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ABATTOIR - THE ONLY SAFE PLACE (1986)
After Abattoir's debut album Vicious Attack all members except Mark Caro and Mel Sanchez left the band, so Abattoir was forced to start all over again. Mark and Mel soon found new members and the new lineup handles their seperate instruments well. Guitar virtuoso Juan Garcia (Agent Steel & EvilDead) left the band and perhaps that was the beginning of the end for Abattoir since they disbanded a year later. Anyhow, soundwise there are hints of Savage Grace but you can also expect some Maiden-ish melodies. New vocalist Mike Towers has a good voice, but nothing exceptional. If you think of the stereotypical metal sound of the 80's, Abattoir has it, Maybe not that unique and not much that sets them apart yet their musicianship is somewhat strong and compelling. The production of this album is better than the debut even if the music itself is a bit plain and unoffensive. Maybe Abattoir played it too safe here. It's the Only Safe Place after all.
After Abattoir's debut album Vicious Attack all members except Mark Caro and Mel Sanchez left the band, so Abattoir was forced to start all over again. Mark and Mel soon found new members and the new lineup handles their seperate instruments well. Guitar virtuoso Juan Garcia (Agent Steel & EvilDead) left the band and perhaps that was the beginning of the end for Abattoir since they disbanded a year later. Anyhow, soundwise there are hints of Savage Grace but you can also expect some Maiden-ish melodies. New vocalist Mike Towers has a good voice, but nothing exceptional. If you think of the stereotypical metal sound of the 80's, Abattoir has it, Maybe not that unique and not much that sets them apart yet their musicianship is somewhat strong and compelling. The production of this album is better than the debut even if the music itself is a bit plain and unoffensive. Maybe Abattoir played it too safe here. It's the Only Safe Place after all.
Soon after the release of the album Abattoir disbanded for the first time and even if the band has done a few reunions since then they never managed to release a studio album. Which was unevitable I guess since this type of music was replaced with death and thrash metal towards the late eighties. No matter what Abattoir will always be in the history books for being one of those few American Speed Metal bands that actually managed to get not only one record out but two. The Only Safe Place is a good album but not an album that made Abattoir into a household name like their neighbours in Agent Steel. The Only Safe Space is a cool album but it has fallen into obscurity over the last couple of years.
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⭐⭐⭐
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ABATTOIR - VICIOUS ATTACK (1985)
Abattoir, a classic speed metal band in Los Angeles. They were active in the mid eighties and they had some ties to Agent Steel. Both bands came from Los Angeles, both released their debut albums in 1985 through Combat Records. Both played speed metal and Juan Garcia handles the guitar in both bands. Even Agent Steel's frontman John Cyriis used to sing in Abattoir.
So does this sound like Agent Steel then? Well almost,
Abattoir brings you some up-tempo metal with catchy dextrous riffs and a fearsome vocalist in Steve Gaines. He has a great voice, he can sing melodies but he also attempts a few "air raid siren" screams. Vicious Attack has got the essence of speed metal down to it's core. It's fast, wild, loose and heavy all at once and it got balls behind it even if the vocals are high-pitched. It definitely has all the elements you want in a speed metal album. On the other hand the production is a bit blurry and on the low budget side, but I've heard worse so don't let that bother you too much.
Any album that guitar legend Juan Garcia (EvilDead, Agent Steel & Abattoir) appears on are worth getting in my opinion. Even if Juan's name wasn't included in the liner notes at first but he admitted in an interview that he handles the rhythm guitar on Vicious Attack.
It's a short album, clocking in around 27 minutes. Which is kinda the standard when it comes to Speed Metal, You don't want the bruising to overstay it's welcome so to speak. Abattoir's Vicious Attack is a great debut album and It's deservingly considered a speed metal classic.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ACCUSER - DOUBLE TALK (1991)
Accu§er have a long career behind them but they are still somewhat anonymous amongst metal fans, at least here in Sweden. Maybe things are different in their native Germany. Accuser displayed some talent with the release of their first two studio albums (The Conviction and Who Dominates Who?)
For me Accuser is a B or perhaps even C tier when it comes to German thrash metal. The guitars are crunchy in a typical Bay Area fashion, think late eighties Metallica or perhaps Testament is more on point. The bass is audible here though and there are some rather funky riffs thrown in here and there that draws my mind to bands like Mordred or Death Angel on 'Frolic' or Act III. The crunchy riffing is the best thing about this record but the vocals are a bit generic to say the least.
Despite being a German thrash band Accuser sounds more like an American band. The lyrics are also all over the place from bashing on the American dream to bashing on communism and even a song about alcohol.
It feels like they were written in five minutes and maybe they were, But on the other hand most German bands weren't that good at crafting eloquent English lyricism.
If you find this album cheap, go ahead and pick it up, but this is not an album you'll need to sell your appartment for, unless you're really into some good 'ol 80's crunchiness. But what do I know? Maybe it's all just misleading double talk.
⭐⭐⭐
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ACCUSER - DOUBLE TALK (1989)
Accu§er existed for over a decade but their long career of thrash metal debauchery
didn't put them in the same bracket as more household names like Kreator, Sodom and Destruction. But they are certainly one of the first bands you'll bump into if you dig a bit deeper than the surface level.
"Who dominates who?" is their third release and their last of the decade (1989).
and I think they did pretty damn well here. I wouldn't exactly disagree if someone
called this their best effort.
We got seven songs or pure high octane thrash. Kind of raw with rough edges mostly due to the somewhat stale production, but still quite technical in their approach. If you're into aggressive and fast Bay Area-styled thrash with some German flavouring think Tankard or Assassin you would certainly dig Accuser.
Fast riffing, speedy basswork, screaming solos, thunderous drumming and straight forward and aggressive vocals, with the shouting backup vocals by the rest of the band. That's usually a winning concept when it comes to thrash and it works here too. The first three songs are all fantastic and the opener and title track on side two "Who dominates who?", Oh, my god, it's really a thrash metal anthem on par with anything that Kreator, Destruction or Sodom were doing at the time. If you find this out of print album pick it up before it's too late!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ACID REIGN - OBNOXIOUS (1990)
Acid Reign hailed from England and this were their third release if we include their debut EP. Acid Reign are probably most known today for including Gary "Gaz" Jennings of doom metal legends Cathedral in their early lineup but he wasn't a member of Acid Reign on this release. The album Obnoxious was released in 1990 on the label Under one flag and it was the last thing heard from this band before they disbanded. So let's start with the horrendous or obnoxious album artwork. It's ugly and very, very pink. Terrible of course but since the album is titled Obnoxious I get the idea but things like this can turn off any thrash metal fan unfortunately.
On the plus side is Howard 'H' Smiths vocals, he sounds a bit Joey Belladonna of Anthrax so that is cool and as musicians Acid Reign are a competent band that borrow their ideas from the aforementioned Anthrax but you could also hear a bit of the 'Justice' era of Metallica.
You can certainly find more important releases in 1990 when the scene was starting to get crowded by bands similar to Acid Reign but they are still amongst the most respected British thrash bands out there together with Onslaught and Sabbat to name a few. The lyrics are mainly introspective and they deal with topics such as loneliness, despair and hatred. Acid Reign might have been one of the more popular thrash bands from the UK in the late eighties and early nineties so for that they are worth checking out and who doesn't like some crunchy Anthrax-inspired thrash? I certainly do.
⭐⭐⭐
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ACID REIGN - MOSHKINSTEIN (1988)
Upon the first look it's easy to think that this is some type of Hardcore or type of crossover when gazing upon the moshing character on the artwork. In general you should perhaps not judge every album on it's cover but it often tells you a lot of the album and I do think that's the case here for Acid Reign's Moshkinstein.
Because this is a Crossover thrash album. But I think that this is closer to Anthrax than S.O.D. so it's thrashy enough for most thrash fans I would say. They sound a bit like a Anthrax. At times Acid Reign churns out some rather impressive riffs but it's not just the Atlantic ocean that seperates Acid Reign from the your typical New York Crossover sound, H's limited vocals gets on my nerves a bit and the somewhat dull guitar leads is also a deal breaker for me personally, But on the tracks Suspended Sentence and Chaos (Lambs to the Slaughter) Acid Reign gives us a thrashing that could easily be a part of those S.O.D. and M.O.D. releases from the mid to late eighties.
This type of "Fun Thrash" might be a relaxed style far away from the seriousness of those who only supports trve cvlt underground metal. But on the other hand I never felt the urge to put on my bathing shorts and flip my cap up just to have a good time. I like more serious thrash than that in general.
If you got some confidence in your music why not show that instead of jerking around with childish themes and dress up like you're going to the beach to surf. I never undestood that idea because I want thrash with some integrity and be somewhat true to the original ideals of the genre. But this is definitely not the worst case of "Fun Thrash" I've heard, it's actually pretty decent and most fans of crossover thrash would probably dig this but for me, Thrash with sandals and bathing shorts is not really my thing.
⭐⭐⭐
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ADX - LA TERREUR (1986)
The French metal scene was truly amazing in the early eighties, maybe not that known outside the France borders but damn they had some great bands back then. Bands like Sortilége, H-Bomb, Trust, Satan Jokers, Demon Eyes and Blasphème all sung in the native french tongue and ADX keeps up that good 'ol tradition going. The difference is that ADX plays it a little faster than all those bands. Their debut was an excellent speed metal album and this follow-up continues in that tradition.
"La Terreur" (translated into "The Terror") is more mature than it's predecessor, it's also more grand and majestic in it's sound and approach. It's quite varied but it lacks a bit of that early wild 'n loose approach that ADX brought to the table. Sometimes ADX sounds a bit like Iron Maiden around Killers but played a little faster and with another type of vocalist. The production is however an improvement on the debut, which is a good thing. If you like speed metal like Agent Steel, Exciter, Helstar, Liege Lord, Savage Grace, Abattoir and such you need to get your hands on some ADX because they deserve to be mentioned amongst the best of what the speed metal genre ahs to offer. "La Terreur" is an excellent speed metal album but less raging than the debut so it gets four solid axes out of five.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ADX - EXÉCUTION (1985)
ADX is a French speed metal band and it wouldn't be completely false to call them legends of the underground. Their debut album Exécution was released in 1985 the same year as Agent Steel's Skeptics Apocalypse and Abattoir's Vicious Attack and stylewise it is in the same region but with French vocals of course. There are also some early Anthrax and Exciter vibes here even though ADX had one leg in the more traditional French heavy metal scene.
The album has some razor sharp riffing with good high-pitched vocals sung in their native tongue. It's a bit sad that bands like ADX were overlooked because they didn't sing in English because in my mind there is no excuse to disregard this album just because you don't understand what they are singing about, especially when the whole mood and songs are superbly crafted.
Phil Gelaud's vocals is very unique and I think he is a fantastic singer.
The intro riffing in Déesse du Crime and the fantastic galloping guitars in Prisonnier de la Nuit is something to behold. ADX also dares to take down the tempo at times and bringing in some harmonies that brings your mind to Di'Anno-era Iron Maiden. It's just masterfully done, speed metal with a melancholic atmosphere and great tempo changes. Simply, Exécution is a must for any fan of 80's metal.
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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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AGENT STEEL - ALIENIGMA (2007)
Four years since their excellent Order of the illuminati, the masters of metal, The Asians of Steel, oh excuse me, Agents of Steel are back with a brand new album.
Since then a few things have changed, this feels more mature and less over the top with crazy conspiracies and otherworldly falsetto screams. But it's still Agent Steel we're talking about here so there is definitely a lot of that here too but maybe not as wild and crazy, this is a bit tame in comparison to some of their early stuff. I also think that the absolute killer standout tracks from all their previous releases is kinda missing in action here.
Bruce Hall who in my opinion is one of the greatest replacement singers does a great job filling John Cyriis old boots. His voice has matured or ages a bit here since he sounds a bit rougher and lower than on the previous two Agent Steel recods. At times he almost barks like he was fronting Exodus or something.
The production also sounds slightly more modern production but some things remains the same. Versailles and Garcia, the phenomenal guitar duo delivers riffs and especially leads that will make your head explode and fly into outer space.
Alienigma kinda sounds like a Nevermore-album in sound and production. A decision that will alienate (no pun intended) some of the old Agent Steel fans, including myself to some degree. Compared to earlier Agent Steel albums this might be seen as a slight disappointment but compared to a lot of other metal albums coming out in 2007 this is actually pretty decent.
So I'm not going to tear Alienigma apart completely, it's an ok album for any other band in the genre but I have high standards for this band because I know their back catalogue and I know that Agent Steel can deliver some incredible albums from time to time but perhaps this wasn't the homerun that we hoped for. I hope that Agent Steel finds a way to re-discover their old ways and why not with John Cyriis returning, We are allowed to dream aren't we?
⭐⭐⭐
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AGENT STEEL - ORDER OF THE ILLUMINATI (2003)
The masters of metal are back again in 2003 with another album that absolutely destroys all the competition. We are looking at my favourite album of 2003. We are in somewhat of a thrash revival lately but few or perhaps none does it better than Agent Steel. For example I think this beats Overkill's Killbox 13 that came out a few weeks ago. But it's not all nostalgia and space aliens for Agent Steel, They have managed to preserve their form from the late eighties but also managed to renew themselves a bit with Bruce Hall at the microphone.
I really liked Agent Steel's comeback album Omega Conspiracy from 1999 and this is a great continuation of what they did on that record. I love everything about this album. It's well produced a bit too modern perhaps but hey we can't demand perfection. Bruce Hall has an incredible falsetto and he is backed up by the shouted backing vocals. Add to that intriguing lyrics about conspiracies and the secretive Illuminati trying to control all of us. That certainly adds to the paranoia and excellency of this album.
Order of the Illuminati is varied and the guitars are stellar or should I say interstellar ;). The album has two instrumental tracks, Dance of St. Vitus and Kontrol. The first one being a bass solo.
If youre not so well acquainted with Agent Steel then you must ask yourself;
What are you doing with your life?
We've seen a lot of legacy thrash bands returning lately and some of 'em have been unable to deliver the goods but that's certainly not the case with Agent Steel, these guys are as vital as ever before.. I think that this is something of a modern classic. Buy or die!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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AGENT STEEL - OMEGA CONSPIRACY (1999)
In 1998 Agent Steel reunited after a ten year long hiatus. This time with a new bass player in Karlos Medina and missing is also one of my alltime favourite metal vocalists John Cyriis, Besides King Diamond he is perhaps the hardest vocalist to
replace due to his extreme falsetto but despite that Bruce Hall does a remarkable job and he hits the high notes without any trouble. His voice is a bit more controlled but overall what a great choice of vocalist. This was certainly were Agent Steel could have ruined their legacy by picking the wrong vocalist but Bruce Hall is simply excellent. Not as weird or quirky as Cyriis but he certainly holds his own.
There has been some sort of thrash metal revival lately and I think that Agent Steel is leading this movement because of all the comeback albums we've seen so far from these old legacy thrash metal bands I must say that Agent Steel's Omega Conspiracy is probably the best one so far. It's fast and intense with some serious guitar chops and yeah, everything about this album is great, the lyrical themes about aliens and all sorts of conspiracies, I just love it.
Hightlights are "Destroy the Hush", "Illuminati is Machine", "Know your Master" and "Awaken the Swarm".
