A little over a decade back, I wrote an exhaustive amount of reviews covering the German thrash scene that I came up with through the 80s and beyond, not only the bigger names but a lot of obscure records as well that were interesting to go back and cover. I neglectfully decided to exclude Protector at that time, as I always associated them with a little more of a death/thrash hybrid sound, but in reality the first half of that equation is pretty scant throughout their catalogue, and I should have taken a run through the first 'half' of their career. Well, now is the time, because while they're not a group that's reached the highs of their better-known countrymen, this is a damn consistent band which has also never visited any of the lows of said peers.
Their albums were impossible to find when I was young, and in fact my first encounter with any of their music wasn't until the sophomore full-length Urm the Mad, but they started out pretty damn strong with their Misanthropy EP, which ironically showed the most in common with the developing 'Big Three' in their scene. Not a clone by any means, but if you had changed the logo here and tucked this into the Sodom discography between Obsessed by Cruelty and Persecution Mania, it would have fit like a glove. This especially applies to the faster material, where the churn of the guitar riffs is so reminiscent, but also in the vocals or Martin Missy, which sound a lot like Tom Angelripper with a little of Mille's bloodthirsty timbre. That said, the more mid-paced, headbanging material bears a little more resemblance to US thrash of its day, and as with their Teutonic fellows, there's always that Slayer undercurrent, especially in tunes like "The Mercenary" with those evil little guitar trills. Tankard is another comparison, at least the debut Zombie Attack, if only for that raw but rich rhythm guitar tone.
Despite the slight lack of novelty, this is still a superb start, with a good variety to the material that balances out the blitzkriegs with the more dialed-back, atmospheric riffs as in "Holy Inquisition". Most of the tracks hook you from their inaugural riffs, like the shuffle of "Agoraphobia" or the crushing simplicity of "Kain and Abel", and Missy's voice is the perfect complement to the dangerous and primitive edge of the guitars. Leads feel like steel whipcords being sliced through the meat of the rhythm section, never really 'catchy' but always added another level of atmosphere to the din of the recording, while the bass is present and creeping. They use a lot of breakdowns for introducing new fast riffs, not in a mosh sense but the stop/starts of the songwriting, and while that might show a lack of confidence in transitional moments, it's quite charming and 80s and they sound so authentic and fresh to this day that I wouldn't want it any other way. The drums are also really good, crashing and loud with some thunderous fills to again enhance the ballistic presence (i.e. the close of "Holocaust").
All six of the tracks here are good, and Misanthropy is easily the work which I'd point anyone towards if they were looking for more of what they enjoy in mid 80s-Kreator or Sodom, just that raw, evil, basic German thrash metal, but formed into solid, balanced tunes that you'll spin a lot more than once. Expurse of Sodomy, Pleasure to Kill, Zombie Attack, Sentence of Death, and then this. Though the DNA here will persist through their entire discography, in some cases more obviously than others, they will evolve away from this even as soon as Golem the following year, but this is 22 minutes of undeniable flesh-tearing glory from one of the unsung second-tier acts of that scene.
Verdict: Win [8.25/10] (You drank of the evil source)
https://www.facebook.com/Protector.666not777
Friday, January 2, 2026
Protector - Misanthropy EP (1987)
Thursday, June 20, 2024
Satan - Suspended Sentence (1987)
I have a little bit of Mandela Effect when it comes to Suspended Sentence, or at least I thought I did, because I always equated this as more of a thrash album when I was growing up. I remember listening to this one almost as much as Court in the Act, possibly because I thought it just had a better mix in my headphones, but also because it was a little harder hitting and that mixed in better with my fixation Slayer, Death Angel, Metallica, Coroner, Kreator, Possessed, and all the other stuff I was so heavily into at the time I was transitioning from a pimply Middle School geek to a pimply High School geek with longer hair. Now that I've had so many years to get back to it, I realize that it might have been a bit of exaggeration...sure, this is more adjacent to the escalation of aggression that was transpiring, and many bands actually morphed into straight up thrash bands from their trad metal roots, but it's also a pretty smooth successor for how Court in the Act transitioned to Into the Future...this is a very natural extension.
Imagine the band took their debut, ramped up the bottom end, added a few more gang shouts to the chorus parts, and transformed some of their complex guitar lines into some more chugging force. That is the sophomore in a nutshell: a modified, leaden heavy metal bruiser which was prescient for a lot of the harder hitting European power metal to follow the next decade. The bass playing here is incredible, Graeme English cranked up a little with a thicker, fluidic tone that is just as prominent as the two axe lords he is locking horns with. There are still oodles of melodic noodles flowing above the pummeling pavement, to give this record plenty of atmosphere on tunes like the epic "Who Dies Wins", which for me is the equal of anything off the debut. In fact, there is about an EP worth of material here, that combined with the Into the Future, might have surpassed the debut in my estimation. The "92th Symphony" intro is a nice setup with its glistening harmonies, "11th Commandment" is unforgettable with those pluggy opening bass lines and some totally killer, thick mid-paced riffs. "Avalanche of a Million Hearts", a beautiful acoustic power ballad that erupts into Sean Taylor's thundering beats and some more riffs that have remained in my memory since first hearing them.
Otherwise, there are a few numbers which are give or take, like "Vandal" and "S.C.U.M.", the titles of both enforcing that semi-thrash vibe I get for the record. These have their moments, but before I spun this again I would have had a harder time remembering them, or "Suicidal Justice". Nothing that would necessarily make you press 'stop', but they are not the equals of their peers for me. And that's the one reason that Suspended Sentence doesn't quite match Court in the Act or the amazing reunion period material. The production is a bit uneven here, too, half of the stuff sounds more polished and punchy than the rest...for example, "Calculated Execution" is a decent closer but lacks the power of the first three on the disc. Having said that, this is a robust, edgier Satan for the later 80s, some of the more creative magnificence of the debut traded in for something that might keep them afloat during times where more and more heshers were abandoning the trad stuff for the thrashing. It works well enough in that capacity, and there are a number of gems here that the years cannot sully, but it didn't seem to matter as the band would soon enter a 22 year slumber interrupted only by their time as Pariah.
Verdict: Win [8/10]
https://www.satanmusic.com/
Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Armored Saint - Raising Fear (1987)
March of the Saint and Delirious Nomad were hardly albums that were infested with stinkers, but it was Raising Fear that really brought the band to the next level, a record I listen to without ever wanted to skip anything, one that ramped up my excitement level considerably. This is all due to the better songwriting, this thing is packed with tracks that embed themselves instantly into my memory and have not vacated even once, through the grunge years, the extreme metal onslaught, the modern era in which there are 500 albums released every week...this is another of those latter-80s gems which shall be forever be enshrined in my collection as long as I can carry it...my mind as long as it can hold a thought. It's not flawless, and it's not even the best Armored Saint album, but certainly another contender during a year already choked up with timeless classics. Ironically, it would be their major label swansong, before they moved over to the more appropriate Metal Blade roster.
The title track just blasts off, with some of the faster and more intricate riffing the band had mustered to its day, little guitar leads running up and down the intro while they chug into John's verses. Though the mix on this album is actually a little inferior to those before it, the songs more than compensate, and when Bush hits that chorus and shifts it up, I was just blown over. This is definitely a qualifier for the USPM niche, as some of their songs will be again the future, I'm not sure if the band is always equated with that style, but I think this one fits with the constant momentum and steadier use of the bass drum, that and some of the guitar licks feel similar to the stuff Riot and Sanctuary would be putting out shortly after this album dropped. Following this with the Lynyrd Skynyrd cover seems a risky choice, but "Saturday Night Special" is dirty and groovy and once again, Bush nails it with the vocals, and it kind of shows more of that transparency for the hard rock roots that have never abandoned Saint. That's the weird thing, this cover wouldn't have sounded out of place on any of their albums, whether the debut or any of the more modern releases, even Punching the Sky.
