The Thrash Metal Thread
Dark Angel - "Time Does Not Heal" (1991)
Look, I know "Darkness Descends" is an undisputed thrash metal classic but if I'm being completely honest it's always been Dark Angel's much more progressively structured final full-length that I regard as their creative peak. I quite simply don't buy into the claims that it's bloated & goes for a style-over-substance approach. The lengthy arrangements make perfect sense & are incredibly fluent given just how many riffs are they're comprised of. Plus, the vocal performance of Ron Rinehart is by far & away the best that Dark Angel have offered up. In fact, he often carries the less classic pieces through the middle of the album via some very catchy & powerful choruses & any number of well executed transitions that work to make the mass of different parts into an impressively cohesive piece of work. Gene Hoglan's drumming is spectacular on this record (particularly his double kick work) while you'll never hear an album with more consistently high quality & sophisticated modern thrash riffage. Sure, the tracklisting is pretty top heavy but there's nothing even close to a weak track included here. In fact, the wonderfully complex opening couple of tracks may be the best of the band's career. The one thing that I'd probably criticize is the over-use of harmonized melodic lead solos when a more aggressive King/Hannemann style of approach probably would have served the band better. Perhaps they thought the song-writing needed a little more memorability due to the sheer girth of some of the tracks but I disagree because you'll rarely find a classier & more intelligent thrash record. Nor will you find one that's more heavily underrated than this one.
4.5/5
So it's just been announced that Dave Lombardo is Gene Hoglan's replacement in Testament.
Dave Lombardo is really helping out a couple other prominent thrash bands after the end of Slayer. He has performed drums in Mr Bungle's The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo and Annihilator's Metal re-recording, Metal II.
I think he's still the drummer for Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Cross, Fantômas & Misfits too, isn't he? Is this man even human?
Parkcrest - ...And That Blue Will Turn to Red (2019)
I know shamefully little about Chile other than it is very long, has a lot of mountains and is home to the world's driest desert, The Atacama, where there are many space observatories. The other thing I know is that the Chilean thrash scene is one of the more vital and vibrant iterations of the genre in these early decades of the 21st century. Bands like Demoniac, Critical Defiance and Ripper are but the tip of the Chilean iceberg and Parkcrest are another extremely talented bunch of thrashers. It does seem like quite a tight scene however, with Parkcrest guitarist Diego Armijo and drummer Nicolás Villanueva also playing in Ripper and vocalist/guitarist Javier Salgado playing in Critical Defiance and Hellish amongst several others. Formed in 2011, Parkcrest didn't release their first album until 2016's Hallucinative Minds hit the metaphorical Bandcamp shelves. Whilst being an energetic and raw album, Hallucinative Minds is far from the finished product, but did show some promise. So did the follow up, ...And That Blue Will Turn to Red deliver on that promise? Well, I would have to say that, by and large, yes it has and it is a massive leap forward when compared to the debut.
The first difference is that the production this time round is much improved from the debut and sounds powerful, yet has an impressive clarity that allows all the band member's contributions to distinctly be heard. The rhythm section of bassist Cristoffer Pinto and Villanueva are the particular benefactors of this improvement in production values. Pinto's bass throbs along, providing a super-solid foundation from which the others can weave their magic. Villanueva's drumming is possibly the biggest revelation for me on this record, it is furious yet controlled and is much more than just straightforward pummelling. His work here is reminiscent of Dave Lombardo and praise for a thrash metal drummer doesn't get much higher than that does it?
Of course, what we all turn to thrash metal for is the riffs isn't it and here Parkcrest certainly deliver, firing them off like they're going out of style from a seemingly inexhaustible supply. There may not be quite as many as on, say, Time Does Not Heal, but they certainly come thick and fast. Guitarist Javier Salgado doubles up as vocalist and his harsh, barking vocal style is particularly reminiscent of Kreator's Mille Petrozza and, in fact, I have seen several plausible comparisons to Kreator, Slayer and early Sepultura and while they do take inspiration from these more aggressive purveyors of thrash, their sound is distinctly their own with a degree of technicality coupled with the aforementioned aggressiveness, this being a hallmark of the "Chilean sound" it would seem.