Who is the great dictator
Who oils the grand machine
Who lubes the wheels of progress
With blood drawn from your veins
One World
New Order
Illuminati poisons you
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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AGENT STEEL - UNSTOPPABLE FORCE (1987)
In 1987 Agent Steel continued their journey to world domination by releasing their second full-length album titled Unstoppable Force, and what a fitting title for an absolutely unstoppable album. Agent Steel proved that Skeptics Apocalypse wasn't just a one hit wonder. They managed to back it up with a perhaps even better album.
Bernie Versailles and Juan Garcia is one of the most underrated guitar duos in metal and here they constantly churn out remarkable riffs delivered at a crushing pace. But unlike their debut album that leaned a bit more towards USPM this album is overall a bit thrashier.
They dare to mix in some Alex Skolnick (Testament) sounding melodies and even some acoustic parts in songs like Chosen to Stay and Traveler.
Overall Agent Steel delivers some thrash anthems of the highest quality here, just listen to songs like Unstoppable Force, Never Surrender, Rager or the instrumental The Day At Guyana and you'll be aware of the unstoppable nature of Agent Steel's music.
The album manages to blend incredible fast rhythms with wonderful and melodic leads and add to that a vocal performance by John Cyriis that goes beyond what any other thrash vocalist has done before him. He can hit higher notes than anyone I've heard within this genre before. If we're talking about thrash, this is not a 100% thrash record like Exodus or Testament, No there are shades of speed and American power metal here. John Cyriis might be a bit odd for some people but don't be close minded. He is simiply fantastic.
I think that his highly unique style delivers on a level unheard of in metal prior to the release of Unstoppable Force, he's that good. Sure we have our Halfords and King Diamonds but Cyriis delivers another type of falsetto and it's just intoxicating in a good way.
The lyrical themes about paranoia and aliens is a truly haunting experience. You can almost feel the presence of extraterrestrials when listening to this album. At least it will make you wonder what type of advanced Alien tech that made this album possible.
Agent Steel manages to create a sound here that takes the sound of Priest and Maiden and brings it up a notch not only in intensity but I think that this album is on par with the best albums of those legacy bands. Because Agent Steel builds their sound on more traditional metal bands. So don't go out expecting this to sound like Slayer or Kreator.
The well respected metal site BNR Metal hails Unstoppable Force as one of the best metal albums of 1987, any genre and I do certainly agree with that.
Agent Steel are a criminally underrated band and I think that they should be hailed as metal legends but unfortunately it took the band 12 long years to record a follow-up to Unstoppable Force, so they were unable to build on the momentum of this oh so brilliant album, I can only imagine what a third Agent Steel-album would have done with the upcoming Grunge wave. It would probably have sent Kurdt Cobain to orbit another planet, never to return again. Ah, wishful thinking. Anyhow Unstoppable Force is one of the best albums of the 80's. It's a masterpiece, there's no doubt about that.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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AGENT STEEL - MAD LOCUST RISING (1986)
Agent Steel is back with the follow-up EP to their 1985 masterpiece Skeptics Apocalypse. This EP was released the same year and by now Agent Steel were making a name for themselves as one of the most over the top speed metal bands out there. The reason why I love Agent Steel is that they play so goddamn fast still they can bring you the chops and the melody whenever they feel like it. Add to that John Cyriis vocals are just something else, he has the most incredible falsetto ever heard to man. Just listen to his insane scream in Mad Locust Rising. That's one of the best falsetto screams ever caught on vinyl, he makes Geoff Tate of Queensrÿche go out of breath, that's how extreme his vocals are.
The only negative here is that the EP is very short, it's under 12 minutes but every second of this EP is goddamn excellent. They even take Judas Priest's Ripper and makes it a bit faster but it still is very true to the original.
Add to that Let it be Done which melts into The Day at Guyana which is one of the best instrumental songs I've ever heard so you can stop reading now and go out and purchase this EP straight away straight away. This is one of the best EPs ever made so what are you waiting for?
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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AGENT STEEL - SKEPTICS APOCALYPSE (1985)
In 1985 a Los Angeles based band took their first steps on the metal scene. It was Agent Steel with their debut album Skeptics Apocalypse. They were formed by John Cyriis who had a short stint with Megadeth before they released their first album. Kinda like Dave Mustaine's own destiny and just like Dave, John went on and started a new band and became a legendary metal frontman on his own.
Some people didn't understand John Cyriis falsetto insanely high falsetto screams and his strange fascination with Aliens and conspiracies but nobody should be that close minded that they disregard Agent Steel because they are truly Metal Masters right from the start.
If you mix Savage Grace with some Queensryche and add some sprinkles of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and speed it all up a bit you'll get a sound somewhat similar of that of Agent Steel on Skeptics Apocalypse. Speed, Heavy, Power or Thrash, call it what you will. I simply refer to Skeptics Apocalypse as a masterpiece.
My favourite songs on Skeptics apocalypse are: Agents of steel, Bleed for the godz & 144.000 gone. Skeptics apocalypse is one long powertrip of the finest speed metal you'll ever come across. It's really that good. Agents of steel, MASTERS OF METAL!
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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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AGONY - THE FIRST DEFIANCE (1988)
Aaah, here we have a truly nice piece of thrash annihilation from Sweden. Released in 1988, "The First Defiance" by Agony is the first Swedish full length (so no, all you cultists out there, Raving Mad's 7" does NOT count!) thrash release that I know of. A popular mention as the first swedish thrash album is Midas Touch's overrated "Presage of Disaster", but as it was released in 1989, "The First Defiance" predates it with an entire year.
Anyway, this is great stuff. Agony plays aggressive but yet controlled thrash metal, reminding of late 80's Testament, with light shades of Exodus as well. I also get some technichal vibes of Artillery at times. The songs for the most part are mid paced, but when the guys thrash they really do it with grace. Lots of crushing riffs here. All eight songs are great, but as favourite cuts I would mention the entire A-side, along with the devastating "Night of the Emperor". This is an excellent release, and, next to Mezzrow's "Then Came the Killing", the best thrash metal album to ever come out of Sweden as I see it.
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⭐⭐⭐⭐
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AIRDASH - HOSPITAL HALLUCINATIONS TAKE ONE (1989)
The Finnish thrash quintet Airdash strikes back again. This is their second studio album and soundwise they have matured a bit since the last time. This is quite frenetic thrash that brings bands like Anthrax, Exodus, Defiance and Lääz Rockit to mind.
The vocals are quite monotonous and they bring down the general impression of the band. There are no aggressions behind Junnu's vocals, fortunately the backing vocals are a bit more resolute. The snare drum sounds a bit plastic but at least the production is clear and things are audible. In my point of view Airdash were a third or fourth tier thrash band. Quite technical and probably worshipping bands like Metallica and Testament but not quite as good songwriters as those bands.
Hospital hallucinations take one was released in 1989 and if you are seriously into thrash, your collection wouldn't be complete without Finnish bands such as Stone and Airdash. But for those of you who discovered thrash metal recently can hopefully find better bands and albums out there. But a song like "Forbidden thoughts" is good enough to investigate this album. the last songs on this album saves the album for me.
There's a lot of crunchy Bay Area sounding riffs on this record that brings it up to a three axes out of five. This album is probably quite hard to find so if you see it and like Bay Area sounding thrash, then why not give it a change.
⭐⭐⭐
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AIRDASH - THANK GOD IT'S MONDAY (1988)
Finnish thrashers Airdash debut album Thank God It's Monday came out in 1988, quite entertaining, at least the first side of this LP, energetic and well executed thrash. It's hard to say similarities for those who have never heard Airdash but it's more in the Bay Area school than the more brutal and noise German School. These guys were sometimes referred to as Stone's (Finnish thrash metal band) little brothers. They are quite similar in style, very crunchy and somewhat technical thrash in the Testament meets Exodus tradition.
My favourite songs are: Helluva noise, Spit your guts and the last half of the "Thank god it's monday"-song. Airdash were one of those bands that if you find the album you can pick it up, but don't expect anything out of the ordinary here. Still Airdash can be an enjoying band to bang your head to. The production is a bit sloppy and the vocals monotonous but musicwise it's pretty good stuff. Their albums are probably quite hard to find since I doubt they spread much farther then their local scene so pick 'em up if you find it, that's my advice.
⭐⭐⭐
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AM I BLOOD - AM I BLOOD (1997)
Am I blood's selftitled album was their first under the new name. They originally went under the name Metalli..., eeh, no excuse me, St.Mucus. In fact this album was originally released as a St.Mucus but now rebranded as Am I Blood. This Finnish band is more or less a Metallica rip off, even the album art has strong Master of Puppets vibes going on. I guess I was recommended this album due to being such a Metallica nerd back in the day. The music of Am I Blood reminds me of Metallica during the Justice and Black Album era but with a slightly more modern 90's touch to it. It's not as great as prime Metallica obviously but there are a few riffs and a pair of decent sounding songs on the album like 'Battlefreak' or 'Endless Energy'.
What reminds me most of Metallica is the vocalist Janne Kerminen, he is a deadringer for James Hetfield. It's such a ripoff that it feels a bit cheap listening to this but if you're really into Metallica and can't really listening to anything that sounds different from them, maybe this would suit your needs even if I think this is average at best.
Today the band has found a new vocalist but I'm not sure that they have found their own identity or if they still copy everything Metallica does. This thrash meets groove metal album is an average release at best but I guess some Metallica fans have enjoyed this album over the years. But for me, this isn't anything I would spend my days hunting down.
⭐⭐
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ANACRUSIS - SCREAMS AND WHISPERS (1993)
Screams And Whispers is the fourth and final studio album by St.Louis progressive thrash metal band Anacrusis. It was released just months before their split in 1993. I though their Manic Impressions was an excellent album and I really like the progressive route they took on that album. On Screams and Whispers Anacrusis goes even further with the progressive side of their music. But it's also a quite intense record so they haven't gotten soft or anything.
It's like a thrash version of Queensrÿche's magnus opus Operation: Mindcrime. But Anacrusis were faster and heavier in all areas and Kenn Nardi ain't exactly a Geoff Tate-replica, unfortunately. But his talkative vocals manages to create a
great atmosphere, he goes more aggressive at times but mostly it's kinda laidback and chill. Anacrusis might not be the most known band within the thrash genre but their musicianship is on a very high level. Add to that a crispy clear and very professional production. It just works so well together with the proggy side of Anacrusis. Their early work were more thrash but over their career they got more progressive and on this album it's almost full on progressive metal. So if you're a thrash only kind of guy, this might be a little too weird for you.
This is one of my favourite prog album's from the 90's. If you like bands like Watchtower, Sieges Even or Mekong Delta you'll need to check out Anacrusis right away. This is such a creative record and it also manages to be unique even if I tried to compare it to other albums in this review.
Anacrusis were no copy and paste-band. They had an own idea of how their music should sound like. Not like the hundreds of Slayer and Metallica clones out there and you have to respect them for that. Screams and whispers should be regarded as a classic progressive thrash metal album.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANACRUSIS - MANIC IMPRESSIONS (1991)
After the first two albums Anacrusis came to a crossroad and the band chose to go in even more experimental and progressive direction for their third album. The end result was titled Manic Impressions and it was released through Metal Blade Records in 1991. The thrash metal scene was started to be flooded by 1991 so I guess it made sense to explore new territories.
Fans of Flotsam and Jetsam, Coroner, Voivod and Prong would certainly enjoy a record like this. It's atmospheric, very well-produced and a bit weird in it's progressiveness.
Kenn Nardi's voice shiftes a lot through out the record. He spits rapidly kinda like Sabbat's (UK) Martin Walkyier but he also uses a more dreamy talkative voice that suits the prog metal explorations.
The choruses are also very memorable especially in the songs 'Paint a Picture' and 'I love the World', the last one being a New Model Army-cover. If you like raw old thrash metal with lots of noise and reverb this would probably be too weird for you. But if you're a bit more adventurous and like progressive metal then I can highly recommend that you check out Anacrusis third studio album Manic Impressions.
Maybe this record was a bit ahead of it's time, there were prog metal before Anacrusis but this doesn't sound dated or anything, quite the opposite.
Anacrusis was a heavily underrated thrash metal band and Manic Impressions is another solid album that most metal fans will enjoy.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANACRUSIS - REASON (1990)
Reason was the second offering from St.Louis based thrash metal band Anacrusis, on this album Anacrusis shows off a more sophisticated side of themselves.
This is quite progressive with lots of tempo changes, we've heard Progressive thrash before Anacrusis but I still find this to be quite unique and before it's time. Kenn Nardi's voice shiftes quite a bit, from some sort of smooth dreamstate vocals to some rough-edged shrieks. Which I do like.
He has a singing style that is quite unique in thrash metal. Not many bands delivers such laidback and clean vocals.
You'll have to go deep underground to find these types of atmospheric arrangements in the eighties. It does perhaps not have the clear production of their 1993 album Screams and Whispers so that makes this album sound more old school.
Reason has a few strong tracks that you can hit up on youtube, such as Stop Me, Terrified and Misshapen Intent, which all are solid numbers.
I'm a fan of the band and I like their albums, they are the thinking man's band, at least since the release of this album. So do I recommend Reason? Well, For those who want more traditional thrash this might be a hard swallow but if you like
dreamy progressive thrash with spitifre vocals, then this would be right up your alley. Or why not go for any of the other Anacrusis-records, they are all way above your standard fare.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANACRUSIS - SUFFERING HOUR (1988)
St. Louis based thrashers Anacrusis started their journey with the great Suffering Hour, released on Axis Records in 1988. It's a very intense album, soundwise it has similarities with Bay Area thrashers Testament. Technical gritty thrash with strokes of technical brilliance. Main man Kenn Nardi who handles the guitar and sings has a very tortured shrieking vocalstyle. I love the vocals on this record and how intense the music is.
The album is a bit underproduced, but it ain't terrible. Later Anacrusis would develop their progressive side but this is mostly a ferocious and straightforward thrash metal album.
Suffering Hour is simply great. Above-average and for the most part, melodic at time with great menacing guitar riffs. The drumming is excellent and the lead guitar work is stellar, these guys were great musicians, there's no denying that. Suffering Hour could be a name for listening to an hour of progressive thrash for some but there's no suffering here because this is a great debut album and definitely worth checking out if youre a fan of violent and technical 80's thrash.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANGEL DUST - FROM DUST YOU WILL DECAY (1988)
After the initial success with the bands debut album "Into The Dark Past", vocalist and guitarist Romme Kaymer left the band because he had no intentions to be a vocalist in the first place. So in stepped S.L. Coe (who would later appear on Scanner's 'Terminal Earth' album). Mr Coe brought a new more melodic element to the band with his more German Power Metal way of singing. But guitarist Andreas Lohrum didn't get along with the bands new vocalist so he decided to leave. But the bands rhythm section Banx (R.I.P.) and Assmuth then decided to recruit two new guitarists; Stefan K. Nauer and Vinni Lynn.
So it was obviously a huge risk to make so many changes in the lineup when their debut album was so appreciated and highly rated. But I think that this gamble payed off.
Their debut album was fast and dark thrash that reminded me of early Iced Earth and early Helloween. This album sounds more mature and has a stronger European power metal edge to it.
Which I think is good, because the songs are more varied here. Maybe "From Dust You Will Decay" has historically been a bit overlooked from the general thrash fan as most of us goes for the Bay Area-sound or the more violent side of the Teutonic thrash. Angel Dust didn't belong to any of those groups. Angel Dust had more similarities to their peers of the upcoming power metal wave. If you think of the fastest albums of that movement like Helloween on Walls of Jericho, Blind Guardian on Follow the Blind or Rage on Reign of Fear.