But can that compare with hooky, killer originals like "Out on a Limb", "Chemical Euphoria", or "Crisis of Life"? Not exactly, and tracks like these are where the real strength lies. The riffing has definitely gotten more interesting, the choices catchier and the intensity more consistent as they find themselves more directly competing with the harder thrash sounds of their Californian scene and beyond. These guys don't have the hyper-melodicism and anthemic sound that the European power metal bands were starting to unleash, and they don't have screamy Rob Halford vocals, so they would hang in there by just writing bad ass, relatable tunes with unquestionable energy. Just listen to how nasty and awesome "Human Vulture" is, I remember one of the 'cool' older metalheads from my high school, who I envied for his great taste and long locks, had a t-shirt for this song, and it was inspiring. But there are no cuts on Raising Fear that I ever want to skip, the hooks are as fresh as they were when it released, and even though I don't find the production the best of their discography, it's still clear and potent enough to drive all of its 52 minutes of content home.
My appreciation for this album has indeed grown since it released, which puts it on a similar trajectory to its predecessors, only I started out having this one in a higher regard. As I hinted above, it's not the best of their works for me, but it's certainly worthy of the silver medal in their catalog, and one I'll happily keep listening to even when they're feeding my all my meals through a tube. Was also cool to see a knight-like character from the debut return, to seismically smash up Los Angeles like one of their earthquakes, palm-tree oases and all hurling through the debris as the electric-charged, spiked titan wreaks as much as havoc as this album does to my brain. Great shit.
Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]
https://www.armoredsaint.com/
Friday, February 11, 2022
Devastation - Violent Termination (1987)
For such a huge state, I always felt like the Texas thrash scene was rather on the small side through the 80s. Sure, there was Cowboys from Hell in 1990 which was one of the biggest albums ever, and then you had a few cool bands like Rigor Mortis, Watchtower , Gammacide, and Agony Column, but there was no California/Bay Area-level explosion; a lot of it was no doubt relegated to an underground of demo hopefuls. One other band that achieved a fairly high visibility, but then fizzled out with the genre was Devastation, who released two strong albums through Combat, and really seemed to hit with the fans of that more excessive, aggressive side of thrash metal circa Dark Angel or Morbid Saint. But before we can get to that good stuff, there was Violent Termination, an album that sounds right in line with their speed and lethality, but one so rough around the edges that most feel it should probably remain forgotten...
And I don't necessarily disagree with that assessment, I just think I've probably heard worse. This album definitely sounds like a clunker in which the band really hadn't learned to gel together yet, but there are some positives to it, like the raw, scrapyard production aesthetics that make the guitars sound like they are being played in a studio full of rusted barrels and abandoned sheet metal. The riffs themselves aren't even all that bad if you're a fan of the Slayer school of nasty speed, but they tend to get lost a little under the trash can drumming, the fat, burping bass-lines and the unfortunate vocals. To be clear, Rodney was the front man on all three of their albums, but they just don't have that explosive, splattered vibrancy that he would adopt on Signs of Life. They instead feel like dull barking, with lines that syllabically don't even match up with the riffs half the time. I can kind of hear the comparable tone in his timbre somewhere, but if anything, you'd have to give him a reward for the most improved member as the band, 3/4ths of which appear on all three of their albums.
Sometimes the amateur rawness on these old thrash albums had a lot of charm to it, like Sepultura or Sodom on their early releases, but Violent Termination is just too dull. The riff patterns are certainly identifiable as a vicious brand of thrash, but the way the vocals are slung together, and the rather awkward mix of the drums leech of them of some of that potential nastiness we love from this old shit. You can clearly hear some of those Slayer influences, or even some Celtic Frost on the grooves of "Syndrome of Terror", but a lot of the writing is bland and half-formed, the vocals a little too loud, and the guitars, which were at this point clearly the most energized and competent part of the band, just don't stick the landing on a lot of tracks. The leads are spurious and appropriately whip-like in tunes such as "Death is Calling", and I kind of like the raucous tone on the guitars, it gets me pumped up but then there is simply no payoff. The lyrics are also comparable to a lot of other bands at the time, so there's no real problem in that area.
Ultimately, though, Violent Termination winds up sounding like an overlong demo from the average thrash band which jams over in that garage on your street corner, and listens to all the right shit, but has yet to really forge its own worthwhile identity or master playing together. I don't want to be too hard on it, because we all know in hindsight that they were about to quickly meet those goals, but this one's very much skippable, even if you're in the market for some of the crudest, most 'real' thrash and speed metal from the old times.
Verdict: Fail [3.5/10]
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
MP - Get It Now (1987)
MP was another casualty of the 80s European metal surge, a band that might have stood out a little more against its flourishing scene if there were simple a few less sharks swimming in the pool. For all intensive purposes, they have a sound extremely similar to other German acts like Faithful Breath, Samain and the mighty Accept, but as a card carrying fan of all three, I don't know if I can quite get enough of that particular niche, so an album like MP's Bursting Out or their second, Get It Now is something I consider a treat. As a full re-release of this LP approaches through Dying Victims' sub-label 'Relics from the Crypt', perhaps its time to give a glimpse back at what I'd honestly consider the best disc of the group's four full-lengths between 1986-1992, one that cleans up well and certainly scratches my itch for well-written if slightly indistinct traditional heavy/speed metal from the middle of that decade.
Their debut Bursting Out (The Beast Became Human) was similar in structure, but suffered from a more brash, uneven production. Part of that gave it a nastier charisma, but as it turns out, the smoothed over sophomore exceeds it with better hooks, stronger choruses, quality lead guitars and, let's face, it a much cooler cover art that seems to be channeling Valeria from Conan the Barbarian. We're talking total traditional Teutonic steel here, they've got a bit of more energetic pep than Samain's Vibrations of Doom, with a similar, raunchy vocal style from Thomas Zeller, but then again he's not so explosive as his countryman Udo, and I think that's probably the reason a band like this got raked across the coals, there was just a much huger presence in that niche from Accept, Running Wild or Warlock, or the emergent power metal of Helloween in their earlier incarnation. But that's not to take away how damn consistent Get It Now is, firing off some catchy, pumping openers like "Not for the Innocent" or "Claws from the Night" that make for instant heavy metal magic, provided you can get behind that melodic but sleazy strain in his delivery, one of my favorite characteristics of this album.
The rhythm section here is likewise strong, with Zeller's throbbing if 'stock' bass lines driving a lot of the songs' momentum, and Michael Link giving a moderately-paced, tireless hammering. I really love the guitar tone too, shifting between the agile, often palm-muted patterns and leads, the latter of which have a bit of flair to them not unlike Rage's Manni Schmidt, only MP isn't overall near that band's level of intensity and innovation. The band does seem like another of the countless groups in the 80s that were still flirting with the idea of the hard rock roots, and this translates into cuts like the brilliantly titled "Rocktober Blood" (and I say that with no irony), or the strangely subdued instrumental closer "Slow Down", which is like a mellow rock thing just over a minute which seems like it was a fragment of some other song that could have used vocals. Thankfully the band never goes all out power ballad, "Cruel to the Heart" seems to tease that for a few seconds before rocking its face off.
