonderful
riff-fests that to find another full-length album with anything similar you
really need to try. I know many people disliked Vio-lence because of Sean
Killian's vocals, but at least on this album his howling voice sounds just
fine to me and helps to create the distinguishable sound of Vio-lence. If you
want to take a really good nostalgia trip to the heydays of thrash metal, this
is definitely one album to pick up.
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1. I Profit
2. Office Nice
3. Subterfuge
4. Engulfed By Flames
5. World In A World
6. Mentally Afflicted
7. Liquid Courage
8. Oppressing The Masses
After their furious debut Vio-lence adopted a lot drier sound for their second
album, which was a bit disappointing. The songs are slightly more diverse
and the lyrics more serious, but as a whole the album is somewhat dull. Sean
Killian's vocals actually got worse here (more whiney, that is) and on some
tracks he sounds downright irritating at times. Nonetheless, Oppressing The
Masses is still an interesting effort and there are some excellent
individual songs like Officer Nice and World In A World on it.
The whole thing just does not quite have the unique charm of its predecessor.
While there were expectations for a lot more from this album, sadly the outcome
fell a bit short.
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1. Torture Tactics
2. Officer Nice (live)
3. Gutterslut
4. Dicks Of Death
The sole purpose of this mini album was to release the infamous title track
that was dropped from Oppressing The Masses by the band's record
company when the album was already finished. It might have been better indeed
if the song had been included there since Torture Tactics is pretty
useless as a separate release. The title track is fast and crunchy with brutal
lyrics, but musically it's really nothing special. Officer Nice is a
great song in its original form, but the "live" version of it is just a filler
track, and the last two pieces are the poorest jokes with their over-the-top
sexist content. Except for being maybe an interesting item for collectors,
Torture Tactics provides little value to any serious listener.
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1. Atrocity
2. Twelve Gauge Justice
3. Ageless Eyes
4. Pain Of Pleasure / Virtues Of Vice
5. Killing My Words
6. Psychotic Memories
7. No Chains
8. Welcoming Party / This Is System
9. Colour Of Life
The last Vio-lence album showed some interesting development in the band's
approach to songwriting. Basically it's still the same aggressive Vio-lence
but with some additional twists in the music. Considering the general style,
there are not too radical differences from the earlier efforts - for example,
the fastest tracks Twelve Gauge Justice and Colour Of Life could
be directly from Oppressing The Masses, while Pain Of Pleasure
is a good example of a new style where the song starts slowly before building
up full aggression. But although many songs are very powerful, the hollow
sound quality makes the album appear somewhat sloppy. Musically Nothing To
Gain is slightly stronger than a couple of preceding releases, the band
sound more mature than before, and the vocals are now more balanced, therefore
it's a real pity that the production values leave a lot to be desired.
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1. Dead City
2. Soulbursting
3. Vengeance And Venom
4. M.A.O.T.
5. What About The Time After?
6. Sign Of Evil
7. Violent Force
8. The Night
9. Destructed Life
10. S.D.I.
Violent Force may well represent the least known German thrash metal bands of
the 1980s, which must be partially due to the poor availability of their
only official release. Malevolent Assault Of Tomorrow certainly lives
up to its name as far as speed and energy are considered. The album is given a
great start with the somewhat Motorhead-ish Dead City, and from then on
it continues in the same frantic vein without the slightest drop in intensity.
One could call the band's style rather simple which it may well be, but it is
also very effective and doesn't waste time on unnecessary attempts at some
more complex or refined output. Complete with great aggressive vocals, this
album is simply quite refreshing and straight to the point. It is actually a
great shame that Violent Force never had any better distribution for their
music, as the band were clearly very good at what they did.
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1. Too Loud
2. Awakened In Death
3. My Stomach Strong And Fit
4. Genocide
5. We Hate All
6. Dismiss The Evil
7. Sycophant
8. F.Y.I.
9. Go To Hell
The opening of Violentor's debut release is possibly one of the best tracks
that Motorhead never recorded. Like the band put it on Too Loud, "It's
loud - it's just too loud for you!" A complete cliche, but rarely it has
sounded as good as here. As the rest of the album proves, Violentor can also
shift to high gear more than adequately enough although the utterly delightful
spirit of the first song may not be quite fully met on later tracks. A
noteworthy aspect of Violentor's speed/thrash metal is the total opposite of
the uptight and tense feel that some other modern recordings feature. This
album sounds like it was a fun one to produce, and this time also the listener
can honestly enjoy the output. Extra points for the vocalist's strong hollering
that appears both natural and highly convincing in this context.