On "To Dust you will decay" Angel Dust delivers crushing riffs, melodic vocals and the rhytm section of Banx and Assmuth ties it all together perfectly. "To Dust You Will Decay" is an epic record and a must for the power / thrash fan.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANGEL DUST - INTO THE DARK PAST (1986)
Into the Dark Past differs a bit the regular German thrash release. It focuses more on sheer speed and blistering fast solos and a even melodies than the savagery of bands like Sodom, Kreator and Destruction. The album is driven by the insanely fast rhythm guitars that brings my mind to Helloween's "Walls of Jericho".
I find Angel Dust's debut to me more intense than the follow-up 'To Dust You Will Decay', it's also an almost completely different lineup on that album so that makes sense I guess.
It's full throttle from the first second to the very last on Into the Dark Past. Fans of Iron Angel and Living Death will surely enjoy a thrash album like this one. It's mainly a thrash metal album but there are hints of German Speed and Power metal here too. It might get a little repetetive when all songs are delivered in full throttle. So expect your neck to start hurting if you listen to this banger of an album too often.
Maybe Angel Dust never became more than a second tier thrash band in Germany, I guess that has to do with the fact that they disbanded after just two albums and when they returned they kinda ditched their thrash influences and went for a more typical German power metal sound. But if you ask me this is as good as anything that bands like Tankard, Iron Angel, Paradox, Vendetta, Assassin, Holy Moses and a few other German thrash bands came up with.
This is great stuff, don't skip out on Angel Dust, I mean how bad can a band be if they name themselves after an old Venom song.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANIHILATED - THE ULTIMATE DESECRATION (1989)
I received a package from Anihilated about ten years ago (2004?) and I said that I was going to review their albums. But Instead took the site offline so I never published any review of Anihilated's The Ultimate Desecration until now in 2014.
I have spun the album a few more times and I think the music is quite good. It's a very rhythmic and crunchy thrash album. Reminding me a lot of late eighties Slayer minus some aggression and speed. The Ultimate Desecration is Anihilated's sophomore studio album and it was released in 1989. The album contains some nice tempo changes.
The vocals by Simon Cobb are ferocious and evil-sounding, he does his job without excelling. The album is very guitardriven, It's some fine blue collar chugga-chugga thrash from the first second to the last. The solos are fast and and everyone who is into Slayer or curious of British thrash metal, then this album might be for you. The Ultimate Desecration has that raw late 80's sound. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece or an album that you need in your life but it's not garbage either. It's slightly above average sounding Slayer-esque thrash.
⭐⭐⭐
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ANNIHILATOR - SUICIDE SOCIETY (2015)
Another year, another album from one of the most productive bands in the business. I'm of course talking about Annihilator and their 15th studio album Suicide Society. What's new in the Annihilator camp is that their vocalist Dave Padden has left the band after a decade as the bands frontman. This came to a shock to Jeff Waters and it was so close to the recording of the album so he decided to do the vocals himself this time.
I think that is a positive thing because I was never a fan of Dave Padden's modern approach to metal. The album has some Megadeth vibes, The hit song Suicide Society sounds a lot like Megadeth. Especially when Jeff Waters sings with a little more grit to his voice. The music is quite similar too, just like Megadeth, Annihilator puts a ton of focus on the guitars and vocals.
Worth noting is also the song My Revenge that sounds a lot like Metallica's Damage Inc. So similar that I would call it a ripoff.
Suicide Society is pretty decent for being an Annihilator album, at least I don't cringe and need to turn it off right away, which in this case is a compliment. Hopefully they are on the right path now, but there is still a long way to the top if you wanna rock 'n' roll to quote AC/DC. So, I give two stars out of five for the new Annihilator disc.
⭐⭐
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ANNIHILATOR - FEAST (2015)
Annihilator, my favourite band to bash because they used to be good but they started chasing trends and it just made them look rediculous.
So they haven't released anything but modern post-thrash or groove metal or whatever you wanna call it. This is another disc with some interesting solos and guitar rhythms. But overall this is sounds a bit like modern day Metallica. There's things that resembles thrash but it's more music that are aimed for kids that think that Alice in Hell is dad rock.
Feast sounds a bit like your common modern day radio rock albums. You know that garbage that they play on the your local radio stations and they call it metal even though it has more in common with alternative rock. Just listen to the ballad Perfect Angel Eyes, it's one of those über sappy ballads. This is metal for men who like to cry in groups. Or spin the track One Falls, Two Rise, it could have been on a Nickleback album at least until the song picks up some pace, then it sounds like System of a Down or anything crappy like that.
The track Wrapped is also boring. At least the track Deadlock has a few speedy thrash riffs in it. The same goes for Fight the World. Those two tracks saves the album from the 'zero axes out of five' rating. I think Jeff Waters needs to hire a real metal producer and find some musicians that can play on his level and let them influence their sound because Jeff doesn't seem to be able to create good music by himself even if he is an extraordinary guitarist. Right now it's just a waste of his talents. So I hope he finds that so that he can focus on creating riffs that are worthy of his talent instead of playing this kid friendly pop metal. Avoid this one!
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⭐
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ANNIHILATOR - ANNIHILATOR (2010)
Annihilator's 13th studio album was self-titled and it came out in 2010.
My first impressions of this record is that it has a better production than their last handful of albums, it actually sounds like a metal album now and not just like they lended Lars Ulrichs garbage cans and Cher's auto-tune.
Still it's a rather modern sounding album. Dave Padden has never been a favourite of mine even though his voice at times sounds similar to Jeff Waters. Padden has a slightly more aggressive vocal style at times, His vocals are really annoying when he goes into these core-scream sections. His voice is also very muffled at times which is a curse of modern metal.
Annihilator seems to have taken everything a notch more serious here and listened to the critique that they have received lately. I must admit I haven't followed Annihilator closely since I haven't liked any of the albums that they've put out during the last 15 years or so. But I have of course listened to each and every of their albums.
I guess we have to accept that the sound of Annihilator early albums can't be recreated in this modern day with all these digital and lifeless ways of producing an album. But it sounds a bit better this time. Less groove and a little more thrash this time around. I also must mention that I dislike the artwork it looks more like a modern day horror movie cover or something. Plus the fact that they decided to ditch their red logo for this one, it's almost unforgiveable. But on the other hand this doesn't sound like Annihilator of old so they might as well change the name and the logo. haha
Their self-titled might be a tiny step in the right direction, but I also think this is far from good. But maybe this is their best since 1999's Criteria For a Black Widow.
⭐
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ANNIHILATOR - METAL (2007)
On Annihilator's twelfth studio album Metal Jeff Waters gathered many of his favourite musicians to do collaborative album. Unfortunately he is a big fan of many rather terrible modern metal bands such as Trivium, The Haunted, In Flames, Lamb of God, Children of Bodom, Arch Enemy and Nevermore. But on the other hand managed to getsome real legends in here too like Steve 'Lips' Kudlow from Anvil and Dan Beehler and Allan James Johnson from Exciter.
That's the Canadian metal royalty right there. Unfortunately the Exciter guys only came in to do a rendition of Heavy Metal Maniac, plus it's only a bonus track on the Japanese edition of this album. Kind of sad when that was the best track on the album.
Repetition seems to be the key here. playing the same riffs over and over again. For me that's just lazy and boring, especially when your sound is so mechanical, then you really need more variation to keep it interesting. Plus the lyrics are really really dumb.
That also sums up my feelings towards this album that claims to be metal. If this is metal, then I don't know if I like metal at all. haha The mallcore vocals by Dave Padden combined with nu-metal riffs is not alright for a band that once was considered to be the biggest talents out there. This album is so boring and bad that I can promise that I will not listen to this crap ever again.
For me Annihilator might as well throw in the towel, They haven't released anything decent in almost 20 years now. To be honest I can't even think of a good song that the band has recorded since 1994's King of the Kill. Annihilator truly are the Nickleback of metal, popular but nobody in their right mind likes them. Metal is actually one of the worst album's that Annihilator has produced. It's like Foo Fighters but with some extra distortion and even shittier production. This is utter garbage!
❌
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ANNIHILATOR - SCHIZO DELUXE (2005)
I'm starting to get tired of reviewing new Annihilator albums. This band has sucked real hard ever since 1994's King of the Kill, well Criteria For a Black Widow was alright too but more or less every album since then has hit a new even lower level of suckage.
There's not much positive to talk about here, but the drums have improved slightly since their last album that had programmed drums.
Then we got the negative, I just don't like Dave Padden. He is one of those modern metalcore type of vocalists with no talent that just screams into the microphone because his grandma told him that's what metal sounds like. Dave is by far the worst Annihilator vocalist to date. I much rather listen to Jeff Waters singing.
I mean he is there, he should front the band. It's his band after all.
I've never digged the modern metal sound that Annihilator are so into these days and Schizo Deluxe is just more of the same garbage we've heard for years now.
I wouldn't call this thrash no more, no this is more groove meets Nu Metal.
The song Drive seems to have the main riff copied from King of the King from 1994 so there are even some re-hashed riffs on this one. That's how uninspiring they've become.
Schizo Deluxe is what you can expect. It's Jeff Waters solo project and we can't expect them to ever bring back the sound of the first two records.
Sorry but I can't give this more than a crossed out star.
❌
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ANNIHILATOR - ALL FOR YOU (2004)
Annihilator is once again back with a new album and of course with a new lineup as well. The bands founding member Jeff Waters has recruited drummer Mike Mangini and vocalist Dave Padden for this release. The album is such a strange creation that I don't know where to start.
Well, lets go with the lyrics, Dave Padden's vocals. Damn they are seriously bad. Half of the time he sounds like that Chad Kroeger guy from Nickleback and the other half he sounds like one of those modern core shriekers.
Bands that are doing that are in general teens of today with emo haircuts who play lousy music and just screams into the mic. You know those guys with Justin Bieber haircuts, tattooed sleeves and big plug piercings in their ears, while they rap or scream into the mic. Yeah, the worst type of posers on the planet.
Annihilator has embraced that poser shit for a long time now.
There are some serious System of a Down-vibes going on here and it's just embarassing.
As always it's Jeff Waters technical guitar play that is in the forefront of Annihilator's sound. When Annihilator debuted they were a sensation and their first two albums was incredible and they were hailed as the next big thing in thrash. But the implementation of modern ideas has forever changed the band for the worse.
I no longer buy their albums because they've disappointed me for a decade straight now and I'm done with these posers. Sure Jeff can still play but it doesn't even matter when the production is garbage, the vocalist terrible and everything sounding so fake and plastic. I guess they looked at System of a Down and saw that they were popular so without any integrity at all or care for their fanbase they jumped on the next train to poserville. It's time to forget about Annihilator just like we did with Metallica, they sold their souls, not to Rock 'n' Roll but to an industry that don't give a shit about them.
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❌
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ANNIHILATOR - WAKING THE FURY (2002)
If you want metal with generic progammed drums and a production as dead as your great great grandma. Add vocals that are so processed it makes your microwaved corndogs seem natural, look no further. Here's the metal version of soggy microwaved corndogs.
This album contains one of the worst sounding drums I've heard. It's close to Lars Ulrichs performance on St. Anger. It's just terrible, no way a human played this. It sounds like someone sat with and downloaded the most generic drum loops they could find. Randy Black is the bands drummer but there's no way that this ain't electronic drums.
This album was supposed to be so fast and heavy but when it's produced like this someone needs to be fired and never let near a studio again. It's actually produced by Jeff Waters himself and damn, does this guy need a real producer because this sounds like some bad techno band from the 90's. Faster! Harder! Scooter! Annihilator!
I never understood why Jeff who is such an incredible guitar player fell into these dumb traps, playing nu metal, playing sappy ballads, following whatever was trendy in the so called metal community. Great artists don't follow trends, they create them.
So this is just sad how they fell from grace.
I've read favourable reviews for this album like it was some type of Painkiller for the 21th century and that's a big fat lie or someone needs to clean their ears from wax. Sure it's a fast album but it's so mechanical and dead that you might as well watch a metronome at 150 bpm instead. It might be a fast album but who cares when the vocals sounds like Cher on crack with a buzzsaw tuned to a metronome ticking in the background. Jeff Waters produced this album and he must have been listening to a lot of new metal crap that is popular right now. It saddens me to see such a good songwriter and musician to produce and turn his own albums into this terrible mess. That my friends, awakens my fury.
❌
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ANNIHILATOR - CARNIVAL DIABLOS (2001)
The 90's was lots of ups and downs for Annihilator and now in this new decade.
Original vocalist Randy Rampage has unfortunately left the band but Annihilator has been able to recruit Liege Lord's old vocalist Joe Comeau, an excellent choice if you ask me. Unfortunately he isn't allowed to show what he is capable of here, because his voice is drenched in these computerized sounds. He sounds more like Cher with this and it's just rediculous. Why would you want to erase the organic feel of someones voice? It makes no sense at all. Recruit someone who can sing if Joe Comeau's voice is gone. Yeah, I just don't understand this at all.
Why recruit a fantastic singer if you're going to do that to him? It makes no sense.
The production also has this modern and plastic feel to it. Just like the vocals the guitar tone seems completely muffled.
It's the so called Loudness Wars that were going on in the 90's and 2000's. It ruined metal and this record is a proof of that. There are outbursts of great guitar leads and riffs here and there but when it all sounds so bad and fabricated I just want to shut off this garbage. This was why albums like Alice in Hell was good because they didn't do shit like this back then.
The song Shallow Grave sticks out because it sounds a bit like AC/DC but there is nothing here that sounds particularly good.
To sum it all up, “Carnival diablos” leaves the bitter taste of modernity and they have gone down the Metallica route here by completely pissing on their own legacy.
⭐
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ANNIHILATOR - CRITERIA FOR A BLACK WIDOW (1999)
After the terrible Nu metal sounding album Remains, Jeff Waters got his shit together and recruited drummer Jeff Hartmann back to the lineup. Jeff who played on their legendary first two albums Alice in Hell and Never, Neverland. But it didn't end there. Vocalist Randy Rampage was who sung on Alice in Hell was also back in the lineup. So this was mean't to be the real comeback to form album for Annihilator.
Jeff Waters understoud that the groove/ nu-metal sound didn't go that well with his fans so on this album it was a trip back to the early albums that made them successful to begin with.
The first track Bloodbath blew my mind when it came out in 1999. It was so fast and aggressive, the type of material that Annihilator hadn't done for years. But the rest of the album doesn't keep up with that initial tempo.
But I think that the third part of "Schizos (Are Never Alone) is a solid track. So how good is this album then? well it has definitely some flaws. The repeating Groove metal-inspired riffs can get a bit too much at times and a few songs are uninspiring. But let's not forget that this album was released in 1999. when most other bands had forgotten what thrash was all about, at least Annihilator gave it a try and this is a much better album than Remains. But for me Criteria for a Black Widow ends up as a highly average album and an album that I'll probably never return to again.
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⭐⭐⭐
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ANNIHILATOR - REMAINS (1997)
Jeff Waters was the only remaining member in the band in 1997, So he sings and plays all the instruments except for some additional guitars on the song No Love.
Jeff is often hailed as a genious guitarist and I guess that he is, but when you release utter garbage like this it gets hard to listening to his more recent albums and take those seriously when you hear what a sellout he was in the 90's.
This is one of the worst 'metal' albums I've heard in my whole life, it's actually worse than Metallica's St. Anger if you ask me. Since Jeff was the only guy left in the band he decided to program some drums and they sound horrible.