I don't think there's a single track other than that instrumental outro which I find weak, but my faves here are probably "Not for the Innocent", "Claws from the Night", "Hawk of May", and "Never Trust a Woman" which is one of a couple tracks here that sound straight from the Wolf Hoffman playbook. If you don't care about pretention or requiring anything stunningly original in your metal, and you often find yourself leaning back on albums like Breaker, Vibrations of Doom, Gold 'n' Glory, Burning the Witches, and Gates to Purgatory, then I think you'll hear a natural affinity in this album and find it worth the time. It's definitely one of those albums where I can lead in by dating it or defining it as a chronological relic, but to these ears it really hasn't aged a day. It sounds because metal is indeed eternal and anyone trying to convince you otherwise is still your enemy.
Verdict: Win [8/10]
Friday, January 15, 2021
Rage - Execution Guaranteed (1987)
Nearly synonymous in quality with its predecessor, Execution Guaranteed expands upon the creative riffing and quirky ideas at the expensive of maybe going a bit over the top in just a few sections. Just not enough to mar the experience, because like Reign of Fear or all their other output in the 80s, this is an album which feels as fresh and 'new' to me in 2021 as it did when I was a teenager. Perhaps it's because there simply aren't any other bands to come along which have sounded to me quite like what Peavy accomplished, and this thing is just loaded with riffs to fucking die for, still straddling the borders between power and speed and thrash metal, heavy hitting but laden will plenty of melody and finesse. Perhaps it's also that awesome if cheesy cover art with a skeletal gangster, strapped with a tommy gun, and it's kind of the swan song before the band would implement its awesome 'Soundchaser' mascot.
There was one lineup change here, Rudy Graf stepping into the second guitar spot, but even though they're still not in what I'd consider the ultimate Rage formation, I have few if any complaints about any of the musicianship. Swarthy, heavy guitar tones, power drumming, well executed, varied leads, and Wagner's steady bass lines, which are felt slightly less than on the debut. There are a few spots where the snare drum seems a bit too tinny or clappy, but it's a minor gripe when everything else sounds so loud and fantastic. As with the prior album the band has no quips about adding in some keyboards or effects like in the middle of "Deadly Error", or the video game samples that open "Mental Decay", they add a lot of personality. The riffs are all over the place from the tasteful melodic speed metal flurries that would heavily characterize their following two albums, or the crisp low-end chugging which is anything but generic. While Wagner's vocals aren't far from Reign of Fear, I do feel there is a bit more focus on their production which can occasionally make them stand out...he's got such a unique personality between the higher pitched screams and howls and the more gritty mid-range, and it does take some getting used to...but fuck, so doesn't King Diamond.
Nobody can fault his chorus lines, though, delivered amazingly on thundering anthems like "Before the Storm" or the immortally catchy "Hatred", which also features some workmanlike heavy/thrash riffs that remind me of Testament's The Ritual, only five years earlier! They've really mastered the art of the slower track, too, whereas "The Scaffold" bonus track left something to be desired on the debut, "Streetwolf" has no such problems, an atmospheric masterpiece that winds up to the escalating scream of the title with some eerie, clinical muted melodies. You can just imagine walking the misty concrete jungle apocalypse of a fictional, dystopian 80s action movie with this one playing in the background. But in every instance the band is hustling, from the scathing opener "Down by Law" to the finale "When You are Dead" this is also one fun-as-fuck, rousing record that is never far from my mind when I'm appreciating all those unsung Noise Records classics. The cherry on top is that they would keep on getting better...
Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (controlling the trade)
http://www.rage-official.com/
Monday, June 8, 2020
Crypt - Stick to Your Guts (1987)
If Stick to Your Guts was any indicator, Crypt was a fairly competent act that might have suffered from redundancy with other, more exciting bands of their era. The style here is one that might be primarily mirroring USPM acts like Helstar, Liege Lord, or Lȧȧz Rockit, at least how those acts sounded on their earlier albums. You've got a mix of very straightforward heavy metal tracks like "Castaways" and "Darker Than Hell", with basic riffing patterns and predictable choruses, and then a couple tunes which show a slightly darker and more complex side, and are coincidentally far, far better than the stock metal that the band falls back on. I'm talking about "Metallust Fever", which almost sounds like it could have fit pretty well on Burning Star, with great riffs and one of the better vocal performances on the album. He's got a kind of tough guy street metal mid-ranged inflection that he alters between screams, some of which sound cheesy throughout the album, but occasionally hit you hard like Tyrant from Jag Panzer, another group with some stylistic parallels to this one. At other points he definitely channels some of Bruce Dickinson's intonations.
The major issue here is that a song like "Metallust Fever" is so vastly superior to so much of the other material that the album can grow disappointing after that ends... Sure, a few numbers try, like "Wings of Omen" with its pumping Iron Maiden bass-lines or "Die Sister Die", which feels like some lost 1980-1981 gem from either the NWOBHM or L.A. scene, and has some atmospheric, interesting cleaner guitars which wouldn't be out of place on an earlier Fates Warning prog metal effort. "Reich Master" is another fun jam with some cool leads and a nice, dark aggression to it despite the traditional triplet picking it cruises along with. But I'd say the quality is very uneven, a few of the tracks could have been discarded and replaced with more stuff like those I just listed and this could have become a cult classic with ease. Another complaint here is that, while the guitars and bass are generally quite good, even adventurous, on some of the tunes the entire rhythm section just sort of blends together into an indistinct punching force. The rhythm guitar tone is kind of boxed in throughout, but thankfully it still sounds decent in balance against those bass lines. The drums are a little poppy sounding and detract from the heavier riffs, but they get the job done. As a general rule, the heavier, darker and more ambitious the Crypt tune, the better, and despite the album's several inconsistencies in production and songwriting, I've enjoyed more than I didn't. I think this is a rarity which might hold some appeal for fans of genuine old USPM, especially that which cops a lot of DNA from Maiden.
Verdict: Win [7/10]
Saturday, May 2, 2020
Prong - Primitive Origins EP (1987)
While the whole three-piece lineup here is solid, I think it's really Tommy Victor who contributes the most distinct ingredients. His vocals have a downtrodden gruffness to them which is both abusive and ugly, somewhat more primitive even than a lot of the other tough guy barkers in the NYC crowd. It's almost like having some battered construction worker or public works engineer coming off shift and grumbling at you in some late night greasy spoon, and yet the lyrics are quite heavily sociopolitical and fairly interesting even by the pissed off standards of the 80s. His guitars, though, are even more interesting, raw and fast but not afraid to inject a little eerie dissonance into the chord choices that makes them feel subterranean, or some more pure metallic tremolo picking parts like the intro to "In My Veins" or the bridge of "Watching". There are frilly, wild lead guitars here too, something you don't always expect due to the punk roots it has sprouted from. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of angry hardcore charge riffing happening all over the place, so fans of Agnostic Front and Sick of It All will find plenty to love here, but Prong certainly didn't shy away from the longhair aspect of their band, and it's this complete embrace of the varying aspects, and those they'd adopt down the road, that propels them.
Now, granted, I don't personally find a lot of the riffing here to be quite that memorable, especially the more standard hardcore/crossover riffs of which there are a good amount. Some of the patterns certainly set up tracks they'd write for Force Fed, my favorite Prong album to this day, but the notes just don't always fall into place, and this actually has a cleaner production than that album, crude by some standards but not as rash and raw and atmospheric sounding as the successor. But with eight tracks in under 20 minutes, its concise and energetic enough that you don't ever have time to get bored with whatever material you find lesser, and there are enough of those interesting little shifts here to keep your attention. I'd also say that, despite the production differences, this was one of the periods where the group's sound evolved the least between releases. Sure, Force Fed has more of a dynamic range, stickier riffs, and more abrasive production, but the style between the two is overall comparable enough that if you enjoy one you'd be drawn to the other.