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1. Pray For War
2. To The Death
3. Malignant Massacre
4. TNT (Thermo Nuclear Thrash)
5. Night Siege (Intro)
6. Risen From Death
7. Scarred For Life
8. Neo Warlords
9. Cannibal Holocaust
Based on their early albums Virus were clearly below the average of the
British thrash metal genre in the beginning. Pray For War is easily
less than impressive, a collection of primitive and somewhat messy thrash with
hardcore-ish vocals and only passable sound quality. One could say that this
album represents the underground scene in its most undeveloped form. Sure,
it's as good a proof about what once lived so brightly as any other, but as a
musical statement this is just another minor entry in the history of thrash
metal. With no memorable tracks to speak of, Pray For War only fits
into a true collector's list of curiosity items to hunt for. Some recordings
do get their point through despite all their seemingly lacking qualities, but
this one just falls flat on its face.
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1. Testify To Me
2. Viral Warfare
3. Force Recon
4. Release The Dead
5. No Return
6. B.S.S.D.
7. Hungry For Blood
Although there's some even slight improvement over the band's debut release,
Force Recon sounds strangely plain and unimpressive. This album
simply seems to have no definite opening or ending, it's practically just a
collection of tracks that appear very alike and uninteresting. Most of the
time it is like repeating the least required formula over and over again, and
in the end you are left scratching your head and trying to remember what the
whole thing was all about. Actually, the instrumental piece Viral
Warfare must be the best track of the album, as at least the lifeless
vocals do not distract you on that one. For the most part Force Recon
appears just too uninspiring and dull that you would want to spend any more
time on it than what is absolutely necessary.
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1. Seeing Is Believing
2. Lunacy
3. Bad Blood
4. The Pain Will Pass
5. State Of The Art
6. My Life
7. A Sense Of Freedom
8. Don't Get Even...!
Compared to the earlier efforts by Virus, Lunacy showed some definite
improvement in both production and songwriting. The sound of the album is very
heavy and the general feel much more varied than previously. This time the
plain vocals are more emphasized and sound quite peculiar yet very original,
although they are a bit too weak and unclear and almost get buried under the
bass-heavy production. The music is still not overly distinctive except for
the title track that has a great, nasty main riff accompanied with some scary
sound effects. However, there are a lot of intriguing, genuine touches on the
songs, which makes this album on the whole fairly interesting. In
retrospective, Lunacy is a fairly nice recording from the heydays of
British thrash metal, but that's about all there's to it.
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1. Korgull The Exterminator
2. Fuck Off And Die
3. Slaughter In A Grave
4. Ripping Headaches
5. Horror
6. Thrashing Rage
7. The Helldriver
8. Build Your Weapons
9. To The Death
Sometimes you cannot help feeling that something in Voivod, the original cult
band from Canada, defies all definition. After the awfully primitive and
sloppy speed/punk mixture of War And Pain, Voivod's Rrroooaaarrr
was a certain improvement towards speed/thrash metal although it's still a lot
messier and sloppier than you would expect from even a minor band in the
genre. Snake's vocals sound positively drunken, and "precise" is by no means
a word to describe the early Voivod. Still, this album has a fair share of
rude charm that helps it to overcome some shortage of finer qualities, and
tracks like Korgull The Exterminator and Ripping Headaches are
not such bad thrashers at all even though more of similar intensity wouldn't
have hurt. At this point Voivod were still far from typical speed/thrash metal
standards but Rrroooaaarrr gives at least a fair snapshot of their
status in the process.