This is sounds more like Rammstein or something shitty like that. It's just so unforgiveably bad that Jeff deserves to get his guitars stripped from him after this album. Is it Nu Metal? Industrial metal or groove metal? I don't know, all I can say that this is horrible. Repetetive and boring and even the guitars sound programmed.
It was probably recorded on some old windows PC and Jeff thought it would be a great idea to download some drum and guitar loops.
It's so bad that I would even get offended if I heard electronic bullshit like this in a night club in Ibiza, that's how bad it got for the once mighty Annihilator. Dumbed down Rob Zombie clownish sounding bullshit. Jeff should have been tarred and feather for releasing this abomination.
Remains is the worst Annihilator album and one of the worst metal albums I've heard in my whole life and I've listened to thousands of metal records, I guess this is what remains when you're out of good ideas.
❌
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ANNIHILATOR - REFRESH THE DEMON (1996)
Annihilator used to be the most promosing upcoming thrash metal band on the planet just five years prior to Refresh the Demon but lately they have been one of the most disappointing too. They left their thrash metal sound behind to follow the stream and to play some sort of groove metal. A genre that I don't have much over for, it's just so repetitive and the riffs just feels dumbed down in comparison to fast paced thrash riffs. Usually in groove metal there are some screaming tough guy that just yells profanity into the mic which isn't the case here so they at least did something right.
The lyrics however are mean't to be comedic I guess? I mean Pastor of Disaster, really? Come on Jeff. We know you can do better than that.
For me this is a highly average and boring album and I haven't revisited it for years but upon writing this review I think most of us agree that this type of groove metal just feels dated and uninspiring. There were just so many bands that fell into this trap. It was 1996 after all and you could hardly even find a decent metal album that weren't extreme metal so it's not only Jeff's fault but yeah, they kinda squandered their career with uninspiring albums like this. At least it was heavier than the shit that Metallica and Anthrax and a few others put out during this time but Refresh the Demon weren't particularly good. So skip this one!
⭐⭐
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ANNIHILATOR - KING OF THE KILL (1994)
Annihilator started out as a thrash metal band, but when they released their third album (Set the world on fire) ventured towards more commercial sounding metal. Now on their fourth album they have taken a small step back towards a somewhat thrashier sound.
This is also the first time that Annihilator no longer is a band but a solo-project. Jeff Waters sings, he handles the bass and all guitars on this record. Everything besides the drums that are left for Randy Black.
Let's start with the positives here. This is a very varied albums with no songs that sound alike, King of the kill and Second to None are up-tempo thrashers. In the Blood on the other hand sounds almost like an 80's power ballad. I also like the instrumental Catch the wind, which is a melodic and mellow song that reminds me of guitar shredder Eric Johnson's work. Perhaps not metal but a well constructed instrumental. The mid-tempo song "Bad Child" is also fun.
King of the Kill is a good album, but there are too few speedy numbers on this disc. King of the kill is built around Jeff Waters guitar play, wonderful at times, but not always that hard or fast.
King of the Kill is as I see it their last good album before totally whimping out and releasing all those mechanical modern groove metal albums. I would say that King of the Kill sits somewhere between Alice in Hell and Set the World on Fire in heavieness. This was the first Annihilator album that I bought and I played it quite a bit back in the day so I like it a bit for nostalgia more so than the actual quality of the record. But if you are looking for more Annihilator than the first two albums, King of the Kill is a good place to start.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANNIHILATOR - SET THE WORLD ON FIRE (1993)
I'm still dumbfounded when I go back listening to this record. It's such a weird record. Maybe it's because that it's only Jeff Waters remaining in the band since their 1989 debut. Sure Wayne Darley is still here but he was just adding backing vocals to Alice in Hell and he would soon leave the band due to not being able to enter Japan when the band went there to tour.
Set the World on Fire is a much more mainstream sounding record than the previous two. You can hear flair of hair metal and even some rather funky Faith No More-sounding stuff.
There's a lot of acoustic arrangements and slow and dreary ballads. Just towers of cheese built on their old legacy. Maybe inspired a bit by Metallica and Megadeth that had success with their ballads.
Some songs are listenable, the intro track sounds stupid even if it is some sort of a thrash song. The commercial Knight jumps queen has a few great riffs and No Zone are enjoyable. Phoenix Rising and Snake in the Grass are absolutely intolerable though, it sounds more like they should have been on a Bon Jovi album than a thrash album and those songs makes me want to throw this album out the window.
Annihilator has slowed down considerably and this has more in common with the cheesy late eighties hair bands than thrash. Compared to their earlier albums this one isn't even deserved to be named in the same sentence as the "Alice in hell" and "Never, Neverland". By the way Niel Goldberg and drummer Mike Mangini are new members of Annihilator. But I don't think they got so much to say or do when Jeff Waters decided to sell-out and chase the mainstream dream. Just Don't mind this album.
⭐⭐
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ANNIHILATOR - NEVER, NEVERLAND (1990)
One year after their remarkably successful debut Alice in Hell, Annihilator is back with the follow-up titled Never, Jeff was approached by Megadeth to join them but he declined to pursue his own career with Annihilator which makes sense when
their debut record was a massive hit.
One could claim that it went downhill from that even if the problems aren't evident here. I'm of course referring to the constant lineup the band has undergone, vocalist Randy Rampage left the band after the debut and in came Coburn Pharr who does a solid job but his voice is slightly less aggressive.
Bassist Wayne Darley is new to the lineup and the album also features some lead guitar work by guitarist Dave Scott Davis but as said before there are no real negative impact to talk about here. Jeff Waters is of course the bands main man but that wasn't as obvious early on but with the revolving doors I lost interest in the band, not for that case alone but how Annihilator modernized their sound in the early 90's.
This divided the Annihilator fans into two camps, those who only like the first two albums and those who liked Annihilator whatever wherever they chose to go. I'm definitely of the first group, even if I like 1994's King of the Kill as well.
Never, Neverland are in many cases similar to the Alice in Hell, Both are technical masterpieces with some incredibly tight guitarwork and with a haunting eerie feeling that dealt with mental issues themes. Jeff Water's brings some guitarwork on this album that hasn't been heard since Randy Rhoads or Eddie Van Halen's days. Sure they like to repeat some of the riffs a tad too much but you just can't deny Jeff Waters brilliance here. The production is also great, it's clear and above the standard fare. Songs like Road to Ruin, Stone wall, Imperiled eyes, Phantasmagoria & Reduced to Ash are brilliant numbers. I think this is a masterpiece just like their debut Alice in Hell was a year earlier.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANNIHILATOR - ALICE IN HELL (1989)
Annihilator debuted in 1989 with Alice in Hell and they were one of the last thrash bands of the second wave of thrash that had some sort of international breakthrough. This debut album sold in remarkable 250.000 copies worldwide, which is nothing but a huge success for a thrash band coming out of Canada. I guess that makes this the best selling Canadian thrash metal album of all time, but I'm not sure about that.
Annihilator quickly made a name for themselves and Megadeth wanted Jeff Waters to audition for the band after the release of this record but Jeff who saw the rise of Annihilator said no to Dave and instead they recruited Marty Friedman so I think it worked out well for both parties.
Annihilator's music was very guitar-driven owing almost all success to their guitar maestro; Jeff Waters. He plays the guitar flawlessly. The band was actually a three-piece band in 1988 when the band recorded Alice in Hell but Anthony Greenham and Wayne Darley are noted as members on the album sleeve. Wayne Darley does however provide some backing vocals on the album. Alice in Hell is a very professional sounding debut album with a crystal clear production and some real tight musicianship, especially in the guitar department. But I also think that they were more of a band in the beginning in comparison to the 90's and beyond when they almost became a solo-project of Jeff Waters.
For me this is one of the best thrash albums of 1989 and I also consider this album to be the bands finest moment. In the 90's the band introduced elements of groove metal and the band never managed to recreate the greatness of their first two albums (Alice in Hell and Never, Neverland). But they have made somewhat of a career for themselves even if a lot of their albums are followed the trends of the 90's. But that's another story. You can't compare those records to Alice in Hell. I just love the haunting, psychotic feel of this album and it's also fast with driving riffs, which at times has this almost King Diamond-feel to them, but with another type of vocalist of course. Songs like Alison Hell, Burns like a Buzzsaw Blade and Human Insecticide that has some excellent riffs at full speed. Well folks, this album burns like a buzzsaw blade!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANTHARES - NO LIMITE DA FORÇA (1987)
Somewhere in the city of São Paulo, Brazil a band called Anthares had their home base. Not much is known about the band besides their names and that they released this 12 inch vinyl in 1987 through Devil Discos.
A label that also released material by brazilian thrashers Korzus, Dorsal Atlantica and Ratos De Porao. I haven't found any interviews or reviews written about the band or the album, but I know that Anthares made a comeback lately (2015) and finally recorded a followup to No Limite Da Força, which was their only release until just months ago (O Caos da Razão).
Anthares brings you some potent thrash in the veins of early Exodus, Exumer or Slayer to namedrop a more known band. The production is a bit on the lowbudget side though but it's not terrible or anything.
Anthares delivers fast and unrelenting thrash all sung in their native tongue. With a strong vibe of primitive old school thrash. More like your typical 1985 release than an album from the late 80's. Which I definitely like. I'm completely charmed by this album even if the musicianship isn't fully on par with the giants of the genre.
So expect some face-ripping thrash in it's truest form. I really like their vocalist / madman Henrique with his psychotic falsetto screams and those fast Slayer noodling solos that Zé Aranha and Cristian delivers. Just look at the album artwork, it exudes greatness and Anthares surely delivers. The album was reissued in 2009 by Blood and Iron Records so the album is perhaps not completely impossible to find.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANTHRAX - FOR ALL KINGS (2016)
Scott Ian described "For All Kings" as "the most metal album they have recorded in years". As clichéd as that statement is, It's actually correct.
For All Kings is Anthrax most metallic sounding release since 1990's Persistence of Time. The album starts with an intro befitting an epic Manowar intro, that then leads into some thrashing riffs with the song 'You Gotta Believe' and for a moment it feels like we're back in the eighties moshing to 'Among the Living' all over again.
It felt very fresh with some fast ripping riffs and Joey Belladonna's vocals sounded good again and not as processed as he had done lately.
But things doesn't stay within this thrash realm for that long. No, the band still falls into the alternative rock swamp. Maybe this was done to bridge the gap between the Bush-era fans and the Belladonna-fans. But overall For All Kings are an improvement and that came as a bit of a surprise to me who thought the band was completely dead creatively.
Even if they are probably the most vibrant of the big four bands when it comes to their live gigs. The track Breathing Lightning it's the big hit on this disc and also the best song on the album even if the Foo Fighters-like chorus doesn't do it for me.
Joey Belladonna's vocal lines are a bit off on this album, they flirt a little too much with the mainstream rock sounds of today. In my opinion Anthrax doesn't need sing-along choruses to make memorable songs.
The album is tighter than Scrooge´s wallet on Christmas, which is expected. Today it's way harder to hear any sound difference between a Megadeth, an Exodus or an Anthrax album when most bands have similar production values and sound.
But I also need to press the importance of newcomer Jonathan Donais from Shadow Fall, he brings some pure expression with his strong soloing and lets not forget about the rhythm section of Benante and Bello, they really show their skills here. Even if the band has some way to go, I think For All Kings is Anthrax best record in the last 25 years. Just listen to the tracks You Gotta Believe, For All Kings, Breathing Lightning or the speedy Zero Tolerance. So welcome back Anthrax!
⭐⭐⭐
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ANTHRAX - WORSHIP MUSIC (2014)
Belladonna returned to the band and did some touring during 2005-2007 after that he left again and Anthrax tried a new vocalist called Dan Nelson but that didn't work out and John Bush didn't seem to be that interested in coming back to Anthrax.
So Joey then decided to return again prior to recording this album.
I saw that this album scored some rather favourable reviews on sputnikmusic.com
and people ranking it higher than both Fistful of Metal and State of Euphoria but that's just bullshit if you ask me. People tend to rate new things better than the classics, at least for a while.
Worship music might be slightly better than their latest turds but it's not even close to old school Anthrax. Just because Belladonna is back it doesn't automatically means that the quality of yesteryears are back. I think his voice has changed a a bit over the years. The wild Belladonna- falsetto screams are no longer a part of Anthrax sound, he sings way more controlled here, which also means more boring.
The music on the other hand is thrashier than anything they released during the last decade. I get some modern Iron Maiden-vibes by all the guitar melodies and overall feeling of the album. Even if this ain't no return to form I think it's Anthrax best album since 'Sound of White Noise' or when John Bush took over the microphone in the early nineties.
It gives me some hope that Anthrax still has a decent future to come if they continue embracing the past. Fans of Anthrax want the band to sound like Anthrax, they don't want to hear them being trying to imitate Pearl Jam or something.
The Refused-cover New Noise is a something of a rape on the original. The vocals sounds terrible and the original is way better but that type of music is not really for me. It was more my thing when I was a dumb teenager. haha
To summarize Anthrax latest album I must say that it ends up somewhere in the middle of their catalogue.
⭐⭐
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ANTHRAX - THE GREATER OF TWO EVILS (2004)
I must start by saying that I don't like the idea of re-recording old songs with modern studio technique. It's kinda like re-painting the Mona Lisa, it just don't make any sense especially when most fans seems to think that the old records sounded better in every imaginable way.They should instead remake their new songs to sound like their old instead, that I would have approved of.
Anyhow, the big takeaway from this record is to hear John Bush's take on the Belladonna/Turbin songs. Which doesn't make much sense to me either since I prefer the vocals of Turbin and Belladonna.
This album was released as when Anthrax had their 20 year anniversary. The production is quite good and the songs sound as kinda as expected. This was also John Bush's last studio album with Anthrax so in some way it's nice to put an end to the Bush-era by looking in back the rearview mirror and combining the new era with the old. I do think he is a great vocalist but I didn't like the direction Anthrax took under him so if you're a John Bush fan, then check this one out if not then you could certainly skip this one.
⭐
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ANTHRAX - WE'VE COME FOR YOU ALL (2003)
In the 90's Anthrax struggled and a lot of the old fans were dissappointed in the more rock oriented direction that Anthrax took with John Bush as their vocalist.
After being somewhat quiet since 1998 Anthrax released 'We've Come for You All' in 2003 after five long years. But it wasn't the big comeback that the old fans had hoped for. This is still something of an alternative rock album but perhaps it's slightly better than the rather horrible Stomp 442 and Volume 8.
New to the lineup was Rob Caggiano who didn't really replace anyone but was more added as a fifth member. There were some rather legendary guest musicians on this album or what about Roger Daltrey from The Who and Dimebag Darrell of Pantera. Dimebag was almost a member of the band at this point due to him being a guest musician for the third time.
Safe Home was a rather big hit from this record if I wasn't aware of it and somebody said that it was a Foo Fighters song, then I might have believed them. Because this is more of an alternative punkrock album than a thrash metal record.
If you compare this record to what the other big four were doing at the time, it might be the best record in comparison to Metallica's "St.Anger", Slayer's "God Hates Us All" and Megadeth's "The World Needs A Hero". Albums that were all was released in the early 2000's. But being the best amongst garbage isn't anything to be proud over. I think that 'We've Come For You All' is modern, cheesy and utterly forgettable.