Considering the historical value of this record, and the subcultural popularity of New York hardcore which thrives on to this day, I'm kind of surprised Primitive Origins hasn't seen some sort of large label re-release with one of the imprints Prong later circulated around towards. For all I know there is some sort of legal issue or lack of interest by the band, but I think this is one that fits right in with an interest in that time period, and while I'm not as much a fan of this as I am Brightside, Blood Sweat and No Tears, Life of Dreams or even the Crumbsucker's own metallic evolution Beast On My Back, it's a good one to break out once in awhile for those genuine old tones, and its earnest energy. At the same time, it's really just hovering over the manhole the band would plunge into for one of the best, grimiest, and still relatively underappreciated albums to ever hail from that scene.
Verdict: Win [7/10] (the walking skeletons still cling to life)
https://prongmusic.com/
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Blood Feast - Kill for Pleasure (1987)
Now, before the hair gets ruffled and the panties bunched, I'm not advocating that Blood Feast was some horribly incompetent band. As far as the New Renaissance Records roster, Kill for Pleasure was a rather middle of the road release, hardly the nadir of a label which produced only a handful of gems. For me, though, two of those particular gems, Indestroy's self-titled and debut and the North American release of Sepultura's Morbid Visions help exemplify exactly what it is I don't enjoy about the Blood Feast debut. Both had comparable, filthy speed/thrash aesthetics which could easily be filed under the proto-black/death metal category. Both brimmed with fun, unforgettable songs, dirty and distinct vocals and hooks that felt at the minimum threatening and at most downright Goddamned evil. Kill for Pleasure, on the other hand, just sounds like someone closely memorized a bunch of Slayer songs, trimmed out the infernal nuances that made them so revelatory and unique, and applied a vocalist who at best could be said as a more grotesque attempt to one-up Jeff Becerra of Possessed. Sure, everyone was influenced by Slayer, but if I had a dime for all the half assed "Black Magic" riffs here I'd have made back my money for the record. To dub this debut a bargain bin backup for Hell Awaits and Seven Churches might seem a cruelty or disservice to some, but it's nonetheless the honest truth.
But let me step back and talk about what I feel Blood Feast actually had going for them. For one, though horror influences persisted in the hard rock/heavy metal scene as early as the 60s (potentially earlier), the sort of 70s/80s inspired splatter metal was still pretty fresh by the time Kill for Pleasure rolled out. In fact, part of the charm anyone would feel for this or Chopping Block Blues is the nostalgia for the endless slasher sequels and 'forbidden' mock cannibal VHS tapes that started to thrive through this particular decade. The lyrics here largely revolve around films and stories of serial killers, mythical creatures of the night, and occult fueled apocalypses. It's Halloween metal for those individuals who privately venerate the holiday over the course of the entire year. That doesn't make it incredibly unique in the 80s, but bands like Blood Feast were unquestionably blueprints for the throngs of thousands of gore or kitsch-horror obsessed death metal mavens to follow. If Kill for Pleasure wasn't an inspiration for the roster of Razorback records, for example, I would be completely shocked. So that sense of antiquated slasher atmosphere and brutality permeates the experience here, and really makes me wish to like it more than I do...
Unfortunately, the music is just not up to the task. Boilerplate chord progressions paraphrased from a good number of other records leading up to it, thriving only off the inherent visceral intensity spearheaded by Gary Markovitch, the sadistic vocalist who channels the aforementioned Becerra's style into ghastlier heights of morbid grunts and vicious snarls. Oh, he's a lot of fun on a tune like "Cannibal", but the supporting rhythm guitars fail to stand out, and it feels like you're the target of some foot chase perpetuated by a knife wielding psychopath, only to realize in the middle that this is a pretty boring foot chase. 'Just kill me.' As I've persisted through the record every time I've broken it out in the past 25 years, I've kept waiting to hear those surprise hooks flutter in from beyond the verses, or some climactic chorus carnage that made me wanna flip back the needle for a replay, but they just never happen. Like a lot of its contemporaries (Darkness Descends or Reign in Blood), speed is the general rule, with a couple meaty palm muted breakdown grooves for the moshers, and those are across the board uninteresting. Naturally, I don't have a problem with such a driven, breakneck album, but I at least expect some catchy riff patterns strewn in there, and Kill for Pleasure does not deliver.
The production is a bit sloppy, so several of the complaints I've read are warranted in this area, though I have no idea why one would expect a major budget on such a small label. There are plenty of soiled and amateur sounding records I love to death (like the two other New Renaissance releases I mentioned above), but that's because the studio choices (or lack thereof) seem to emphasize the quality of the songwriting, or at least ensure that the listener is paying closer attention. Kill for Pleasure is dense and workmanlike, with Gary's lunatic vocals up front above the considerable drum mix and wet-ass distortion of the rhythm guitars. The leads are also pretty gross sounding, though occasionally they seem better prepared and more melodic than others, at which they seem like afterthoughts that sadly lack the frenetic capacity of what Slayer were weaving into their tunes. Blood Feast is definitely one of the earlier thrash bands to put such a distorted and sleazy tone on the bass...in fact it's so thick and repugnant that it places Kill for Pleasure almost into early grind territory at times (circa Scum or Horrified). A good choice, but the bass lines themselves are hardly interesting enough to provide more than a gut-spilling accompaniment. Drums are fired up and abusive, to say the least, but rarely if ever enter that extreme metal territory that Hoglan and Lombardo were pushing.
Really, Markovitch is the center of attention and the only component of this record that I found marginally entertaining, because he's just not holding back. He's crazy. Matched up with some truly bewitching or evil progressions of chords or melodies, Kill for Pleasure might have been sinister as shit, even turning the lead vocal down a notch, but this is ultimately 42 minutes of average schlock that secedes from the memory almost as soon as its injected. I mean, take Rigor Mortis' eponymous record, an excellent if imperfect example of how to integrate frightening, morbid rhythm guitars with dark vocals and cult horror lyrical themes, or older records like Hell Awaits, Metal Inquisition, hell even Welcome to Hell and Black Metal leave an infinitely more wicked impression upon the psyche than this; not to mention Chopping Block Blues which is more varied, unusual and interesting, even it trades in some of the savagery. Kill for Pleasure is not a compete dud, some acceptable slasher metal to spin in the background while you organize your Friday the 13th DVDs, but its only merits stem from its over the top frontmanship and unflinching rawness. Your heart won't quicken, you won't jump at shadows, and...no goosebumps. A bloody steak, sure, but not a tasty one.
Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10] (embedding the terror)
http://www.drinktheblood.com/
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King (1987)
Sheer escapism cloaked in fantastic themes, and yet tethered to the deeply personal traumas of reality through hymns of addition, lost love and suicide. Hall of the Mountain King might have transformed Savatage into a Jefferson Airplane for my generation if only a few hundred thousand more people had been paying attention, instead of stroking and hairspraying themselves, adjusting their shoulder pads in the mirror while they listened to "Wanted Dead or Alive" and nervously anticipated prom drama. The writing is intelligent, tortured, and sounded like no one else out there at the time, unless we're counting Savatage themselves. I don't think I've ever heard Jon Oliva traipse along the margin of sanity and sorrow so closely, not even on the more 'emotionally' driven, accessible rock opera albums that followed this one. He's actually using a lot of higher pitched screams and howls through this record, more than the earlier works, and does a lot of double tracked barking in tunes like "Legions", which only adds to the pervasive asylum aesthetic dominating the overall atmosphere. I'm not saying he's got the range or capability of the more popular English royals in the field, but when he sustains a shrill shriek it will chill you like a morning mist in November. When he and guest Ray Gillen partner up for the chorus of "Strange Wings", try not to cry!