The songwriting is fantastic with several really great tracks on here, the opening duo of Impossible to Hide and Darkest Fear are a killer opening salvo and the instrumental Dwelling of the Moonlights may be my favourite thrash track since the early nineties. This is an album with a surfeit of riffs coupled with searing, meteoric soloing and a tempo that is unrelenting. I don't say this often but this is a modern thrash offering that is more than capable of holding it's own against all but the very best the genre has ever produced and Parkcrest comfortably sit in the vanguard of the latest thrash metal revitalisation.
Oh man more Chilean Tech Thrash? With one of the best covers I've seen in a while? Gotta check this one out tomorrow, it might be a bit too straightforward Thrash for my tastes but I'm excited nonetheless, great review Sonny.
Chilean Thrash hasn't disappointed yet, I was right in that I don't dig this as much as something like Demoniac since it's straight-up, more barebones Thrash, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. As someone who tends to be a bit lukewarm on classic Thrash records, this new South American resurgence has really surprised me with how much I dig it. Gonna be going back to this one quite a bit, these guys deserve way more attention.
4/5
Demoniac - So It Goes (2021)
Continuing my travelogue through Chilean thrash I have arrived at Demoniac. Well, this album has completely blown my mind. I thought that Parkcrest's ...And That Blue Will Turn to Red album was good, but this is insane! It takes the amazing aggressive thrash metal of Parkcrest and adds a further layer of technicality and diversity - we are even treated to some dark thrash-jazz which is simply incredible-sounding. The nearly twenty-minute title track is a thrash metal classic make no bones about it. I see you have heard this Xephyr, but Daniel and Vinny you really should give this a spin - I seriously doubt you will be disappointed. I've ordered the CD off Bandcamp and I will have to work up a review to try and do it justice, but for now I'll just give it a 5/5.
I see that "The World's Shittest Ever Thrash Metal Album" is 35 years-old today. It's probably now older than it has sold copies!!
Demoniac - So It Goes (2021)
Continuing my travelogue through Chilean thrash I have arrived at Demoniac. Well, this album has completely blown my mind. I thought that Parkcrest's ...And That Blue Will Turn to Red album was good, but this is insane! It takes the amazing aggressive thrash metal of Parkcrest and adds a further layer of technicality and diversity - we are even treated to some dark thrash-jazz which is simply incredible-sounding. The nearly twenty-minute title track is a thrash metal classic make no bones about it. I see you have heard this Xephyr, but Daniel and Vinny you really should give this a spin - I seriously doubt you will be disappointed. I've ordered the CD off Bandcamp and I will have to work up a review to try and do it justice, but for now I'll just give it a 5/5.
All this talk about Demoniac made me think about this black/power metal band from New Zealand also called Demoniac, Sam Totman and Herman Li’s former band before starting the power metal band that got me into metal, DragonForce. Probably the first ever black metal band I’ve at least heard of!
Holy Terror - "Mind Wars" (1988)
This late 80's sophomore album was my introduction to Los Angeles thrash metallers Holy Terror way back in the day. I quite liked it too but I have to admit that I've never spoken of it in the same lofty terms as many extreme metal fans seem to. The band's 1987 debut album "Terror & Submission" was more of a speed metal record than it was thrash but here we see Holy Terror reversing the ratio with a good six of the ten tracks on offer falling under the bracket of some fairly aggressive & up-tempo thrash. The remaining four tracks vary between speed metal, US power metal & your more traditional heavy metal. The vocals are a major contributor to my finding an insurmountable cap on my appreciation of "Mind Wars" as they're a little pedestrian to tell you truth. The guitar solos are surprisingly great though & there are plenty of great energetic riffs on offer. I found a fair bit of enjoyment in Holy Terror's debut but I think "Mind Wars" just shades it for the band's finest work. It's just not an album that I feel the need to return to all that often.
3.5/5
Schizophrenia - "Recollections of the Insane" (2022)
The Belgian death/thrashers have returned triumphant in 2022 with their first full-length release. Coming back from the success of their Voices EP from 2020 was always going to be a challenge for the four-piece from Antwerp. The immediacy that was present on that five track release some two years ago does actually still remain somehow over the longer format. At the same time the band continue to show glimpses of expansion to their sound which is certainly leaning more towards the death metal part of the equation of their sound.