⭐
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ANTHRAX - VOLUME 8: THE THREAT IS REAL (1999)
Volume 8 is as you can guess Anthrax eight studio album to date. Stylewise it is a continuation of their sound from Stomp 442 and Sound of White Noise. So this is NOT a thrash metal album. It's more or less an alternative rock album like so many other albums of the 90', add to that some groove metal riffing and some acoustic arrangements here and there and you'll get this modern rock meets metal mess.
. It's sad to see how far the mighty Anthrax have fallen. Sure they weren't the only sellout amongst the big four. But I can't see how this type of music is more compelling for anyone. This sounds almost like Foo Fighters, it's really that bad.
Just like on Stomp 442 Dimebag Darrell does a guest appearence and so does Phil Anselmo (Pantera). There are even a country song on this record, Toast to the Extras and it's horrible.
This might sound harsch but Anthrax sounds like absolute garbage on this album in every imaginable way. Bad production with plastic sounding (St. Anger) drums, John Bush doing his yarl voice like he is an Eddie Wedder from wish.com.. Modern Anthrax is a disgrace and this is Anthrax worst album along with the lousy Stomp 442. They describe this album best themselves:
A heavy dose of reality, With a side of piss 'n vinegar.
❌
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ANTHRAX - STOMP 442 (1995)
It's 1995 and Anthrax had a real identity crisis. Their last album 'Sound of White Noise' was a 'fresh' new start for Anthrax with John Bush at the mic and this builds on that. It certainly flirts with alternative rock and grunge that was so popular around this time. I thought Sound of White Noise was a big drop in quality from their prior record and there's another big drop here. Stomp 442 is nothing but a disaster of an album. People talk about Celtic Frost's Cold Lake being embarassing, that record is a masterpiece in comparison to Stomp 442. This is Anthrax trying to be Nirvana and it's absolutely pathetic.
Stomp 442 is some sort of a punkish grunge album with a dose of groove metal in the style of Pantera, By the way Dimebag Darrell is a guest guitarist on this album replacing Dan Spitz who left the band when the ship started sinking. It's clear that the band just wasn't the same without Spitz.
Everything about Stomp 442 just feels so dated, it's that type of garbage 90's albums that just kept disappointing us, nothing original, nothing good, just a lot of bands of the 80's chasing mainstream success in the new decade and it was rather pathetic if you ask me. If I want grunge I would rather go with any of the Seattle-bands than this. This is Anthrax at their absolute worst.
❌
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ANTHRAX - SOUND OF WHITE NOISE (1993)
The first album from the Bush-era was a huge step away from thrash and a move towards some sort of modern alternative rock meets metal. This was also Anthrax first album after signing to Elektra Records so they became label mates with Metallica that just had a huge success with the black album. The best song on the album is "Only" a song James Hetfield of Metallica called the perfect song. I wouldn't go that far but it's kind of catchy in a kinda punk rock fashion.
I think that soundwise this has more in common with modern day grunge bands of the same era like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. This was such a departure from the thrash era with Belladonna and Turbin too for that matter. John Bush who they recruited from the legendary heavy metal band Armored Saint but here he sounds more like a Seattle rocker than a heavy metal legend.
I think Anthrax lost themselves in the early 90's and never really managed to match the impact or quality of their early material. There weren't any talk of the big four of thrash during this era, no Anthrax was moving away from that and trying to find a space for themselves in this new era of grunge and alternative rock.
The only positive thing about this album is that they left the satirical humor and joking around with rap metal and stuff like that. This album is a bit darker and more serious which I prefer, kinda like what Persistence of Time was. Sadly The Sound of White Noise is to me the best album with John Bush at the microphone but this was such a letdown for me and if you're reading this I'll guess that this album ain't for you either because most thrash metal purists seems to think that this album is of no bigger importance.
⭐⭐
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ANTHRAX - PERSISTENCE OF TIME (1990)
The nineties had arrived and Anthrax underwent quite some changes during this decade but that hadn't happened just yet. This was the final studio album with Joey Belladonna, at least here of the classic era. But this album was also a bit different, it's darker than all the other Anthrax albums and I also think it's slightly better and more varied than their last effort State of Euphoria. Maybe the 90's had seeped in a bit into Anthrax sound already since it's darker and the lyrical topics feel more serious. Joey Belladonna also holds back a bit more on the falsetto screams here.
But despite the album being darker it lights up quite a bit with the Joe Jackson cover 'Got the Time' which was a big hit from the record and they recorded a music video for that one as well. Belly of the Beast was also quite popular.
This album was the end of the classic era of Anthrax and it's also the last Anthrax album that I've fully enjoyed. The Bush era was quite different and it was almost alternative rock at times and I the later Joey Belladonna albums hasn't been on par with the classic era unfortunately but I have seen them live and they are still great live so that's at least something but for me it kinda ends here.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANTHRAX - PENIKUFESIN (1989)
It was always on the EP's where Anthrax experimented the most, they unfortunately invented rap two years earlier on their I'm the Man EP. Penikufesin or Nisefukinep, Nice fucking EP spelled backwards was released in 1989. On this EP Anthrax tried to squeeze out a few extra dollars on their newfound fame. Simply by recording just one new song and adding a bunch of covers and live cuts and release it on vinyl.
Anthrax once again covered the French heavy metal band Trust, but this version of Anti-Social is sung in French instead of the English version they released on State of Euphoria. They also covers Sex Pistols with Friggin' in the Riggin that sounds more like an irish pub rock anthem than a thrash metal track. Parasite is of course an old Kiss tune. Sects is another Trust song and Pipeline was originally made by the Chantays. To be honest I have only heard Parasite and Anti-Social in their original form but it's always cool to hear Anthrax do covers since they are quite good at it, but lets be frank (bello) this is not the most exciting EP out there since it lacks new material, plus the band has covered Trust before.
The original track Now It's Dark is pretty good though, and Parasite sounds better when Anthrax plays it than the old Kiss version. You'll probably find this EP cheap and if you do, it's an alright buy even all their studio albums from the eighties is of a higher priority.
⭐⭐⭐
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ANTHRAX - STATE OF EUPHORIA (1988)
First of all I have to say that I'm a bit divided about this record. It was always in the shadows of their earlier albums and deservingly so because Anthrax early work are nothing but legendary. Stylewise it's still the same good 'ol Anthrax that bursted onto the scene, So it's not rock oriented like the John Bush-era and it's not rap metal like their most recent EP 'I'm the Man'. State of Euphoria was released in 1988 through Island Records, way before the band turned sour in the early 90's.
The yellow album art is a bit weird but it's fine. I mean it looks a bit like Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance but with another motif.
Anthrax still delivers some solid chugging here but the songs aren't as strong as those on Among the Living and Spreading the Disease. The highlight of this album is Anthrax cover of Antisocial, a cover of French heavy metal-band Trust. The lyrics are translated into English but it still remains true to the original, it's a very good song, both the cover and the original. Other songs that stands out from the pack are "Be all, end all" and "Misery loves Company".
State of Euphoria is a good album but the production lacks a bit and it might be a slight letdown in comparison to earlier albums but I still think that this is a very solid thrash metal record.
⭐⭐⭐
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ANTHRAX - I'M THE MAN (1987)
Yo, Yo, Yo!
Anthrax was once held as one of the greatest thrash metal bands of all time, one of the main originators of thrash metal but they also invented the worst metal genre of all time, Rap metal. Because this is to my knowledge the first time that metal and rap crossed paths. Two genres that should have remained seperate came together into one odd and unholy matrimony and it's just a complete disgrace.
On the I'm the man EP there are three versions of 'I'm the Man' here, one censored, one uncensored and one live version.I'am the man is just an abomination of a song. It's probably meant as just a joke as you can see by the bands stances on the artwork but I just don't like humor in metal. Why would you even want to buy a record that the band hasn't put their soul into but instead just fooling around with a music style that most metal fans despised.
I mean, if this cross pollination never happened, would we still live in a world without Rage Against the Machine? Limp Bizkit? Stuck Mojo? Korn?
One could only dream about where we would have been today, so I think that this was a huge mistake on Anthrax behalf because in the long run it was garbage like this that ruined metal.
The Black Sabbath cover Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is quite good though but it's a hard pill to swallow to get one cover song and at the same time support an album like this. There are also two classic Anthrax cuts on here, Caught in a Mosh and I am the law. Both were recorded live on their Among the living-tour.
I think that we in retrospect can say that Anthrax - I'm the man and Celtic Frost - Cold Lake are the two worst recordings by any thrash metal band during the eighties, I think this is an even bigger mistake than Cold Lake, this is an EP that should have ruined Anthrax credibility. So avoid this stinking turd of "music" at all cost.
❌
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ANTHRAX - AMONG THE LIVING (1987)
In early 1987, The New York quintet Anthrax returned with the same lineup that spread the disease just two years earlier. Somehow Anthrax outdid themselves this time. At least when you compare how everything fell in place for Anthrax this time around.
Among the Living is a legendary thrash metal record and such a memorable one too, absolutely stuffed with anthemic thrash metal songs like Caught in the Most, I am the Law, Among the Living and Indians. This turned out to be almost like a greatest hits record for the band due to a lot of the bands biggest hits ended up being on this record. Everything they did at the moment turned into huge hits for the band. Most bands could only dream of creating one song with such magnitude and lasting power but Anthrax just kept delivering thrash classics, one after the other.
Joey Belladonna's trademarked melodic voice combined with those powerful backing vocals leaves no heads unbanged and who doesn't like Scott Ian's almost speedy rhythms with Dan Spitz melodies together with Frank Bello's hard hitting bass and Charlie Benante's superb drumming.
Compared to the speed metal of Fistful of Metal, this is more pure thrash, with a very professional production by Eddie Kramer, the album doesn't feel dated or unpolished like some albums of the era. Anthrax really made an homerun with Among the Living and broke into the mainstream, this is really the album that cemented them as one of the big four of thrash due to the album being a commercial success despite being a rather heavy thrash metal album. With a catchier songwriting than before, they Anthrax had outdone themselves on this release.
It contains some of the best instrumentation they ever recorded. Among the living is considered by most people as one of the best thrash metal albums of all time and I must say that it is a great one, no doubt about it even if I have big problems chosing my favourite album, I always go for one of their first three records (Fistful, Spreading and Among). Among the Living was a genre defining album that Solified Anthrax as one of the biggest bands coming out of America at the time.
This is what the kids call a thrashterpiece.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANTHRAX - SPREADING THE DISEASE (1985)
This album have been a bit controversial lately in this post-9/11 world. But it's rather dumb to retroactively blame a band for the name of their band and the title of the album. Anyhow, I'm a huge fan of Spreading the Disease, I think that this is the best album of the Joey Belladonna era that had just started. He appeared on the Armed and Dangerous but this was the first full-length studio album with Joey. Which was also the case for long time bassist Frank Bello that replaced Dan Lilker.
I think Anthrax peaked early on, their first three studio records are my favourites for sure. Spreading the Disease might be a bit in the shadows of Among the Living due to it being a multi-million selling album that had a lot of Anthrax biggest songs on it but I prefer Spreading the Disease. It's a little more underground and not as overplayed as Indians or Among the Living.
Anthrax recorded a music video for the song Madhouse, a weird little thing.
The intro track A.I.R. is legendary and I love the song "The Enemy", with the backing vocals when they shout out "Screams - In the night". Aftershock and Gung-ho are classic thrash songs too that needs mentioning, two of Anthrax's faster songs. A funny fact is that Jon Zazula (R.I.P.) wrote the lyrics on the song Medusa.
Joey Belladonna's vocal style is a bit odd for a thrash metal band, his approach is a bit more old school with his falsetto shrieks than your typical aggressive thrash vocals,I love Neil Turbin but Joey has become one of the most famous metal singers and deservingly so. His style of singing is a bit odd for a thrash band but when Joey delivers it's really impossible to resist Anthrax.
The band had grown quite a bit since Fistful of Metal, Spreading the Disease has more of a full thrash metal sound and the production value is higher this time around. The artwork looks more professional so it's quite safe to say that there's a bigger machine behind this Anthrax release than on 'Fistful'.
It's was a step forward for the band and their popularity grew very quickly, so much that they would cement their place in the big four of thrash, especially with their next studio album Among the Living. Spreading the disease is essential for every thrash metal fan to own. It's the stuff of legends.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANTHRAX - ARMED AND DANGEROUS (1984)
Exit: Neil Turbin & Danny Lilker, Enter: Joey Belladonna & Frank Bello. That was a bold move for Anthrax but things worked out well for these Yankees. I guess this EP was released due to these lineup changes to see how it would work out with Joey at the microphone.
The album opens up with the title rack "Armed and Dangerous". That song for me is such a classic. Maybe it wasn't as heavy as some of their later material but Joey Belladonna's singing is excellent. The song was later included on their upcoming album "Spreading the disease". The other gem here is Raise hell, which wasn't released on any later Anthrax album so for that alone, this EP is worth looking into as an Anthrax fan.
The third song on this EP is a cover of Sex Pistol's punk classic "God save the Queen", Which I think every thrash metal band has covered by now. So not the most unique song to cover. The last two songs on this EP is two live cuts from the bands debut "Fistful of metal". They are as raging as on Anthrax Neil Turbin-era, maybe a bit faster overall, which is cool. Vocalist Joey Belladonna has a more over the top approach here than on later Anthrax releases, So I like that. If you can't get enough of early Anthrax. This EP is a must. I'm not a big fan of EP's because it so little 'new' music for the money. But the title track is as a classic and you can probably still find this EP somewhat cheap for the vinyl collectors out there. The best thing about this Anthrax release is that it's so fast and raging (or dangerous), not one boring second like some of their post Persistance of time releases. This is a must EP for the die hard Anthrax-fan.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANTHRAX - FISTFUL OF METAL (1984)
''Anthrax album debuted in early 1984 with the LP "Fistful of metal" and it's one of the first examples of speed / thrash caught on vinyl. Their wild and somewhat unpolished metal was oozing with attitude. Especially in songs like "Metal Thrashing Mad", "Deathrider", "Soldiers of Metal" and "Howling Furies" which are all pure speed metal savagery. The album also features an Alice Cooper cover called "I'm Eighteen", which is better than the original if you ask me but also the weakest track on the record.
This album sounds so different than all the other Anthrax albums, this one has more similarities to the early proto-thrash sound of Metallica's debut Kill 'Em All or Exciter's Heavy Metal Maniac. On 'Fistful' Anthrax had a speed metal vibe to their music, much more so than all the other Anthrax albums.
There were no songs about comic book heroes and not playing thrash in colorful shorts while sharing the stage with rappers. No there's a completely different vibe here. Less self-distant and more to the point. They also wore black denim and leather here.
Sure the production is a bit tame in comparison to their more known albums and some fans simply doesn't like the album because Joey Belladonna doesn't sing on it but Neil Turbin does a hell of a job here. He is definitely a screamer and he can deliver those high pitches air raid sirens. Personally I like Neil as much as Joey and more than John Bush because he was better a better fit with Armored Saint's music.
In my opinion this is the definitive Anthrax-album. There are no joke songs, no fooling around, just sheer speed and intensity, it's like a fist to the face just like the album artwork shows. This is what metal should sound like. Lots of speed, aggression and balls. They were yougn and cocky and wanted to take on the world and so they did. This was the start of a legendary journey and It's not hard to see why Anthrax became one of the decades biggest metal acts after releasing a few outstanding discs in a row, starting with Fistful of metal.''