Hall of the Mountain King has, hands down, one of the best guitar tones I've heard on ANY metal album, rich and rustic in both power and feeling, like chopping wood out back of a cabin on the mountainside. He brings forward a lot of the hard rock grooves that were prevalent on Sirens and Power of the Night, but they sound far nasty in the context of "24 Hrs. Ago", where the muscle the listener immediately into submission for the remainder of the runtime; or the estimable bad assery of "Legions". At the same time, he also lets the chords air out through a more tender, melodic number like "Strange Wings", and the chugging sounds intense without any unnecessary level of overdrive. Clean, harmonic picking also sounds ripe in the intro to "Beyond the Doors of the Dark". The leads burn throughout with this feral, bluesy emotion, but Criss Oliva also flexes his classical shredding chops in the cover of Edvard Grieg's "Prelude to Madness", the setup for the title track (also created in tribute to the Norwegian composer). And as we all know, that very metalization would later inspire the band's Dead Winter Dead concept album, and the ensuing, groan-inducing Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which would make them a LOT of money.
Perhaps I'm just a dick, but the rhythm section never exactly stood out to me in Savatage, probably due to my rabid Criss worship. That said, I fucking love the production of the drums on this record. You can feel each of Wacholz' kicks on your spine, and the guy has such excellent restraint, placing only the most minimal, effective fills on the stopping/starting phrases in cuts like the speed metal "White Witch". I couldn't always make out the bass very well in places, but in others like "The Price You Pay" it thumps along like a champ. Johnny Lee Middleton shows a lot more technique here than Fight for the Rock, and I almost wish I could hear the coiled, open power of the low strings even more. Hall of the Mountain King also has what must be the best use of synthesizers ever, performed by Robert Kinkel; quaint and subtle in support of the meaty rhythm guitar chops. There are a lot of ambient effects, bells and quiet choirs dispersed throughout the record to give it that sense of utter grandeur, and yet as soon as the guitars bluster out some manic riff like the intro to the title track, Savatage brings you straight to ground and then beats you in the spleen with a warhammer.
Unlike Sirens, Power of the Night and Fight for the Rock, there is absolutely ZERO stupidity to be found on this record. Granted, "Legions" and its 'metal storming masses' does mirror the whole 'metal children' anthem that the band had used a few times in the past, but it feels so much more serious and aggressive through the riffing delivery. But in terms of hooks, choruses, and lyrical delivery, this is nigh on spotless, and the band even goes above and beyond excellence when they escalate into Jon's screaming refrain in the "Hall of the Mountain King" bridge, or the bass-driven progressive rock grooves cutting through "24 Hrs. Ago". The topography of the songwriting is gorgeous, with peaks and valleys, glories and depressions that keep each track interesting throughout. The one possible exception is the closer "Devastation", which has some tremendous grooves and melodies coursing through the verses, and a very Maiden-like discourse of guitar and bass tucked into it, but seems a fraction less revelatory than the rest of the music (still better than most of the Savatage material not on this album, though).
I'd note that this is really where Paul O'Neill became heavily involved with Savatage; the man who would essentially become one of the visionaries behind their development, not merely a producer. This is easily the best album he's ever produced. The Gary Smith cover art is incredibly iconic, its bare-chested, bearded overlord firing off lightning bolts into a pair of flanking braziers, while a goblin jester looks on from the shadows. As a role-playing freak eagerly awaiting the 2nd edition of AD&D, I really wanted to travel this world, to fight this guy, to swipe up that axe, that dagger, and the chest of treasure here; but make no mistake about it, Hall of the Mountain King is no dweeby, laughing matter. It's an ageless phenomena, an album I never grow tired of hearing, and the clear summit in their body of work. The biggest downside to this record is following its lines of succession, watching everything slide downhill as the band took its interest in rock opera narrative to new heights, and then suffered an unimaginable tragedy. But this one album, this one place, this one time, this one statement, is eternal, and how could I ever truly look down on a band that gave me such a gift?!
Verdict: Epic Win [9.75/10] (but he's not the only one)
http://www.savatage.com/
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Testament - The Legacy (1987)
...and while my feelings for this debut might not be so strong as for Taking Over or Hall of the Mountain King, there is no doubt that this thing has more heart than Mola Ram's pantry, and more fire than an oil drum in some Oakland ghetto back alley on a cool winter night. Testament's modus operandi was admittedly a wilder response to Metallica more than anything else, and there's not much use in denying the correlations of sound. The dense, chugging tone of the guitars, and their constant, forward-barreling charge riffs are highly redolent of Master of Puppets. Chuck Billy's vocals were like a feral James Hetfield if he had been raised by wolves and then later rescued by Native Americans and missionaries, who taught him English as part of his salvation. His howls are like beefed up approximations of James' screams on Kill 'Em All, and he cuts a far more imposing figure for such an insanely nice guy. There's also an epic, dramatic structure to this early Testament songwriting which recalls Puppets' high ideals and ambition. I wouldn't place this on quite the same pedestal of quality as its forebear (after all, that album is about the tops for me and this genre), and the mix of the guitars in particular can get a little muddy, but it certainly does daddy proud.
Where the two greatly diverge, however, is in the melodic structuring of guitars. Where Metallica's leads were borne off NWOBHM and hard rock/blues, Alex Skolnick had a heavy outside influences from jazz and classical music, and this translates heavily to both the solos and harmonies, despite both he and Hammett sharing the esteemed shredder Joe Satriani as a teacher. The result is this very ominous, spectral (and often surgical) feel to the tunes, well groomed to the concrete dynamics of Eric Peterson's strong palm muting rhythmic ability. Louie Clemente was a harder hitting drummer than Lars Ulrich, though his beats are regulated through the album and never indulge themselves beyond the necessary. Greg Christian is a firm, dextrous bassist, but he'd really shine later with Practice What You Preach, where you can hear his playing more clearly outside of the rhythm guitars. Here's he rifling along, smothered in the weight of the primordial, processed cellulose of the chugging. All told, though, Testament was loaded with weaponry from the start (even when they had Steve 'Zetro' of Exodus on vocals before Billy), and it really shows through in the compositional level of this debut.
There are about a half dozen tunes here standing out from the rest, but there isn't one among the nine that drags its feet behind in terms of sheer energy and momentum. "Alone in the Dark" is a particular favorite, for the melodic chorus vocals, ghostly melodies, and the percussive meter of the vocals in both the verses and the kickass breakdown. But then you've also got the equally ambitious "Apocalyptic City", with an excellent intro of clean guitars, leads and Christian's lines at long last muscling onto the listener's radar (this whole sequence is also a nice foreshadowing for various moments on The New Order). This is followed by a pair of the best, most melodic rhythm charges of their career, and the pre-chorus and chorus sequences are likewise brilliant as they erupt into ballistic speed. Truly an anthem worthy of a post-nuclear dystopia in which bands of rabid, ravenous mutants battle with motorcycles and spiked chains over the last surviving mate-flesh; and you can envision all of this in your mind while listening. Further notables includie "Burnt Offerings" with more of Alex's haunted, unforgettable leads, and some killer scale-driven verses; and "Raging Waters", which no swarthy thrashing sea-dog worth his salt should ever live without!
