Decimator - Dirty, Hot and Hungry (1993)

If the Carnage City State Mosh Patrol was an odd little duck in 1989, I can only imagine how out of place its follow up would have seemed in 1993, when brutal death metal, grunge and nu-metal were the new darlings of 'extreme' music and all the rage for legions of angst-ridden tits who were trying to find an identity in a rapidly modernizing Western culture. Decimator had not grown much in the four interim years, and while Dirty, Hot and Hungry has a technically superior production standard, the actual style of their songs had not budged an inch. They also adopted a hot new logo here, and I don't mean hot as in attractive, but hot as in it will burn your eyes out if you stare at it too long.

The pseudo-Judge Dredd motif had not abandoned the band at this point, there are still a few tracks which pay tribute, and even a 'sequel' to one of the songs from the debut. Mad Dog is still up to his old, deep throat vocals, though the band uses a few more gang shouts and a higher pitched, snarling vocal at times. Otherwise, much of what you hear on this is 100% loyal to what they were playing on C.C.S.M.P., and if you got a few gags out of that then this might also bust you clear in the gut.

"Red Eye" has a very Venom party rock feel to the verse, but the riffs are tight and there is at least a little thrashing to be done, though the band maintains its old school metal streak even here. "Dirty, Hot and Hungry" has some interesting clean, surf/spy guitars that ride the wave of the thrash rhythms, like Lemmy and the boys scoring a James Bond parody. But, as lame as that might sound, it simply does not stand up to the horror that is "Sixteen Six", which is as amusingly funny as it is awful. Mad Dogs grunting is offset with some 'narrative' vocals over the subdued thrash bridge, and it sounds like something Ghoul might do, if they were around back then. "Flight 19" is one of the better pure thrash tracks on the album, concerning the great aviation mystery of 1945. "Mutant Lieutenant" starts with a scratch and the sampling of a rapper, and riffs that sound almost exactly like "No Sleep Til Brooklyn" if it were re-arranged with Mad Dog on the vocals. This song is a fucking abortion, and the band should seriously have thought about excluding it from the final product. The fact that it breaks into a half-decent bluesy metal riff with screaming only adds salt to the wound...had they stuck with only that riff and built around it, they might have had a decent song.

Shudder.

The latter half of the album fares little better. "Carnage City Rocks" is fairly low balling, simplistic thrash/heavy metal which might have worked as a bad Saxon or Judas Priest knockoff if not for Mad Dog's very different vocals. How "Stealer of Souls" got a sequel is beyond my comprehension, but here it stands, and surprisingly it is one of the less heinous tracks on this effort, with some nice melodic thrashing in the bridge. "T.R.I.P." starts out as a miserable, swaggering boogie/hard rock song which makes Jackyl sound genius in comparison, and then tries to thrash it up unsuccessfully. The band ends the album with another Dredd reference in "Megazine", an organ opening the tune and Mad Dog sounding like a mix between himself and a little Martin Walkyier (Sabbat, Skyclad). It's a decent tune, but also their last, and I can't really call it a high note to end on.

That's right, folks, two full length albums on the once mighty Neat Records and Decimator would call it a day. The band simply could not achieve notoriety in an age where so many more catchy and complex artists were putting out landmark albums, not only redefining genres but creating new ones. Sadly, Dirty, Hot and Hungry would be a weak effort even if there were no other music heavier than the Beatles at the time. It's no surprise this band went by unnoticed, but if you ever feel a curiosity to track their work down, start with the better debut album. It's not great itself, but less likely to induce vomit and midlife crisis.

Highlights: a few songs of the don't suck...

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

Decimator - Carnage City State Mosh Patrol (1989)

If Judge Dredd was not a comic, but a metal band in the late 80s, it would probably sound a lot like Decimator. Anthrax's "I Am the Law" was the default thrash metal tribute to the cloned law enforcer, but this obscure group took the concept and really ran with it, related lyrics running through both albums of their rather short lived career. As Hawkmoor and Elric were the inspirations for Hawkwind, the titular hard ass future cop Dredd was the inspiration for Decimator. What's even more fun, is that the vocalist Mad Dog seems to place himself within the mythos itself, giving the band a rather interactive conceptual streak which is both cheesy and endearing. If more information were readily available about them, I'd be glad to share it...alas, this is one band that even an underground sleuth like myself missed the first time around.

Now, Decimator were a thrash band, but they had far more of a roots metal influence than many of their more technical peers in 1989, and as a result I think this album makes for a bridge between thrash and NWOBHM. Not only in the riffing, but the deep vocals of Mad Dog remind me quite a lot of Lemmy or Cronos. They've got quite a tongue in cheek charm to them, and I find that necessary here, because the riffs are not all that standout to begin with.

Nobody move, I'm a riot pilot
I reach for my piece
As you reach for the sky
Get off your man
This ain't the mile high club
I'm taking over

"Raider" kicks off the album with some laughable takes of men pretending they are authorities in this violent, dorky dystopia, before Mad Dog exclaims 'I'm Lord Mad Dog, You Move And I'll Blow Your Fucking Head Off!'. I seriously blew the peppermint hot chocolate I was just drinking out of my nostrils when I heard that, and it really hurt! Now, had the band busted out some insane, raging apocalyptic thrash metal after Dog's statement, it could have been awesome. But this is really just a track akin to something Motörhead or Tank would write, with some slightly less bluesy leads. This is not one of the better tacks on the album, but there is just something about it which is enough to spark off the nostalgia. "Mutoids F.H.", or 'From Hell' (why didn't they just spell it out? Must be some Judge Dredd thing) is a a little bit thrashier, and here Dog's vocals really brutalize, while the guitars rock out to some playful squealing licks. "Blood Island" is actually a pretty good song, the best so far on the album, and a very nice mesh of the band's early 80s metal influence and the more modern brutality of the year this album dropped. When Dog rings out, it almost reminds me of old Hallows Eve. "C.C.S.M.P." is the title track, and this seemed built for the pit, with a slow bludgeoning gait and gang shouts over the chorus. Perfect for mangling mutants with your piece as you chase them down the filthy streets of Mega-City One.

"Devil's Bridge" sounds like a live track, since you can hear a crowd, but it may just be a sample or a live track mixed in with the band in the studio. I don't know, and really don't care, the song is reasonably fun, a bruiser with a corny chorus. If Lemmy were fronting Venom, maybe they might have written something like this. "Rogue Decimator" has a strong blues/hard rock influence to it, which is quite funny with Mad Dog's vocals roaring over it, but by far the worst song on this album for the rather generic boogie chords. "Dust Bowl" is all about the nukes, a scorching street metal piece with a dash of thrash, and the album ends with the two parter "Stealer of Souls", with even more of the band's pure Judas Priest-like street metal rhythm, and one speed picked rhythm that feels like its afraid to commit to some momentum, but the drums remain the same and the song never gets any faster than a trot.

Decimator sound to me like a band that were dabbling in the aggressive sounds of the time, but afraid to remove themselves entirely from the old guard of British metal. The result is something which stands out like a sore thumb, and I can see why success eluded the band. However, 20 years later, it doesn't sound any worse than it might have then. I really love the band's concept, and certainly their enthusiasm, but sadly I can't give this a glowing recommendation, other than nostalgic reasons. The songs just aren't that consistent, and of the 8, only 3-4 really rock.

Highlights: Mutoids F.H., Blood Island, C.C.S.M.P.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10] (if you ain't got the fare, you can pay it with your life)