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANTIDOTE - TOTAL (1994)
Technical thrashers Antidote from Finland released a great debut album in 1992 simply called "The Truth". Now two years later it was time to record a sequel. This time with a new guitarist in the lineup Pete Eloranta. On "Total" the progressive elements that Antidote displayed on their first record has been toned down a bit. The speed and the wild and crazy sound of their debut seems to be gone as well.
I think that Antidote must have listened quite a bit to 'Justice' era Metallica or perhaps Prong, because this is something different from their debut. It definitely suffers from the trends of the nineties. Don't get me wrong the album is still experimental but not in a raging thrashing way. The debut was fast, violent and slightly progressive, this one leans more towards some sort of mixture of thrash, heavy and groove metal.
Total is quite a laidback album, it has some crunchy riffs but the whole album didn't live up to the wild craziness of their debut. The album artwork is quite wacky though
but somehow it's fitting a mid-tempo thrash album that is laidback in it's nature.
I really loved their debut so this follow-up was a slight disappointment to me. Don't get me wrong there are some strong riffs here and there but the whole album doesn't live up to my hopes. It's an average thrash album with a few highlights but also a few ups and downs.
⭐⭐⭐
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ANTIDOTE - THE TRUTH (1992)
Finnish thrash metal in general is quite obscure and it's rare that it reaches further than the finnish borders. Stone was quite popular within the country of the thousand lakes but outside of Finland they were certainly an underground band.
If you dig a little deeper than that you'll come across bands like Faff-Bey, National Napalm Syndicate, A.R.G., Airdash and Antidote.
Thrash was quite popular in Finland back in the day and Antidote delivered some of the best and most technical thrash from the country. Antidote has certainly studied the Bay Area side of thrash because this has a lot in common with bands like Exodus, Testament and Metallica.
Antidote released three studio albums and this one if my favourite by far, I actually think that this is one of the better Scandinavian thrash albums of the 80's.
This is very technical thrash, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it progressive thrash metal. Technical thrash was common in Scandinavia and perfected by bands such as Mezzrow, Agony, Hexenhaus or Artillery. If you're into the early Bay Area crunch of a band like Testament I think you're going to like Antidote's The Truth.
These finnish guys knows how to handle their instruments well, no doubt about that. I especially like the guitar work and the vocals from Nino Laurenne.
But the band was doomed to obscurity simply because they released their debut album in 1992 when thrash was on it's way out. I do think you should give Antidote a chance especially if you already love the Bay Area crunch.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANVIL - POUND FOR POUND (1988)
When you expected Anvil to be dead and buried after the rather average Strength of Steel they return the following year with Pound For Pound. Pound For Pound is perhaps pound for pound (pun intended!) Anvil's strongest effort. It's not as highly regarded as Metal on Metal or Forged in Fire, Simply because the band had fell off a bit by 1988. But their chops were as solid as back in 1983, add to that a rather solid production for a band that always felt a bit underproduced.
Pound For Pound was the last Anvil record to feature the original quartet of Lips, Reiner, Allison and Dickson. So that was a bit of the end of an era even though the band continued on and released a few hundred more records or so.
Pound For Pound has it's silly moments but this time the silliness is more in the lyrics than in the music. Pound For Pound is not a lunatic speed metal record but a balanced heavy or power metal album in the vein of what Metal Church was doing at the time.The opening track 'Blood On The Ice' might just be the greatest sport metal song. (Ice Hockey if you haven't figured that out yet). It's not only a good song about hockey, it's one of the best tracks the band ever came up with.
Pound For Pound is not a five out of five record but I would give it a solid four out of four which makes it one of the highlights of Anvil's long and storied career.
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⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANVIL - STRENGTH OF STEEL (1987)
In 1984 Anvil appeared at Japan's Super Rock Festival alongside Scorpions, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, and Michael Schenker Group. All those bands were destined for stardom and financial success and that's exactly what happened for all of them except for Anvil. Sadly Anvil's career went down the drain instead.
It was four long years since Forged in Fire (1983) had came out and I'm sad to say that Anvil had lost their momentum. People had moved on to thrashier bands like the big four of thrash. Funny enough, All four of them being heavily inspired by Anvil's previous records and by 1987 they had all surpassed them in popularity.
So Anvil was a bit unfortunate to say the least. Add to that the quality of Strength of Steel wasn't as good as what the fans had hoped for. The title track and opener was too boring, stale and repetitive, Which was the general opinion on this record I would say. It just lacks the intricate songwriting of whatever was going on in the metal realm by 1987. For me this record reminds me of Raven's Stay Hard. It kind of halted their career and credibility a bit. Strength of Steel is not a complete career ender but I think it was here that the metal fans understood that Anvil wasn't about to go toe to toe with the Metallica's and the Megadeth's of this world.
Strength of Steel was a bit more commercial sounding and it featured none of those bruising speed metal attacks of some of Anvil's precious records. The rather atmospheric Concrete Jungle was a song that I returned to at times I could also mention the instrumental Flight of the Bumble Beast but beyond that there just isn't much that is above average here.
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⭐⭐⭐
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ANVIL - FORGED IN FIRE (1983)
After Anvil's successful sophomore studio album Metal on Metal from the previous year (1982), Anvil were reaching the peak of their popularity, Influencing several bands that would go on and surpass them in popularity, Metallica being the obvious one.
Anvil was of course a groundbreaking band and pretty much the heaviest stuff you could find in 1982 but in 1983 we saw the birth of thrash metal which in the long run would wreck the careers of bands like Anvil.
I personally think that Anvil is a good and pretty decent band, Certainly entertaining live but they never had that record that I would consider a five out of five.
So with that in mind I would say that this is where the band peaked if you include 1982's Metal on Metal. This is certainly more metallic and better than the debut and after this album came out it would take them four years to record another record and by then this type of power metal was a bit outdated.
So lets start with the criticism I've got of this record. There are some songs that are a bit sappy, like Never Deceive Me or plain rediculous like the oversexual Butter-Bust Jerky.
Now on to the good stuff. When Anvil puts their all their focus on bringing their speed metal fused Judas Priest influences to the front, then we're treated with some top class metal. Like 'Free As The Wind' and the heavy riffage in the title track 'Forged in Fire'. Motormount also being a solid bruiser. Add to that, the record ends with the banger 'Winged Assassin.It's almost like they backloaded this record and put their best songs towards the end which is a bit unusual to say the least.
For me this is one of the top three Anvil records, The others being Metal On Metal (1982) and Pound For Pound (1989).
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANVIL - METAL ON METAL (1982)
After the somewhat anonymous Hard 'n' Heavy record it must have been quite a shock for their fans to see how much the band had progressed in just one year.
They really moved the goalposts with Metal on Metal, the title kinda describes what I'm talking about here because this is so much more metal than their debut.
This album predates the thrash wave with one year (Kill 'Em All and Show No Mercy coming out in 1983.) This is not a thrash metal album by any means but this is certainly one of the heaviest speed and heavy metal albums of 1982.
The albumkicks off with Anvil's biggest hit, The metal anthem 'Metal on Metal', which completely hammers the listener with some crushingly heavy riffs. The second track Mothra feels like a bit like Judas Priest on speed. After the somewhat dull heavy rocker Stop Me, Anvil showed the world what real metal sounds like with the instrumental song March of the Crabs, a song that 'Lips' described as the blueprint for Metallica. Which I fully agree with, because the song sounds like it could have been a bonus track on Kill 'Em All. The following songs; Jackhammer, Heat Sink and Tag Team are three pretty good songs. Scenery is a bit more mainstream and it reminds me a bit of the tracks School Love and AC/DC from the bands debut album, which means tongue-in-cheek and quite simplistic heavy metal songs. The track Tease Me, Please Me on the other hand feels more at home on your typical hair metal album (think Ratt). The very last track 666 brings out the speed and the satanic undertones. 'Lips' commented the song as the blueprint for Slayer and yes, I can certainly hear them influencing Slayer on their 'Show No Mercy' album. But at the same time I think Venom and Judas Priest had a bigger influence on Slayer.
If Anvil would have written 10 songs in the style of 'Metal on Metal' or '666', then this would be considered to be a Speed or perhaps even a thrash metal record. But Anvil's Metal on Metal is a bit too diversified and not always that serious
or hard which I know was a turn off for some thrash fans when listening to Anvil's music.
But it's perhaps the bands crazy and wild antics that made them so unique in the first place. In 1982 there weren't that many bands that had such a heavy sound like Anvil had, sure the NWOBHM had started but if you were in Canada in the early eighties and wanted some real heavy music, Anvil was more or less your only choice at the time. Anvil is a groundbreaking band and Metal on Metal is their most popular album and the album that solidified them as metal legends.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ANVIL - HARD 'N' HEAVY (1980)
For the longest time I've decided not to include a band like Anvil on the site because they were not enough thrash metal to be included. But since I decided to include other genres than thrash on the site it was time to start reviewing some Anvil albums.
Anvil were formed in the late seventies in Toronto and Hard 'n' Heavy is their first full-length record. It was released through Attic Records in 1981. Hard 'n' Heavy was actually first released not as an Anvil record but as a Lips record. Which was the name of the band before they changed it to Anvil in 1981.
I would say that it was on their second record Metal on Metal where Anvil started writing faster and heavier songs that would inspire bands like Slayer and Metallica.
So this is more of a straight up classic heavy metal record.
The album has a few hits like the two catchy rockers School Love and AC/DC, or the faster Bedroom Game. Anvil also recorded a cover of Rolling Stones Paint it Black, originally from 1966.
When it comes to the lyrics and music Anvil wasn't really there yet. Sure Hard 'n' Heavy is amongst their most classic material but the band progressed quite a lot during the following year. The lyrics are kind of dorky with lots of sexual themes or just about getting laid, Naming a song Hot Child wouldn't fly these days, that's for sure. The music on the other hand is more interesting, cool riffs but the drumming from Robb Reiner impressed me the most here. Following the release of Hard 'n' Heavy, Lemmy asked Steve 'Lips' Kudlow if he would be interested in joining Motörhead as a replacement for ''Fast'' Eddie Clarke, but Lips declined and Anvil went on and created a legacy of their own.
⭐⭐⭐
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ANVIL BITCH - RISE TO OFFEND (1986)
Anvil Bitch was a rather shortlived thrash metal unit from Philadelphia. They only released one studio album back in 1986, it was released by New Renaissance. Their style had a slight speed metal or USPM vibe to it. Somewhat similar to what Nasty Savage but with a more high-pitched falsetto screamign vocalist in Gary Capriotti. If you're familiar with Hades this reminds me a bit of their early material as well. At times when Gary uses his extremely falsetto the band reminds me a bit of Texas underground metal band Militia, that you might be unfamiliar with due to them being quite obscure. But trust me the vocals are rather extreme but I like extreme falsetto vocals so for me that's a plus.
Rise to Offend contains twelve songs, "Lie Through your Teeth", "Life after Death" and the odd "Maggot Infestation" are among the best. it has some heavier moshing parts and some faster headbanging moments. I think this is an entertaining 80's metal release that has one leg in the US metal-scene and the other in the american thrash metal scene. If you find this vinyl, you better grab it quickly because it's getting rarer by the day.
⭐⭐⭐
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APOCALYPSE - FAITHLESS (1993)
Here, if anywhere, we have a truly obscure little jewel. Apocalypse was a swiss band that appeared during the late eighties when thrash metal was the coolest thing to play. They released a self titled debut album in 1988 and disbanded soon afterwards. But out of nowhere their second album "Faithless", recorded around 89-90, appeared on the face of earth in 1993. As you may guess, it didn't exactly sell gold. It should have done, though, because this is marvellous thrash metal. Apocalypse treats us with an american kind of thrash, comparable to Lääz Rockit or a slightly more aggressive Anthrax (Belladona-era). Razor sharp riffing fills this release and things really get going around the title track. A ripping fiesta that should have been a classic had there been any justice in this unfair world of ours. Listen, Pantera, and learn the art of fuckin' shredding! One or two of the songs may drag a bit, but the rest of them more than make up for that. For everyone suffering from lack of agressive thrash with a melodic touch, this is the cure. It's name is "Faithless" and it's delivered by Apocalypse.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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APOCALYPSE - APOCALYPSE (1988)
Switzerland was something of a hot spot when it came to late 80's thrash metal, We had bands such as Celtic Frost, Messiah, Poltergeist, Coroner, Drifter and of course Apocalypse. Just like all the aforementioned bands, Apocalypse had some real talent but their impact outside of Switzerland wasn't that great.
Apocalypse's brand of thrash was very guitar driven. The album oozes with great galopping riffs and it has some competent drumming too. The vocalist Carlos is a mid-range vocalist, a quite talented singer but it's the musicianship that stands out on this album. Why Apocalypse didn't get the recognition they deserved is still a mystery to me, maybe they were a bit late to the party and there's nothing more to it than that.
Just listen to the song "Digital life", Apocalypse blows my mind with some great riffing that reminds me of mid eighties Metallica. That song stands out from the pack to me, even though I think that this album is of an overall high quality. The album was originally released on a small Swiss label. But was later re-released on Under One Flag with a different album art but like always, the original is of course the best. Apocalypse proves that Switzerland got more things to be proud over than just chocolate and expensive watches. They got a few absolutely brilliant thrash metal bands and Apocalypse is definitely one of those.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ARAKAIN - SALTO MORTALE (1993)
Arakain's fourth studio album came out in 1993 and it is very Metallica-inspired, there are a few riffs that brings my mind to both "The Black Album" as well as "Master of Puppets". You can clearly hear that this is a 90's release, the band has slowed down a bit, just like Metallica had at the time. This is softer and more radio-friendly than their previous material even though Arakain was never played on Swedish radio so I doubt it got any airtime outside the Czech Republic at all.
I guess the musical trends of the day had reached the Czech Republic by 1993. But this is not a grunge-album no, it's more in the lines of early-90's Metallica and Megadeth with a dose 80's classic hardrock. Salto Mortale hasn't got the speed of Arakain's first two albums (Thrash the Trash & Schizofrenie), the emphasis is more
one the songstructures and it's built around Aleš Brichta's rough yet melodic singing. His style is more of a traditional hardrock singer, the music is sung in their native Czech language so expect some slavic sounding vocals that sounds like Russian to my untrained ears.
. I miss the old Arakain here, this is a bit too brushed up and polished for my taste. They certainly lost some speed on Salto Mortale because I think the band excels when they play in full throttle. A song like Kleptoman really brings out the best in the band. It's a solid speed metal-number in an ocean of mid-tempo semi-thrashers. Salto Mortale means 'A dangerous and daring jump with possibly lethal outcome' and I think this sums up this album quite well, they took a leap towards where they saw things moving within the industy and by doing so they risked the credibility that they've built so far. This wasn't the death blow to the band but I think that I lost interest in the band when they wen't down a more commercial route.
⭐⭐
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ARAKAIN - BLACK JACK (1992)
Arakain's third album was released in 1992 on the Czech label Monitor Records who also had premium Czech bands like Master's Hammer, Törr and Kabát signed to them. On Black Jack we are shown another side of Arakain. Even if the lineup was intact except of a new drummer in Marek Žežulka. This time Arakain went a little bit softer and even introducing keyboards at certain songs. Tracks like Harlekýn and Zapomeñ drags down the tempo of this album. Since they are two ballads.
But don't worry Arakain hasn't whimped out completely. No songs like "Black Jack", "Labyrint" and "High Attack" are good power/thrashers. On an instrumental level Arakain are of a very high class but this album is too soft for me to gain a top-rating.