The other popular tracks, like "C.O.T.L.O.D. (Curse of the Legions of Death)", "Over the Wall" and "First Strike is Deadly" haven't resonated with me quite so much, but they're still a deadly arsenal of pent up, volatile riffing patterns that provide a lot of the album's mosh-worthiest moments, and in truth you could listen to the full 39 minutes of the album front to back to front again for 20 years and never get tired of it. My one real complaint about The Legacy is that the production seems a little dated, not nearly so pristine or immortal as Reign in Blood, Master of Puppets, or other A-listers of the scene. Both my cassette and CD versions have both suffered from the punchy, semi-muffled tone of the rhythm guitar, and in my own ignorance I've never looked up or tracked down a worthy remaster. Not necessarily a deal breaker, and it hardly can distract me from songs this well-written, but I always felt there was a level of polish missing from this album that would have amplified my appreciation, and to this day it slightly skews the album's value to the negative (though The Legacy's successors do a fine job of cleaning it up).
That aside, who in the disreputable fires of Hell wouldn't wanna own this thing? If not, you are one sloppy, unprepared cockroach who won't last long in the crud and cracks once Armageddon rains from the sky in a metallic nuclear symphony. It's a fantastic start to a largely consistent repertoire, and instantly established Testament (for good reason) as one of the go-to bands beyond the 'Big Four' of US thrash. The lyrics are steeped in horror, violence, even some political relevance as in the opener "Over the Wall". The Legacy is one of those records that, with ease, helped validate thrash metal as a viable artistic playground in which to forage and toil. It was sophisticated enough for guitar gurus, heavy enough for pitbreeds, dark enough to let the listener's imagination soar through its dark network of urban and subterranean corridors. Not the best of '87 by any means, but a survivor, through and through.
Verdict: Epic Win [9.25/10] (once you're in, you wont' come out)
http://www.testamentlegions.com/
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Razor - Custom Killing (1987)
I'm also not into the frenzied "Russian Ballet" rock polka outro, so pretty much any fun I was going to have with this record was relegated to the other five tunes, which range from 4-5 minutes of livid, battering old school speed metal. Tunes like "Going Under" and "Forced Annihilation" are pretty standard Razor fare, with high velocity chords, palm mutes and even some darker tremolo passages in the latter that hinge on a death metal aesthetic. "White Noise" is generally more acrobatic and shifty in terms of its tempos, and "Snake Eyes", with an intro that most would consider pretty racist by today's standards, is pretty much what Possessed would have sounded like as a punk band, Sheepdog's menacing inflection barking out over a pretty basic procession of chords. Ultimately, I don't think there's a single song on this album that I'd place on a highlight reel of the band's discography, but they don't break character for much of the playtime, and there's nothing all that depressing if you've a hard on for Executioner's Song and Evil Invaders.
Custom Killing has a looser feel to its production than any of the previous albums, not nearly so spiffy and audible as Malicious Intent. The guitars are good and chuggy, especially when multi-tracked, but the bass here is extremely plump, and often the nuances of the leads and melodies get lost. Otherwise, it's workable and airy, but my least favorite mix they'd achieved to its day, even if it's not a far cry from its neighbors, and some of the murk of its tone would be transferred forward to the band's magnum carnage opus Violent Restitution. Sadly, while this doesn't break rank, there's also the retrospective burden of knowing just how damn excellent this record's successor would be, superior in every respect, Razor returning to the abusive speed and no-nonsense thrashing brawl that put them on the vests and jackets of generations of adoring fans in the first place. I used to enjoy Custom Killing more when I was younger, but it simply hasn't aged as well as the rest of their '84-88 material, and I rarely feel compelled to break it out of its own jacket. Along with 1997's Decibels, it's very much skippable.
Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] (half-hearted lives we'll devour)
http://come.to/the.razor.pages
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Coven - Worship New Gods (1987)
In truth, Coven covered a rather broad swath of terrain with this record, from the pure Black Sabbath digs and grooves of opener "Riddle of Steel" to the Viking arena-punk of "Ruler", which almost sounds like it was being played at some open air festival to an army of Saxon dogs, churning chords below the appreciable bombast of vocalist David Landrum whose jilted inflection carries all the way to the rafters of the stadium. Songs like "Burial Ground" provoke a total war mentality, with great, reflexive drumming and nasty chord curves worthy of the barrows and crypts the title promises, while others like "Threshold of the New" ride aloft a surge of pure NWOBHM thunder interlaced with off the hinge lead sequences and bumper car bass lines that seem like a byproduct of the 70s more so than the 80s. What's more, the level of reverb and the raw, lower volume of the guitars tend to immortalize the hooks and drums throughout; by today's standards, of even by the higher budget acts of the 80s, Worship New Gods might seem amateurish, but these very flaws lend it a timelessness that transports the listener back to the grounds of its fertile creation.
Landrum can prove a bit much in places, as his delivery is constantly wavering and in a few spots marginally out of pitch, but overall I think its imperfection too lends the record a distinct character which it might not otherwise enjoy with a tighter, polished performance. It says a lot that, after 25 years and no other prior exposure aside from perhaps a Youtube clip, this album can work its charms on someone so new to it, and even when it descends into total clamor like the freakout mid-"Loki" in which Landrum gets perhaps a little too 'in character', I found myself drifting back to memories of caverns and castles, witches and warlocks, heroes and rogues, dragons and damsels, and enjoyed its warped miasma of doom, early British 80s hymns and punk hysteria. If you're one to unlock the crypts and mine the dustbins and annals of obscurity within the trad metal spectrum, Coven's debut deserves a first listen, or a second listen; it's as fuming as a mythic bull ready for the charge, but also frivolous and fun. Do you read Robert E. Howard stories and listen to Samson, old Maiden or Spartan Warrior? This will butter your bread. The real question is, now that they're active again, can they follow this up with an equivocal level of immersion and personality?
Verdict: Win [8/10]
http://www.coventhirteen.com/
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Overkill - Taking Over (1987)
Taking Over doesn't just revisit the manic personality of its predecessor, it pours a bucket of concrete over it with a more forceful, muscular guitar tone that gives Bobby's vocals a run for their money. The riffs on this thing are ungodly excellent, an aural matrix of brutal thrash redolent of what bands like Metallica were doing on their seminal Ride the Lightning or Master of Puppets, only dowsed in East Coast gasoline and Ellsworth's impetuous screeching and pavement-preaching. In fact, Gustafson sounds so much stronger on this record that it feels like Blitz had to rely more on his higher pitched, howling delivery just to remain at the helm of this vessel. You've also got a tighter, intense performance from drummer Rat Skates, and while the increased tenacity of the six strings might serve to shove Verni's bass lines to the peripheral, he's still in there hammering away like a human piledriver. Like Master of Puppets, I've often found that the production of the album receives a few quips and complaints, but I'd have it no other way, because it truly helps capture that moment when the thrash niche was becoming more clinical, complex and hostile.
If I had to draft a 'top 10' list of Overkill tunes throughout the years, then I think it says a lot that at least six or seven of them would be lifted from Taking Over. It's really THAT good, and in fact I would have no qualms about naming it the top East Coast USA thrash record of all time, edging out other beloved beatings like Survive, Among the Living and Persistence of Time. It opens with a melodic escalation you simply don't expect in "Deny the Cross", accompanied by thudding war drums and masterful, minimal chugging that transition beautifully into the monolithic machine gun rhythm guitars while Blitz ruins your world with every murderous line of lyrics! The breakdown riff is fully gladiatorial with its thin, melodic underpinning and massive chords, the leads strange but superb, and the chorus (featuring a good gang shout) is among the most sticky of the 80s in this genre.