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1. Killing Technology
2. Overreaction
3. Tornado
4. Too Scared To Scream
5. Forgotten In Space
6. Ravenous Medicine
7. Order Of The Blackguards
8. This Is Not An Exercise
9. Cockroaches
Killing Technology is possibly the closest thing to pure technical
speed/thrash metal ever released from the chaos engine called Voivod. The
first few tracks are actually enough to give this album a good name - if you
survive the quirks of the opening title track, it doesn't get any worse after
that. Although this may be one of Voivod's most focused moments and certainly
their most notable expedition in the thrash metal field, some song structures
and arrangements here are still pretty much far out from an ordinary
listener's perspective, and those accustomed to a typical Slayer-ish sound
probably don't get much out of the whole thing without an extensive period of
concentration. While this kind of disorientation can be a definite put-off,
one must admit that Overreaction and especially This Is Not An
Exercise are some very cool pieces. For a peek into Voivod's world,
Killing Technology might be one of the better choices to start with,
although those who cannot stand the slightest experimentation in their music
should stay far away.
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1. Darkness
2. To Die Is Not To Die
3. Pet Sematary
4. That's My Victory
5. Descent To Hell
6. Scratch Noise
7. War? Where My Enemy Lies
8. Silence City
9. Hide
10. Volkanas
Almost completely a band of females, Volkana were probably quite an exception
not only in the Brazilian thrash metal scene but also worldwide. Then again,
except for vocals the band sound much like most others in the genre on their
debut. The music is actually well above the average with some good, heavy
riffs and quite a decent production, resulting in somewhat more creative
presentation than usually. Sometimes the vocals could be heavier, though - the
powerful low range used in Descent To Hell, for example, might have
improved many other songs as well. Whereas most tracks are quite heavy and
crunchy, the Ramones cover Pet Sematary appears surprisingly lightsome
and uplifting. Although Volkana's style is far from novel, somehow the band's
energetic and rich sound makes this album more enjoyable and effective than
one might expect - a little surprise, actually.
Note:
This album was released on CD as self-titled and with different artwork.
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1. Dr. Speed
2. Satanic Madness
3. Vicious Circle
4. Black Messiah
If anything, Vomitory's Catastrophical Expectations is fast,
unpretentious, and credible. This is little more than a compact example of
straightforward and energetic thrash that still works out surprisingly well,
especially so when the band's later and more stale productions are taken into
account. The ideal of "short and sweet" applies here perfectly, and although
this is far from a great milestone in thrash metal, it is simply an
entertaining piece of history with its relatively fresh sound even from
today's perspective. Not exactly extraordinary, but easily Vomitory's best
release that can make their subsequent recordings appear seriously lacking in
spirit.
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1. F.T.A.
2. Weekend Madman
3. Witches & Demons
4. The Bringers Of Faith
5. Hour Of Truth
6. Pull The Plug
7. Future Shock
8. Catastrophical Expectations
9. Royal Rumble
10. Foolsway
Although Hour Of Truth is not one of the most pointless releases around,
it's certainly not too significant either and pales in comparison to Vomitory's
first release. Mostly this is some very unsurprising thrash metal with all the
most familiar elements - the vocals are quite strong, the band's general sound
is fairly satisfactory and all, but there are no memorable riffs to speak of
and the whole thing sounds just too generic and bland for its own good. A
couple of songs with some quirky rhythms may draw your momentary attention, but
for the most part you'd be forgiven for having difficulties to remember what
you just heard. In the end Hour Of Truth is just one of those albums
that come and go without a notice.
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1. Warchild
2. Free From Hair And Brain
3. The Most Effective Vomitory
4. Baschlasophobic
5. Sexjunks
6. A Little Song About Dying
7. One Step To The Abyss
8. Hour Of Death
9. Prophecy
10. Pornos In The Parsonage
11. Tribute
Following its less impressive predecessor, Baschlasophobic manages to
raise only some minor interest with its more varied sound which still lacks
any serious momentum. With this album the band headed for a bit more
technical direction in their music, a choice that is not unreservedly a good
thing as the mostly straightforward nature of Hour Of Truth at least
made it fairly tolerable. Now the tracks still do not seem to have much point
in them, but in addition they can occasionally become almost irritating. To
some extent, the unfocused feel of this recording makes it appear worse than
it might have been with more unsurprising but consistent pounding. Here the
unrefined vocals, totally unmemorable riffs, and a couple of unfitting funky
moments just result in an overlong and very dull album. The emotional A
Little Song About Dying is sort of novel for a song, but that is a major
exception. Although Baschlasophobic may not be a total loss, it is
difficult to say anything really positive about this album.