It is clear that with a rapid sense of maturity the band are now deploying almost progressive elements to their death metal lead work at least. The sprawling Sea of Sorrow showcases this really well and is a real standout moment just some three tracks into the album. Unafraid to stick with their more thrashy roots, tracks such as Monolith show that the guys are able to let rip in a more basic structure following their more established format. Recollections of the Insane probably qualifies better as memorable death metal that does not rely on overtly melodic delivery to stick to the old memory bank. The anthemic Inside the Walls of Madness is a fine example of anthemic metal that sacrifices nothing in the way of extremity yet leaves an accessible aftertaste in the mouth.
Schizophrenia - although rooted in the same death/thrash realm that Sepultura once inhabited - offer a different level of intensity to the Brazilians who's second full-length no doubt inspired the band name. I would describe the Belgian's sound as less heavy but a lot more racing and although I keep saying that they are more death metal than thrash there is always something inherently thrash about the attitude of almost every song they deliver here. Without necessarily straying into Sadus territory, Schizophrenia maintain that scathing attack to their sound and impose a tempo that befits a 90's heyday death metal band that started out as a thrash band before stretching their legs into the death metal world.
My only criticism is that whilst they are mostly definitely there, these moments of variety are so subtle that you really need to sit down to focus and catch them, which is not something I often do with death/thrash record in all honesty. No getting away from the fact that Schizophrenia are getting stronger with each release though.
4/5
Sarcófago - "The Laws Of Scourge" (1991)
This is my first revisit to the Brazilian cult band's third album in quite some time. I got into Sarcófago in my very early days of tape trading so I first head "The Laws Of Scourge" pretty shortly after it was released & remember digging it quite a bit. It hasn't aged as well as I'd hoped though to be honest but there's still a fair bit to enjoy here. Those of you who are expecting the evil black metal of their 1987 debut "I.N.R.I." will be disappointed because Sarcófago had changed their style further towards the thrash metal of Slayer, Kreator & Sodom by this stage only they'd mixed it in with the death/thrash of early Sepultura & a significant amount of Candlemass style atmospheric doom metal. Does it all work? Well, yeah it does but I'm not sure all of the influences gel perfectly just yet. The doomier sections sound almost exactly like "Clouds" era Tiamat & I'd be very surprised if "The Laws Of Scourge" wasn't an influence on that particular record which was released the following year. I'd suggest that there's a Viking era Bathory influence to the regular use of keyboards here & you can expect the band's signature blast beats to raise their head occasionally too (& yes they still struggle for timing). I'm not sure I love the sweep picking sections as they sound more like wanky show-off exercises than melodies. Unsurprisingly it's the thrashier & more deathly material that most tickles my fancy the most with the opening title track, album highlight "Screeches From the Silence" & the remake of "I.N.R.I."s "The Black Vomit" being my tracks of preference but there are no weak songs included here with all of this material possessing a suitable amount of underground authenticity & credibility. In saying that though, I don't think this release belongs in The Horde as the thrash-to-death ratio is set firmly over to the thrash side with death only making occasional appearances. I'll be submitting a Hall entry for that shortly. Overall I think I slightly prefer "I.N.R.I." over "The Laws Of Scourge" these days but there's very little in it. I don't think Sarcófago sound quite as vital in 2022 as they did to a teenage me thirty years ago but it's still nice to indulge in nostalgia from time to time nonetheless.
3.5/5
Germany's Ravager caught my eye due to the frankly awful artwork (sorry Timon Kokott) that was only rivalled by the equally poor choice of title for their sophomore album. initially I had thought them to be South American but they are just five Germans with some awful concepts around art and marketing. Thankfully they play a frenzied style of thrash metal that reminds me of Exodus and the horrid packaging just not bear any resemblance to the musicianship on show.
Whilst most certainly not unique, Ravager are certainly passionate about what they do and give a fair old go to trying to capture that 80's thrash ethos as they largely race through nine tracks of average sounding thrash metal that strays just the right side of speed metal in places. They are not afraid to slow things down though and they can most certainly play their instruments. The longest track on here clocks in at just a shade under nine minutes and is probably a stretch too far for them overall as it does come off as a bit preachy. However, it does showcase some versatility in the bands ability and they do actually structure Slaughter of Innocents reasonably well. Pointing their criticisms firmly in the direction of politics and society at large the band also take their time to have a pop at war also. Oddly, for such a clearly sci-fi/horror driven band (in terms of their artwork at least) Thrashletics is lacking in these departments and so the album is less fun than I was hoping for given the cover art.