Other top flight tracks include the catchy punk-buster "Wrecking Crew", which would become the moniker for the band's fan club; "Fatal if Swallowed", which was drafted forward from the original Overkill EP with far superior production and atmosphere; "In Union We Stand", a mid-paced anthem with excellent pacing and roiling chugs through the verses; "Use Your Head", which like so many other pieces on this album, is an instant catalyst for reckless, moshing release; and "Powersurge", motherfucking ditto. But my favorite here is most likely "Electro-Violence", incendiary and intense (courting a lot of "Ride the Lightning" influence) with a chorus breakdown riff that should have replaced the S.O.D. theme on Headbanger's Ball. I'm talking to YOU, Kevin Seal, Adam Curry and Riki Rachtman. I know you're reading this! Simply put, this tune is one of those defining, unforgettable East Coast staples like a "Brainwashed" or "I Am the Law". If you don't like it, marker up those patches, dump your denim and hi-tops in the nearest trash can and go stuff yourself in a cubicle and listen to Katy Perry. License to be cool revoked!
The only song here I don't love, which frankly holds Taking Over back from the precipice of perfection, is the closer "Overkill 2 (The Nightmare)". I appreciate they were trying to follow up the eponymous horror themed track from the debut; to build their own 'franchise' like Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street (both of which turned out pretty goddamn awful themselves), but it's all too to rare that I feel it's spooky siren call. There are some nice techniques here, like the creepy bass of the intro and the little three-note melody sprung off the guitar line in the verse (to mimic the incidental horror scores of the period), but as a whole it's just not as lethal and efficient as all the (shorter) tunes leading up to it. That said, for the ninth man on your bench of nine, it's dependable enough to dunk a few severed heads into baskets.
'Taking Over'. No, they were not kidding, and through the years this album has transformed into one of my favorites of 1987, alongside other mighty thrashers like Killing Technology, Terrible Certainty, The Ultra- Violence, and the comparably vicious Finished With the Dogs. An irascible, unshakable paragon of punishing personality that the band just haven't been able to match in the ensuing decades. Gods know they've tried, but while Under the Influence and The Years of Decay had a few aces in the deck, and the more recent records like Ironbound have seen a streak of youthful energy permeate their weary ligaments, there is just no comparison on a song for song basis. Own it. Love it. Fear it. Own it again, for your little sister and brother. Buy your dog a copy. You have the technology. You just need soldiers. Remove your antenna, and then play it in the car when you've trapped your friends, until they too submit to the green and black, neck straining attack.
Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10] (this only happens every night)
http://wreckingcrew.com/Ironbound/
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Lizzy Borden - Terror Rising EP (1987)
Terror Rising is perhaps best known for its cover of The Tubes' 1976 classic "Don't Touch Me There", which also wound up on the Best of Metal Blade Volume 3 collection that dropped in 1988. You might recall that I was a huge fan of the Lizzy Borden rendition of "Live and Let Die", which was included on their live album as well as Best of Metal Blade Volume 2. God, did Metal Blade love this band (Lizzy originals also kicked off both of those comps), and for good reason. This time, they brought on a special guest, Betsy Weiss of label mates Bitch, to perform the vocals as a duet, and the result is something both goofy and endearing. Weiss has a deeper and more manly timbre than Lizzy himself, so you almost get this unusual reversal of gender stereotypes. It's fun, but I don't like it quite as much as the McCartney cover. Less successful though, is the version of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" which leads off this record. Borden does a decent job belting out the vocals in a rather unpolished production, and the shredding and dual melodies do not do a disservice to the original, but one year later the Seattle group Sanctuary would release a more formidable, marching and ominously psychedelic metalization.
As for the two studio originals on this record, it's another case where they were clearly not going to make the cut for the oncoming new full-length, much like the two that were tacked on to The Murderess Metal Road Show. Only this time, it applies doubly, because that oncoming effort was Visual Lies, the band's masterpiece, and these cuts are the worst of Lizzy Borden's entire history. "Catch Your Death" is a relatively timid mid paced tune that wouldn't be out of place for a band like Journey or Survivor if not for Borden's shrill presence, but its downfall is that the riff progressions are uninspired, predictable, and though the chorus itself isn't terrible, it pales in comparison to anything from the full-lengths. "Terror Rising" itself is incredibly dumb, as if it were the intro to some terrible horror film that never was. You get a few moments of silly interplay between some schmuck character and a pitch-shifted demon voice, and then a brief burst of metal which refrains the title...and that's it. Pretty fucking stupid.
In the end, it's the dearth of quality in these originals which really drags down the value of the EP, placing it well below Give 'Em the Axe. I really appreciate that the four tunes here 'belong' to the release, but other than the occasional fun of breaking out "Don't Touch Me There", this would be hardly an essential for even the most hardcore of devotees to the shock metaller's legacy. That said, it's easy to forgive once you settle down with Visual Lies and marvel. I will say that the vinyl sleeve to the EP goes over well at parties, and might serve you as a reliable deterrent to unwanted sibling/parent intrusions of your private space. Just hang it on your door or in some visible, central location and revel in their disgust. Otherwise, this was not doing Lizzy Borden much of a service, and like the lame images adorning the first and third full-lengths, provided more fuel for the group's detractors to not even remotely consider taking them seriously.
Verdict: Indifference [5.25/10]
http://www.lizzyborden.com/
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Judas Priest - Priest...Live! (1987)
So the tracks chosen for this set were once again culled from numerous dates performed in June '86 at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia and the Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. Having seen the band a few times here in the States, I can vouch for their collective professionalism and explosive sets across the aeons, but what I enjoyed the most about this offering was simply that I got to hear a number of tunes in the set that I don't normally or would never again normally expect on any of their big tours. Namely because it incorporates a bunch of the Turbo material. "Out in the Cold", "Rock You All Around the World", "Private Property", "Parental Guidance" and of course "Turbo Lover". That last one is admittedly a fixture at many of their gigs, but to hear the others from such a divisive record (which I happen to enjoy) is pretty sweet. I'm not sure of the validity of using "Out in the Cold" as the opener, it feels mildly lethargic (as it does on the studio incarnation) and doesn't exactly build up the listener's excitement, but for all I know they didn't actually do the songs in anything near this order at the actual dates. Otherwise, the material sounds pretty smooth. The synthesizer elements aren't as wild as they were on Turbo, Rob's voice is well sharpened and right on the money, and the guitar chords sound robust without leeching from the rest of the band.
Of course, this was also the first opportunity for me to have a live album with some of my favorites from their earlier 80s material, some of which numbered among my favorites of that period. Obviously the huge hits like "Breaking the Law", "You've Got Another Thing Comin'", "Heading Out to the Highway" and "Living After Midnight" were included in the set, after all these were the ones loading up their bank accounts, but I was also pretty excited for versions of "The Hellion/Electric Eye", "Freewheel Burning", "Metal Gods" and "The Sentinel", all of which sound pretty clean here, though occasionally too clean that they come of so polished that some of the natural, inherent aggression seems leeched. I feel like this is due to the mass levels of reverb and expansive sound that were likely needed to fill these arenas, but they still sound pretty close to their studio counterparts, although a few of the lead sequences are altered. The crowd response sounds a lot more genuine than Unleashed in the East, and Rob's voice a little broader and less piercing, and then there's the fact that this is simply more substantial of an offering at well over 70 minutes and nearly twice the set.