I think this is a smaller letdown after their two previous studio albums "Thrash the Trash " and "Schizofrenie", this album doesn't reach the same heights for me, mostly because of the ballads and due to the album being more of a mid-tempo record and that a few tracks feels a bit rushed. Black Jack focuses more on traditional heavy metal than Arakain's power/thrashing beginnings. Still there is something about Arakain's songwriting and exceptional instrumental skills that draws you in.
⭐⭐⭐
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ARAKAIN - SCHIZOFRENIE (1991)
Arakain's debut was great but despite that my expectations for this follow up was quite low since this is quite an obscure album that I haven't really heard anyone talk about. But this was a pleasant surprise for me. It came out in 1991 but bands from the Czech Republic werent as sensitive to trends like some other nations were. Maybe becayse the country itself had recently gotten out of the claws of their communist regime.
But despite that Arakain's sound is very slavic. So expect some hectic and sharp guitars, athletic drumming with some strange vocals that most westerners can't understand, myself included. But with titles like Teror, Gilotina, Antikrist and Schizofrenie I think we all can understand at least the outlines of the lyrical content.
Vocalist Aleš Brichta has a unique voice, he almost vibrates when he sings. The closest comparison might be Artillery's Flemming Rönsdorf. The guitar duo Jirka Urban and Mirek Mach are great and the rhythm section backs it up nicely with precision. Schizofrenie has basically all the elements from their excellent debut "Thrash the trash", This is definitely an equal, not any overdone second-rate follow-up here contrary to my worries. Arakain's career has spanned over decades but in my opinion they never reached the same heights as on their first two albums.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ARAKAIN - THRASH THE TRASH (1990)
Arakain is one of the longest running metal bands in the Czech Republic, they are still active tIl this day and they have released a dozen of albums over the years. This is Arakain's debut album and it was released in 1990 on their native Czech label Supraphon. There was quite a vibrant metal scene in the country but most bands never gained any notoriety outside the borders of the Czech Republic. The main reason why they are total anonymous to most thrash metal fans is because they sing in their native tongue. Vocalist Aleš Brichta has quite a unique voice, sounding almost like Flemming Rönsdorf of Artillery. He sings in a style that is more common in power metal than the barking ways of most contemporary thrash metal bands.
The album is surprisingly well-produced, so much that the album still holds up today and the musicianship fulfills every demand a thrash fan might have. The overall feeling I get when listening to Thrash the trash is that it sounds almost like an 80's german metal-album, not like Destruction, Sodom or Kreator, more like Grave Digger, Living Death and similar. The slavic language makes me think of Russian thrash band Kruiz. By the way, I blame the quite tacky title Thrash the trash on the language barrier. Not many bands can pull off such a title today, haha. Arakain doesn't goof around with ballads or covers either. Arakain's Thrash the trash is a serious contender when it comes to European thrash. .
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ARCHAIC TORSE - SNEAK ATTACK (1992)
Archaic Torse showed up quite late to the German thrash metal scene when they released their debut album Sneak Attack in March of 1992. By then most bands had started to move away from thrash and into other realms like Death Metal for example. So it was quite natural for a band like Archaic Torse to play a very aggressive type of thrash bordering to death metal.
Their aggressive style reminds me of a slightly more aggressive Sacred Reich or perhaps a Demolition Hammer-reference would suit Archaic Torse better. The chunky guitar sound is cool and the bands musicianship is solid. the trumming is solid and the production likewise. The vocals from Claus 'Speckmann' reminds me of Phil Rind of Sacred Reich.
In 1992 these types of albums almost flew off the shelves much thanks to bands like Sepultura, Sodom, Atheist, Pestilence, Death and similar bands that really embraced extreme music at the time. But Archaic Torse didn't manage to have the legacy as those bands, maybe due to them just releasing one studio album before disbanding. A plus for me is the cool HR Giger-inspired artwork for Sneak Attack, great artwork. For me Archaic Torse was a solid and talented band but since their longevity was short it's hard to see them as anything but a parentheses in the history of metal music.
⭐⭐⭐
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A.R.G. - REDEMPTION FROM REFAIM (2015)
Finnish thrashers A.R.G. are back with a new album, their first album in 24(!) years. Which is nothing but remarkable that a band returns with an album after such a long absence.
If you're unfamiliar with A.R.G. I can tell you that they released two studio albums back in the heyday of thrash, 'Entrance' and 'One World Without the End' before disbanding in the early nineties. Jari Kelloniemi, Vesa Säkkinen and Tepa Karjalainen are all back together and they have found themselves a new drummer in Timo Hanhijoki who has drummed for numerous Finnish death metal bands. He replaces original drummer Pasi Takkula who passed away in 2004 (R.I.P.).
I used to say that time changes everything but when it comes to these Finnish thrashers it seems like time has been standing still in Finland. Because A.R.G. has been able to conserve their sound remarkably well. Back in the late eighties and early nineties they were considered to be one of the best Finnish metal bands.
They were sometimes referred to as a Finnish version of Kreator. Just like their German bredren these finnish guys have updated their sound a bit and the production here is cleaner than anything the band has produced before. A.R.G.'s brutal death / thrashing ways are instantly recognizable for those who are familiar with the bands past. The vocals by Tepa Karjalainen reminds me a bit of Chuck Billy's (Testament) full-bodied voice, Tepa's style is more common in the death metal field but the music is pure aggressive thrash metal with but it's not lacking melodies like these extreme types of music sometimes do.
I'm positively surprised by A.R.G.'s comeback album I wasn't sure that the band still had it in them to deliver, but A.R.G. delivers material that can compete with your modern day giants like Testament, Exodus, Kreator and Onslaught but an obscure band like this will probably never be recognized to be on that level. But I think this sounds pretty good so welcome back A.R.G.!
⭐⭐⭐
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A.R.G. - ONE WORLD WITHOUT THE END (1991)
Finnish thrash-trio A.R.G. sometimes go by the nickname "Finnish Kreator". Flattering, it may seem, but it's actually a fitting description. They are very inspired by Kreator during the Pleasure to Kill/Terrible Certainty-era and and singer Tepa Karjalainen sounds almost ecaxtly like Mille Petrozza. By that I guess that you can all imagine what "One World Without the End", released in 1991, is all about. Brutal and aggressive thrash of the kind you thought was never played in the nineties.
Almost all songs here are high speed numbers and they are all solid, "Died for What" and "Adoration of the Kings" in particular. On the track "One World Without the End/Descent from the Heaven" A.R.G. does something rather unusual. The song goes on for more than twelve minutes and contains a lot of changes and even accoustic parts. Great song! "One World Without the End" is worth owning if you like thrash in the vein of Kreator - if you can live with the fact that they sound almost like a copy.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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A.R.G. - ENTRANCE (1989)
A.R.G. or Ancient Rotten Graveguards won a Finnish talent show and they got the opportunity to record a single (Aggressive Confessor) which in turn led them to recording this debut album titled Entrance in 1989. A.R.G.'s uncompromising ways was actually quite groundbreaking in Scandinavia and when we look back upon the eighties A.R.G. must be considered to be one of most extreme Scandinavian metal bands of the 1980's. A.R.G. sounds a bit like Kreator mixed with Merciless (Swe) or Invocator (Den). So as you might have guessed this is thrash metal bordering to death metal. Incredible brutal for the time being and A.R.G. are rarely getting the cred they deserved for playing so aggressively. Sure there where extreme bands before A.R.G. in both Europe as well as in Scandinavia but only a few of them delivered as rippign thrash as A.R.G. did. Songs like Pesticide that reminds me of Sodom's Outbreak of Evil and Prevailing Sickness stands out.
All songs is in a similar mold, They probably listened quite a lot to the German giants Sodom and Kreator. It sounds a bit like you're listening to some obscure and forgotten Kreator demo from the eighties. Yes, I said demo, because the production on Entrance is on the blurry low-budget side and that's my main problem with A.R.G.'s debut. Musicwise this is unrelenting thrash of the kind that are popular amongst fans of extreme metal. Who knows, their popularity may rise again since they recently returned with their first new album in 25 years (Redemption from Refaim) but my guess is that A.R.G. will remain deep in the underground despite delivering two very cool albums in the late eighties and early nineties.
A.R.G.'s Entrance was grand and the band displayed their technical skills and raw caveman brutality in a impressive way. But it wasn't just debauchery and brutality, they also had som finesse and quite technical riffs. But some of it is unfortunately lost in the muddy mix. Either way Entrance is one of the better thrash metal albums from Scandinavia so don't miss out on this one.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ARTILLERY - PENALTY BY PERCEPTION (2015)
This is thrash metal legends Artillery's eight studio album and their second since signing up to the equally legendary Metal Blade Records. It's ls also the second Artillery-album with vocalist Michael Bastholm Dahl and drummer Josua Madsen in the lineup. With Michael Bastholm Dahl the band has taken a turn for a more melodic sound, Don't get me wrong Michael Bastholm Dahl is an excellent singer and his voice would fit nicely in any ambitious Power Metal band, so don't expect them to sound like Kreator or Exodus or something.
The production that is a bit dry and modern sounding, it's no way near terrible, but it's just a little off. So now I can spend the rest of this review praising Artillery's Penalty by Perception because it packs some real punches.
Artillery plays fast and ripping thrash with power metal influences that brings my mind to the heyday of bands such as Forbidden, Heathen and Testament. The Stützer bros (Morten and Michael) might very well be the best guitar duo in thrash right now, and speaking of iconic guitar duos Hank Shermann and Michael Denner of Mercyful Fate fame appears on the track Cosmic Brain.
After thirty years together it comes as no shock that they had some time to perfect things. They bring ripping riffs, speedy leads but also a ton of melodies that brings my mind back to the bands magnum opus 'By Inheritance' from 1990.
What about the songs then? Well, Defiance of Conformity kicks off the album with vocal melodies that reminds me a bit of Anthrax - A Skeleton in the closet. The following song Live by the Scythe is a strong contender for the best song on the album, and the band recorded a music video for that track. Artillery also dares to use a piano for the intro to the track When the Magic is Gone, which reminds me a bit of your typical Judas Priest's ballad from the seventies but with a more modern touch.
Overall Penalty by Perception is a strong album with no fillers, the albums lowest levels are higher than most bands peak so it's an album you can spin from the first second to the last without really skipping anything. I hope Artillery finally will get the recognition they deserve now after thirty years in the business. Because they are amongst a small group of legacy bands that actually delivers anything interesting these days.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ARTILLERY - WHEN DEATH COMES (2009)
Artillery used to be instantly recognizable much thanks to the vocals of Flemming Rönsdorf. So the question everyone should ask themselves is;
Can Artillery exist without Rönsdorf?
I will try to answer that question in this review...
Artillery recruited Søren Adamsen from power metal-band Crystal Eyes to fill the void that Flemming Rönsdorf left behind him. Søren hasn't got the same characteristic voice, but he is indeed a good singer, maybe not as aggressive that I would have wanted but certainly far from bad. There's nothing harder in metal than to replace a popular and charismatic vocalist like Flemming. But the transition went surprisingly smoothly, the patient is still alive so to speak.
What's most important is that the Stützer brothers still delivers magical thrash metal riffs and 'When Death Comes' is at times brilliant. The production is modern and sharp and everything about the album feels very professional. The album also has a stronger power metal vibe to it in comparison to earlier Artillery-releases. I would say that the change of vocalists is the main reason behind this.
Artillery also recorded a power metal-ballad called; Delusions of Grandeur. But the album is mostly just traditional thrash metal. The lyrics on this album aren't always that brilliant but that was never one of Artillery's strong sides. In conclusion, Artillery never disappoints no matter what era or who is in the band. As long as there is two Stützer's there is hope I guess. It's been a decade since Artillery recorded their comeback album B.A.C.K., so I guess this is Artillery's second coming.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ARTILLERY - B.A.C.K. (1999)
Nine long years after the highly succesful "By Inheritance", Artillery got back together again and released an album titled B.A.C.K.. On this album Per Møller Jensen (Invocator & The Haunted) is behind the drumkit. Guitar wizard Morten Stützer also handles the bass on this comeback album.
Releasing a comeback album in 1999 seems to be risky and I guess many fans dreaded a nu-metal or at least groove metal stained album but Artillery didn't fell into that commercial trap like so many other bands have done lately. This is neither a Fear of tomorrow part II nor a By Inheritance part II, it does however carry a bigger resemblance to their magnum opus 'By Inheritance'. This album still has it's own identity and ideas without becoming a statement of it's time. B.A.C.K. has this timeless presence over it, you still can hear in an instant that you're listening to Artillery and nothing else. But I guess making a song about the "World Wide Web" dates this album to the late 90's. haha.
I like the crunchy riffs of this record, it's so good, the guitar play is really what stands out on this record. The lyrics aren't of the cutting edge that I want in my music but thought provocative lyrics are perhaps not the main focus of most thrash fans. Andy Sneap has done a good job producing this album though. Flemming Rönsdorf's vocals needs a certain acquired taste to get into and this is certainly not the best performance of his career, he sounds a bit tormented here but I still like his voice. He has a very unique style.
I remember when this album came out and I thought it was a breath of fresh air since this was the start of the whole thrash metal revival that took place in the early 2000's. Starting with an album like Artillery's B.A.C.K. and Testament's The Gathering to namedrop another.
Sure a few songs falls short on this comeback album but I think that this is a very solid comeback-album. I'm glad to welcome Artillery B.A.C.K..
⭐⭐⭐
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ARTILLERY - BY INHERITANCE (1990)
Artillery must in retrospect be considered the most important thrash metal band from Scandinavia. After landing a deal with Roadracer Records, Artillery released their third album By Inheritance in 1990. By Inheritance was the magnum opus of this bands career, there's no doubt about that if you ask me.
They just sounded better and more professional than ever before. Thanks to the mastermind of Flemming Rasmussen. Yes, THE Flemming Rasmussen that also produced Metallica's Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets a few years earlier.
The raw noisy underproduced sound of the bands two previous records were cleaned up and the band also had matured quite a bit as musicians. The Stützer brothers that handles the two guitars in the band is just on another level. They bring so much technical crunch and amazing melodies that your head will start to spin.
The vocalist Flemming Ronsdorf's weird nasal vocals reminds me a bit of Grave Digger's vocalist Chris Boltendahl but Flemming has a bigger range. He surely delivers on this album even if his wierd vocal style can take some time to get used to. But don't worry about that, the music itself is so good so even if you don't like his vocals, you'll still like the album.
The guys in Artillery should almost have been arrested for disbanding after this masterpiece. I can only imagine what the band could have done if they worked with Flemming Rasmussen once again and kept going, I think they could have been a household name in metal and the saviour that thrash needed in the nineties, but that's just speculation on my behalf.
The perhaps most known song from the album is Razamanaz. A rather unnecessary Nazareth cover. So if you're new to this album I'll suggest that you check out Khomaniac or well, the full album of course.
I love the almost egyptian melodies in the beginning of the Khomaniac. They also dare to go into ballad mode with Bombfood and Don't Believe, both songs are very melodic and amongst the best "thrash" ballads I've ever heard. I think Artillery's By Inheritance is the best thrash metal album coming out of Scandinavia, without competition even, it's that good. It just stands tall over your Mezzrow's, your Agony's, your Invocator's. By Inheritance is a five out of five record and one of the best thrash metal albums of all time. So don't miss out on it!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ARTILLERY - TERROR SQUAD (1987)
Artillery never were one of those 'easy to get into' metal bands, Simply because of their technical prowess and Flemmin Rönsdorf's nasal and high-pitched voice could take a while to get used to, I mean he sounds a bit like a metal version of that Nazareth vocalist. When Rönsdorf sing with his natural voice it sounds great but his falsetto is a bit over the top, I dig it but I get it that he is an acquired taste. Add to that a production that did it's job without excelling and I mean, this brand of techno-thrash does rarely go hand in hand with a rough production. It could certainly make the album feel a bit blurry and chaotic.