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1. Labirinto
2. Scream God
3. Southern Raiders
4. Blessed Trinity
5. False Redemption
6. F.M.R.
7. Veias Abertas
8. The Worst Creature
9. Sensacoes De Decadencia
10. Do Principio Ao Caos
Vox Mortem's The Worst Creature is an interesting though somewhat
incoherent thrash metal release with some crossover tendencies. The vocals vary
from occasional deep growls (on Scream God in particular) to more common
plain shouts that arguably sound much better. The latter half of this album
also contains a couple of tracks in the band's native language. But it's the
most straightforward and traditional thrashers where Vox Mortem make their
most successful demonstrations. Songs like Blessed Trinity, F.M.R.
and the title track are all quite effective pieces even though not really
unique of their kind. Despite some experimentation here and there, for the most
part this release quite safely delivers what you would expect from a typical
thrash metal album in the Brazilian scene.
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1. Dominios Of Death
2. Spirits Of Evil
3. Ready To Explode
4. Holocaust
5. Incubus
6. Death Metal
7. Voices From Hell
8. Bloody Vengeance
The debut studio album by a legendary band in Brazilian black/thrash metal
circles, Vulcano's Bloody Vengeance demonstrates a raw style typical
for its time. Featuring relentless thrashing from start to finish, this album
doesn't offer any great surprises although it must be admittedly one of the
most extreme releases from the period. The sound quality is passable for this
kind of early effort, not the clearest around but still sufficiently
intelligible and heavy. Worth a special note, this recording is actually
almost closer to a mini album than a full-length release due to the generally
very short length of these songs. Altogether, while the band's energetic
approach is respectable and rather convincing, in the end the output is not
too memorable except for its general intensity which is not such an uncommon
feature after all.
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1. Red Death
2. Death Angel's Armies
3. Brainwash
4. F.T.W. (Fuck The War)
5. Fallen Angel
6. Anthropophagy
7. Anyone Can Kill
8. Stirring
9. (Am I Crazy?)
10. Megathrash
11. Upright
Anthropophagy was a direct sequel to Vulcano's debut, extreme thrash
metal played with respectable intensity and attitude. But while the music
should sound quite familiar to your ears, some other aspects can lead to a
less positive impression. The recording quality is somewhat clearer but also
way thinner than on Bloody Vengeance, and although the sound there was
slightly muddy it supported the music better than on this album. Here the
listening experience is severely hampered by the near complete lack of
production values. As there was already a significant number of thrash metal
releases around in the genre at this point, the characteristics of a poor demo
tape probably didn't exactly help this release to stand out.
Anthropophagy is yet another fair example of Vulcano's consistent and
extreme style, but the sound quality is simply not up to even moderate
standards.
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1. The Next
2. Who Are The True?
3. Different Lands
4. Fuck Them
5. Witch's Sabbath
6. Never More
7. Flies Around The Shit
8. Do You Remember
9. Hercobulus
Continuing in the vein of Vulcano's established style, Who Are The
True? features the same kind of rough and primitive thrash metal that was
introduced already on the previous albums. It is not radically different from
Anthropophagy, for example, maybe a bit more playful here and there,
but still with a consistent sound. These songs would never get voted into the
top ten of the genre, but then again, it is probably not reasonable to expect
catchy riffs from this kind of release anyway. Occasionally you may observe
moments of semi-inspired songwriting, more so than in the immediate past
actually, but those are just tiny bits that will get erased from memory before
long. As for the general sound quality, it is almost typically mediocre for
the band at this point. Another unrefined release from Vulcano, Who Are The
True? is likely to serve the band's true fans only.
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1. White Violence
2. Last Day
3. Blind Science
4. Welcome To The Army
5. Time To Change
6. Ratrace
7. The Lungs Of The Earth
8. Just A Matter Of Time
9. In The Mirror
Ratrace is possibly Vulcano's most stereotypical thrash metal release
to date. The most notable feature that separates this album from most others
is the incredibly weak guitar sound. While the drums and almost totally
incomprehensible vocals are tolerable, the guitar is quite ridiculous to say
the least, as if toy guitars had been used during recording. Either that, or
the band's equipment must have been extremely poor. If you can look past the
glaring technical shortcomings, the music is just typical for the time, fast
and energetic but not too memorable. Even with such an unexceptional output,
the band do manage to sound genuinely enthusiastic at times, which is not a
bad achievement at all. Although one cannot help but feel some sympathy for
Vulcano's continued efforts, Ratrace is way too far behind the more
impressive albums in the genre.