Priest...Live! doesn't carry that same nostalgic value I had for the first album, and some of the songs seem a little too tidy and restrained, but I'll take this any day over the Ripper-led live albums the band would produce many years later, and it's nice that the band decided not to rehash the material from Unleashed in the East, as if to let it all stand on its own as a documentation of the band's evolution. Or, they were likely just tired of those songs by the mid-80s. Ultimately, though, this is worth a pick up only to those who are not turned off by the heavy presence of Turbo. In recent years I've been starting to fancy live albums that feel more focused and authentic (from a single gig), but looking back at the past favorites this was almost never the case. Priest...Live! is certainly not a favorite from this period, but it does its job enough to satisfy an ear attuned to Screaming With Vengeance, British Steel, Defenders of the Faith, Turbo, etc.
Verdict: Win [7.25/10]
http://www.judaspriest.com/
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Heavy Load - Full Speed at High Level (1978)
After all, we're talking about what is arguably the first Swedish heavy metal album, not an insignificant career footnote when one takes into consideration the massive wealth of bands that have exploded from that country, dominating numerous sub-genres in ensuing decades of accelerated extremity. Siblings Ragne and Styrbjörn Wahlquist formed the band in '76 and clearly drew upon the popular sounds of the day, so it's not surprising that the writing often hovers on the margin between the hard rock sounds of KISS, Led Zeppelin or the Scorpions, but there's also a heavier edge redolent of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Judas Priest to the point that Full Speed at High Level might be seen by some as somewhat of an also-ran, if not for the general novelty of the sound and the distinct timbre of Ragne's vocals; the latter of which ironically provides a crippling detriment to this album's potential success, if not an absolute obstacle to its appreciation.
The riffs on the record tend towards memorable rocking, in particular the driving Priest-like "Full Speed at High Level" or the punctuated grooves of "In Two Minds" or "Midnight Crawler", and as early as this debut they were pulling off spicy dual melodies and psychedelic atmosphere worthy of darker 60s or 70s prog rock influences. The third member of this power trio, and their second bassist, Dan Molén would appear only on this record, but he's got a plunky tone to his lines that creates an almost danceable mood to the more serious strain of the guitar licks. But probably my favorite performance here is by drummer Styrbjörn who proves himself a dynamic and skilled rhythm keeper with a sense for dramatic fills and grooves. Heavy Load was unquestionably ambitious here. From the "Barracuda" goes surf rock inauguration of "Moonlight Spell" to the synthesized proto prog-metal epic "Caroline", to the 11 and a half minute leviathan "Storm" which might best be categorized as a Swedish "War Pigs" with its Iommi phrasings, no two songs sound quite alike and that plays to the record's infinite refreshment.
Unfortunately, the vocal performance on the album all but ruins it for me. Strained, unsettling and very often slovenly, Ragne doesn't seem to have the range or the talent for structuring individual lines to really sell the hooks here. I'd compare him to a lower range Osbourne or Rob Halford dowsed in a minute reduction of Robert Plant's whine, with an undeniably dark edge to his style that would later transform into a more potent and polished tone. While I can forgive the guy's obvious accent to a degree (often I find such a thing an advantage), the delivery through numbers like "In Two Minds", "Rock 'n' Roll Freak" or even the title track opener feels forced, frivolous and all over the board. Not to the extent that it entirely destroys the atmosphere of the album, because there's some thriving, theatrical charisma about Ragne despite his faults, but enough that I've just never been able to enjoy it as much as their later full-lengths.
I should also note that Full Speed at High Level features one of the premiere 'Viking metal' tunes of the 70s. Perhaps a pale shadow of Led Zeppelin's titanic "Immigrant Song", but certainly worthy of Canadian Thor and well ahead of Germans Faithful Breath who would adopt that whole image around the dawn of the 80s. "Son of the Northern Light" is far one of the heaviest and most memorable pieces here, not only for the feel good grooves in the faster paced riffing (at least on this album), but the explicit Christian stomping Nordic worship. Pretty intense for its day, when Quorthon was just hitting puberty and Venom had yet to punch their tickets to Eternal Damnation. Alongside "Full Speed..." and "Midnight Crawler" this is one of the tracks I've always found myself returning to, even if the 1982 sophomore Death or Glory takes precedence whenever I feel the need to scratch this particular, archaic itch.
In summation, Heavy Load's debut is a decent piece tempered by variation and personality, but the limited distribution and the flimsy vocals just weren't doing the music any favors. We're not talking "Exciter" or "Saints in Hell" here, but it flows well enough through its colorful cover art and compositional contrasts to appease anyone with an interest in such formative sounds. Fans of harder 70s music with clear psychedelic and bluesy overtones would do well to at least check this out, though the later efforts are admittedly more robust and distinct.
Verdict: Win [7/10] (I hope you feel engaged)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Heavy-Load/209514325984
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Grim Reaper - Rock You to Hell (1987)
The production here is another step forward for the band in that you could run this up against any of the more mainstream hard rock/metal hybrids of its day like Quiet Riot or W.A.S.P. or whatnot and come up favorably, and it's that very margin of aesthetics that dominates a lot of the songwriting. Tracks like "Lust for Freedom" and the bluesy, swaggering and silly "Suck It and See" would've sat quite humbly on the popular hair rock radio of the period, but then a lot of tracks like "Rock You to Hell" and "When Heaven Comes Day" have more of a palpable early power metal intensity to them not unlike Fifth Angel or the Dio solo albums. The composition was characterized by predictable choruses, hooky and energetic guitars dowsed in structured leads and melodies that felt refined even beyond Fear No Evil, but I wouldn't say that the songs were necessarily 'better', just more of the same in a natural cycle of evolution that wouldn't even be shaken many years later when front man Steve Grimmett would appear in his infamous GARMIN GPS commercial.
Personally, I'd rank that man's individual performance through these tracks as the best of the band's albums to date, in that there's really no place you'd want to strangle him for seeming too awkward and shaky (like their first album). He implements a good balance of his mid-range and screaming and tends to vary up the individual lines enough that you can tell right off that he put a lot more work into them. But then, the tremendously trite lyrics are the sort that any teen could scribble into his notebook while dreams of KISS, Alice Cooper and sugarplums were dancing about his or her head, and in some cases like "Suck It And See" they are just downright embarrassing. Part of me likes to think of it as a soundtrack to some vampiric fantasy like the Once Bitten film with Jim Carrey, but the lyrics are, as usual quite bland, and just hearing Grimmett belt out the chorus causes fits of unintended laughter every time, without fail. Not that others like "Rock Me 'Till I Die" or "You'll Wish That You Were Never Born" are anything to write home about.
In the end, the fact that this was released through RCA, with a decent video rotation for the title track (one of the best on the album) via MTV's Headbanger's Ball, and still didn't cause much of a stir among the metal public who were justifiably more obsessed with Metallica and others of that caliber was a portent of this band's demise (compounded by the label dispute they later had to endure). Sure, there was and will always be a niche crowd for this stuff, and it's made a bit of a comeback since, but there was just nothing exemplary or awe inspiring here. Then again, if leopard print tank tops, bad mullets and big, balls out obvious choruses are your thing, then have fucking at this. It might not be revolutionary, but I enjoyed it more than albums like Ram It Down or the Quiet Riot s/t, and it surprisingly doesn't sound any more dated or passe than the day I first heard it. Fun, relatively consistent in quality, and harmless. I remain partial to Fear No Evil, but only by a slim margin.
Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (but I'm never giving out)
http://www.myspace.com/thestevegrimmettbandgrimreaper