But despite that I think that Terror Squad is one of the better Scandinavian thrash records of the 80's, it also has one of the ugliest artwork I've ever seen which could have been a turnoff at the time. But despite my somewhat harsch words, I actually think that Artillery's second studio album Terror Squad is a must listen if you're a fan of crunchy and technical thrash.
I have always envied Artillery's musicianship, the over the top technical savery so for me Artillery is an essential band and the only reason why they didn't become a household name like Testament or Exodus is because they were from Denmark. The music on Terror Squad is absolutely brilliant, tight like a sailor's asshole. Kinda reminding me of Testament in their prime. It's technical thrash or techno thrash at it's best. I love the title-track "Terror Squad" and the two last songs "At war with Science" and "Decapitation of Deviants" superb songs that you should check out! This release must be considered as Artillery's best work together with By Inheritance.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ARTILLERY - FEAR OF TOMORROW (1985)
In 1985 the notorious NWOBHM-label Neat Records signed a rather anonymous Danish metal band that played really, really fast. Neat were of course a legendary label that had bands like Avenger, Venom, Warfare, Blitzkrieg and Raven signed to them. So when they signed this unknown band from Taastrup, Denmark. It was in line with the signings they had done in the past but with one difference, these guys were from Denmark and not England.
With the backing of Neat Records, Artillery then went into the El Sound Studio in Copenhagen to record what became the first ever Scandinavian thrash metal record. At least if you disallow Bathory's more Black metal sounding 1984 debut.
In fact Artillery were real early with their brand of frenetic metal, their early demos dates back to 1983, so Artillery could be seen as one of the originators of the thrash metal style.
Like most pre-1986 debut albums "Fear of Tomorrow" is considered a classic, it's a record filled with lots of bravado, speed and aggression. This is certainly their most 'early Slayer' sounding record. One could claim that Artillery never recorded such a fierce record ever again because the band evolved more towards the Metallica meets Testament field on later releases. But you can hear that the band had some serious instrumental skills, even if it's a bit sloppy in a mid-eighties fashion.
"Fear Of Tomorrow" is not a flawless album, the production is old school sounding and on the low-budget side, which I certainly can dig. So don't expect this to sound like 'By Inheritance' or any of their more power metal leaning records of late.
Flemming Ronsdorf's quirky vocals was the thing that made Artillery stand out from the pack and on Fear of Tomorrow he delivers perhaps the best performance of his career. Fear of Tomorrow is highly recommended album and a must if you're into the first wave of thrash (1983-1985).
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ASPID - EXTRAVASATION (1992)
Aspid was an obscure band from Volgodonsk, Russia. They only released one studio album back in 1992 titled Extravasation before slowly fading away from the by then dying metal scene. When you listen to Extravasation you can hear from the very first haunting intro to the last seconds of Krovoizliianie (Extravasation) that this album is something special. It's fast, intense, technical and aggressive.
Simply all things we love stirred into one unforgettable album.
The album is sung in their Native Russian language which adds to the albums eerie and somewhat exotic sound for a Swede like myself. This sounds a bit like if you mix the Swiss thrashers Coroner with let's say late 80's Sepultura.
Maybe not as technical as Coroner but this is played with more aggression.
The album was largely forgotten until it was rediscovered recently by people who scanned the darkest depths of the internet for some cool steel from the eastern bloc. So it was well into the 2000's that I first learned about this album. Extravasation is my favourite thrash metal album from Russia and one of the best thrash metal albums to be released during the 90's. This album has been sped up and re-released so don't get fooled when you're looking for this album. The original intended speed is just perfect. So check it out if you're into tech thrash or prog thrash.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ASSASSIN - COMBAT CATHEDRAL (2016)
Assassin, once pioneers on the German thrash scene was back with their fifth studio release in 2016 and I decided to give it a few spins, even if it was released the same same day as my old favourites Flotsam and Jetsam and their new self titled album. Assassin's career has been lots of ups and downs and this is only their fifth studio album even though their history reaches back to 1983.
Assassin are most known for their brilliant 1987 debut The Upcoming Terror and the band has struggled a bit to live up it ever since. In 2005 Assassin made a comeback with the album The Club which was a major letdown, a terrible album in my opinion so I considered the band to be dead creatively.
So this came as a bit of a surprise even though I don't think it's more than good or average. After the release of 2011's Breaking the Silence Assassin's original vocalist Robert Gonnella had left the band and in stepped Ingo Bajonczak. Robert Gonnella was more of a shouting hardcore screamer compared to Ingo Bajonczaks thrash gruffs. The vocals sounds like they were recorded behind closed doors or something because they are buried quite deep in the mix.
Their new vocalist Ingo sounds a bit like a mixture Chuck Billy of Testament, Tom Angelripper of Sodom and Marco Aro of The Haunted. One could argue that a mix between those bands are also the best way of describing Assassin's sound. Somewhat similar to what the UK Thrashers Onslaught has been doing lately. The production on Combat Cathedral is what I've expected, modern and a bit overcompressed but the band delivers thrash that will feel like brass knuckles to your face. It's grinding and hard hitting thrash that are at times hard to dislike. This is really an album that some of the fans of the genre will absolutely dig and others will think it's too modern or repetitive as many of the songs are somewhat similar in style. I think that Combat Cathedral is a pretty decent addition to the Düsseldorf thrashers catalogue
⭐⭐
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ASSASSIN - THE CLUB (2005)
When you first look at the album cover it looks like a club for old washed up thrasher's that have reunited to do one last thing together before going back into retirement, Wait! that might just be the case here and not just what I have imagined this album to be.
Upon the first listening you feel instantly disappointed, If you're going to reform a classic thrash metal band, please take it seriously and not just go into the studio one afternoon after having a couple of beers and record it without any thought going into it. This is putting their early career in bad light when the band releases something as uninspiring as this. The production is so low-budget that it must have been an independent release cause no label would be interested in releasing a mess like this.
The lousy punk vocals by Robert Gonnella sticks out as bad and unsynchroniced. It's one of the worst performances I've heard in a long time. The music is also uninspiring on all levels and at times this feels like the worst type of crossover thrash with very basic punk-sounding riffs.
It feels like you're 40 and going to a high school party filled with youthful energy and some shitty punk band plays their songs in the background while a couple of drunkards trying to singalong. While you being the only sober person there you ask yourself what the hell happened and why am I listening to this bullshit? That's what The Club is to me. It's a half-assed attempt to bring back past glory but it ends up being one of the worst comeback albums of any legacy thrash bands that have reunited in recent years. Avoid this one.
⭐
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ASSASSIN - INTERSTELLAR EXPERIENCE (1988)
One year after Assassin's excellent debut "The Upcoming Terror" it was time for their follow-up titled "Interstellar Experience". It was make it or break it for Assassin this time, but they ended up a little short here. Not only because of the length of the album that is about 28 minutes.
The album is fast and raging and I would label to be a Crossover Thrash record. Think a punkier Tankard without the beer soaked lyrics or perhaps a German version of Nuclear Assault. The album art might look cool but the lyrics are hardly about aliens and space exploration. The album is raw, messy, punky, fast but the spacecraft never fully leaves the atmosphere here if you get what I'm saying.
It's actually quite repetitive and Robert Gonella never stops spewing out his semi-hardcore shouts, I've critizised Robert for being more of a punk singer but here he reminds me a bit of Gerre of Tankard which I think is cool.
It's not the most original album that I've heard but tracks like "A.G.D." and "Abstract War" are pretty cool. It might sound like I hate this album but I don't. I just think it's weaker than their debut and going in a more crossover direction, I'm not sure that was the right decision. But with that said I think this album sits somewhere between average and good. It's certainly hectic and pummeling. Assassin decided to call it a day after this album and guitarist Micha Hoffmann joined Sodom soon afterwards.
So this was the end of the first and more classic era of the band. This album might be an experience, but it's hardly out of this world.
⭐⭐
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ASSASSIN - THE UPCOMING TERROR (1987)
Aaah, the very first album by Assassin, a band that was quite competent but struggled in the shadows of the big three or four of German thrash. Their career has definitely had it's ups and downs. Originally the band released two albums and then disbanded when Micha Hoffman joined Sodom, add to that the fact that all their gear was stolen too. The band returned in 2005 with the rather terrible The Club but lately Assassin has stepped up their game, but that's another story. This is of course where it all started. The Upcoming Terror which was released by the legendary Steamhammer label back in1987. For me The Upcoming Terror is far superior anything the band has written ever since, Sure Interstellar Experience was cool but it had more of a crossover vibe while this one was more of your typical Teutonic release. Think Kreator, Sodom and Destruction.
This album was released in 1987 and by then things were a little more refined overall. So it's not the most extreme thing coming out of the German scene. No this is just classic and quite hectic thrash with speedy leads and with fast driving rhythm guitars.
The album might not be as memorable as some of the greatest German records but at times they come really close. The self-titled track Assassin is great, with the chorus "Go, Fight, Kill, Assassin!". If you already have discovered the three or four greats of German thrash and want to go a bit deeper I'll suggest you start with picking up The Upcoming Terror by Assassin.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ASSORTED HEAP - MINDWAVES (1992)
Mindwaves was Assorted Heap's second and final studio album. It was released in 1992 through 1MF Records. Their first album was more raw and evil but Mindwaves had a more mature approach. The album is epic and majestic but also very progressive at times. Without turning their backs on their thrash origins. This album makes me think of Sepultura around Arise, It certainly has that kinda dry early 90's production. But perhaps not fully as fast or aggressive as Sepultura in their prime, this is more in the mid-tempo region. I can also hear a little bit of Metallica's And Justice For All.., Sodom's Agent Orange and Testament's New World Order here. That is certainly not bad albums to be compared with.
Mindwaves is professionally produced and recorded. But the vocals by Dirk Schiemann aren't the most memorable. I think Mindwaves are one of the best thrash metal albums of 1992. Truly one of the last solid albums from a dying genre.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ATHEIST - PIECE OF TIME (1989)
After releasing a few demos under the name Ravage the band changed their name and became Atheist. Atheist debuted in 1989 with this record titled Piece of Time. To explain the importance an album like Piece of Time had when it was came out in 1989, we need to go back to 1985 when Watchtower released Energetic Disassembly. It was way more technical, aggressive and progressive than anything heard before it in the realm of metal music. The same can be said about Coroner or Voivod a few years later. Fast forward to 1989 and the bar of technicality and brutality was raised yet again. This time by Atheist and their Piece of Time.
If you're a fan of Chuck Schuldiner's Death, then you certainly need to check out this record because this is kind of the blueprint for an album like Death's Human that came out in 1991. People might have thought that the limits of what was possible was reached when a band like Coroner showed up on the scene, in terms of aggression, speed, technical skills and progressive explorations. But then Atheist showed up and the rest was history.
To my knowledge this is the first time in the history of metal music that a band mixed progressive elements with a death/thrash sound. Atheist even incorporated a few jazzy moments here, but not as much as on their later efforts. This is still very much a death metal record.
So fans of Morbid Angel, Death and Pestilence will certainly find Atheist very enjoyable. Bassist Roger Patterson does some amazing work on the bass here, but unfortunately he passed away in a car accident two years later and he never recorded with the band again, even though he wrote some material for Unquestionable Presence. This guy was certainly one of the greatest bassists in metal when he passed away so that was a huge loss for Atheist.
Roger's bass combined with myriads of bizarre riffs, raspy death metal vocals and some solid drumming makes Piece of Time something out of the ordinary. Atheist will always be remembered as a groundbreaking band that bridged the gap between progressive thrash and death metal. You're obliged to check this one out!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ATROPHY - VIOLENT BY NATURE (1990)
I can't decide which one of the Atrophy-albums I love the most. They are both wonderful and crunchy thrash albums in the Bay Area tradition without being from the Bay Area. This follow-up was released in 1990 by Roadracer records with the same lineup of musicians as on the previous one.
This album is more or less identical in the sound to their first album, maybe a little less frenetic though. Atrophy delivers crude and old school sounding thrash in your typical late 80's fashion. Lots of crunchy riffs and an overall focus on the instrumentation more so than the vocals. Brian Zimmerman is on the rougher side, think Schmier of Destruction but without the German accent. The music is more in the Exodus style with crunchy riffs and shouted backing vocals.
It's hard to name my favourite track here but "Violent by Nature" & "Too late to Change" are solid thrasherss with strong "sing-along-chorus". This is one of the better thrash albums coming out of the United States in 1990. I might need to add that these guys were from Arizona, which wasn't exactly the thrash capital of the United States but still they managed to make a mark on the underground. Atrophy said it best themselves, they might be forgotten but they are not gone!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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ATROPHY - SOCIALIZED HATE (1988)
One of the lesser known bands on the Roadrunner Records label was the Arizona thrashers Atrophy. They debuted in 1988 with this album titled Socialized Hate. Atrophy was a typical band on the label. Playing a hectic type of thrash metal with lots of crunch. Brian Zimmerman sounds a bit like Schmier of Destruction but without that thick German accent. Socialized Hate was a quite strange creation, It's so frenetic that it almost sounds like your typical German release.Think Exumer or Destruction.
Soundwise it has some similarities with another Arizona band, namely Flotsam and Jetsam and their debut album Doomsday for the deceiver but as said before with completely different vocalist. The rhytmic and oh so crunchy guitar play by Rick Skowron and Chris Lykins is simply brilliant.
Socialized Hate is absolutely worth checking out, it might not be the most famous or the most 'easy to get into' thrash album but this is just so god damn infectious.
If these guys had been from the Bay Area they would certainly have received more attention but who cares about that, they are delivering high qualitative thrash and that's all the matters, don't miss out on this one, because Socialized Hate is an underground classic.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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AT WAR - ORDERED TO KILL (1986)
At War debuted in 1986 with this LP titled Ordered to Kill. At War delivers a sound similar to what bands like Venom and Motörhead did a few years earlier. That driving and quite simpilistic type of speed metal that was quite common in the early to mid eighties. Speaking of Motörhead, there's a Motörhead cover called 'The Hammer' here, which remains true to the original and it's my favourite track from the album together with Ilsa (She Wolf of the SS) which is a salute to the highly violent and slightly pornographic movie with the same name.
At War's music is noisy and primitive and vocalist Paul Arnold's sounds a bit like poor mans Cronos (Venom). Everything here was kind of standard fare for thrash by 1986. Plenty of bands were firing on all cylinders and they were getting more technical by the day.while At War just treaded water and got left behind. Which was more or less the case for all bands that played speed metal at the time, it was simply a style on it's way out. While thrash was getting extremely popular by 1986.
There's also a sort of theme on this record and you can get some clues to what it is on the artwork. Yes, you guess it, it's a war theme.
. Maybe if the album was released 2-3 years earlier it would have made a bigger impact, now when the scene was in full bloom there were plenty of better alternatives, but somehow the album and the band hasn't been completely forgotten over the years. The band had a cool image and sound, but they weren't as good songwriters as Venom for example. At War fires blanks, or at least non-lethal bullets.
⭐⭐⭐
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