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1. Gates Of Iron
2. The Bells Of Death
3. Priestes Of Bacchus
4. From The Black Metal Book
5. Devote To The Devil
6. Fall Of The Corpse
7. Face Of The Terror
8. Guerreiros de Sata
9. Troubled Mind
10. The Sign On The Door
11. Obscure Soldiers
12. Total Destruicao
13. Bestial Insane
Joining the ranks of veteran bands who have returned to the attack with a
comeback album, Vulcano made quite a faithful re-rendition of their classic
style with Tales From The Black Book. While the band's brand of intense
thrash metal remains essentially the same as before, possibly with a bit more
focused approach than in the past, the result is certainly better produced. It
cannot be emphasized enough what a difference even a passable production
quality can make - here it may be still a bit rough around the edges, but
there is nevertheless a definite improvement over the band's older releases.
Other than that, the years passed don't actually show in the music in the
least. From an average listener's perspective, Tales From The Black
Book is a fairly strong album in itself, and you might actually count it
among Vulcano's better releases to date.
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1. Messenger From Hell
2. Hide Your Hate
3. The Harvest
4. Holocaust (The Second Assault)
5. Five Skulls And One Chalice
6. Witchcraft Act
7. The Seventh Seal
8. Minister
9. Steed Of Steel
10. Riding In Hell
11. Legioes Satanicas
Coming out as something of a surprise, Five Skulls And One Chalice is
almost guaranteed to shake a casual listener up a bit with its rough sound.
Although this is surely nothing exceptional in Vulcano's scale, it seems to
take some time to adapt to this kind of imperfection after you've got used to
the sterile modern production standards, no matter how artificial they really
are. But this is one thing that this album actually benefits from, as the
impression is a lot more honest than the norm. The content is the same kind of
raw thrash metal that we've come to expect from Vulcano, this time with some
particularly hoarse shouted vocals. Actually, it's pretty useless to add any
other remarks, as those people who already know the band can trust in their
current opinion, and those who don't should rather start from the beginning
of Vulcano's discography and see if they want to continue from there. Either
way, Five Skulls And One Chalice is another logical addition to the
sequence.
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1. S.O.S.
2. You're Invited (To My Chainsaw Party)
3. I Stand Apart
4. No Romance
5. Psycho
6. Coitus Tormentus (Hard Love)
7. Fatal Games
8. Don't Pray
9. They're Here
10. Not Six But Seven Dead
Despite the vast amount of middle-ground thrash metal released in the late
1980s and early 1990s, some of the albums even in this category were
quite solid releases after all. Vulture's Fatal Games may not be the
most distinctive album of its kind, but it carries a consistent stomping feel
with a fair deal of variety and even some originality. Not to forget about the
production that is very heavy and full, resulting in a warm and organic sound
that you can rarely find nowadays. Musically it is an appealing effort, with
fine full-speed thrashers like I Stand Apart accompanied by some
ultra-heavy stompers like No Romance which must be actually among the
best in its class. The vocal performance is laudably intense, and despite
using a fairly high range at times it fits the general dark sound very nicely.
All this considered, it is no surprise that in the end Fatal Games
manages to stand out even in the crowded scene.
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1. Hatred At First Sight
2. Near Death
3. Remember Me
4. Backwards
5. Easier To Lie
6. Alter Ego
7. Kicked From Both Sides
8. Greater Cause
9. Forgive Us
Vulture's second release Easier To Lie is another piece of full-fledged
thrashing in all aspects, even though a bit more on the usual side than the
band's distinguishable debut. The sound of this album is slightly colder and
more typical for the genre than Fatal Games, but it is obvious that the
band still had an eye for characteristic songwriting which is supported again
by a good stomping sound quality throughout. While the songs may not feature
quite the same kind of hooks as on the previous album, Vulture certainly knew
how to put enough energy even in basic riffs in such way that the outcome
remains pretty effective. Easier To Lie may not be a masterpiece of
thrash metal, but it pulls the right strings to eventually win you over.
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