It most certainly is not flawless thrash metal and probably will not get much rotation at the Vinny Mansion but it does hold its own for forty minutes, sticking to a tempo and trajectory that it sets out from track two onwards (the opening track is a dull and pointless acoustic number). As I say, the fun element is a bit lacking for me and the album is strongest when they are just letting go a little more on tracks such as Pit Stop...Don't Stop in the Pit and Mindblender. Their more serious themed stuff can still rip though (see Kill For Nothing) but on the whole I just feel there is something lacking over the whole album to make it really standout.
3.5/5
For this weekend's top ten list I've gone for my Top Ten Conventional Thrash Metal Releases Of All Time. It's turned out to be pretty predictable really but it's my list & I'll cry if I want to. See what you think & feel free to post your own lists:
01. Slayer - "Reign In Blood" (1986)
02. Metallica - "...And Justice For All" (1988)
03. Slayer - "South Of Heaven" (1988)
04. Metallica - "Master Of Puppets" (1986)
05. Sepultura - "Beneath The Remains" (1989)
06. Slayer - "Season In The Abyss" (1990)
07. Exodus - "Bonded By Blood" (1985)
08. Slayer - "Decade Of Aggression: Live" (1991)
09. Sepultura - "Arise" (1991)
10. Metallica - "Ride The Lightning" (1984)
I enjoy a good amount of conventional and technical thrash metal, and looking at how many Pit releases I've rated, in the slightly possible event that my Guardians interest flops (as it already seems that way) and I feel up to having that clan replaced in my 4-clan lineup, The Pit might be a potential option for me. Then again, I'm more focused on the lesser-known and underground bands as opposed to the greater thrash giants in your list, Daniel. Anyway, here's my top 5:
5. Dark Angel - Time Does Not Heal (1991)
4. Voivod - Killing Technology (1987)
3. Demolition Hammer - Tortured Existence (1990)
2. Sadus - Illusions (1988)
1. Annihilator - Alice in Hell (1989)
Destruction/Tormentor - "Bestial Invasion of Hell/End of the World" split bootleg (1998)
I've been meaning to get around to revisiting this old bootleg CD that I picked up at the time of release for a while now. I'd secured primitive dubbed versions of both of the demos it compiles through the tape trading scene a few years earlier but when I saw that I could get them on a single CD (potentially with clearer sound quality) I jumped at the chance. It was mainly for the Destruction demo to tell you the truth as I rate it more highly than either of the band's first two proper releases in the widely praised "Sentence of Death" E.P. & "Infernal Overkill" debut album, neither of which I get much out of. "Bestial Invasion of Hell" (3.5.5) however offers a raw & exciting brand of speed metal-inspired thrash metal with a touch of hardcore about it & I'd imagine that tracks like "Mad Butcher" & "Frontbeast" will appeal to most members of the The Pit. Tormentor's "End Of The World" (3/5) is a lot rawer in terms of sound quality & general professionalism & it doesn't really compete other than a stellar version of "Tormentor". There's a noticeable blackened edge to its primitive structures which I quite like but the distant rehearsal-quality production goes a long way to nullifying the electricity in the performances. The high-pitched attempts at King Diamond style vocals certainly don't help matters & all four tracks were included on Kreator's debut album "Endless Pain" (generally in superior form) so there's not really much reason to explore this demo in isolation.
This bootleg compilation is definitely worth a few listens though, if only to witness the roots of Destruction which deserve a lot more credit than they've been afforded. If I'm being honest I'd have to say that I prefer this CD to all of the early Teutonic thrash releases of the 1982-1985 period with the exception of "Endless Pain" & there's enough quality here to see it holding its own in comparison there too. The early Holy Moses, Vectom & Sodom efforts don't really interest me all that much whereas there's some genuine excitement about this CD.
3.5/5
Slayer - Christ Illusion (2006)
Genres: Thrash Metal
OK, it's pretty obvious that, due to the return to roots, Slayer's Christ Illusion is often regarded as an improvement over the last couple albums, Undisputed Attitude, Diabolus in musica and God Hates Us All. There is truth to this. However, this doesn't mean Slayer's gone back to the same quality. No longer held back by the groove and nu metal influences that the late-90's and early 2000's were flaunting in the wind like a horse's dick on a nudist beach, Slayer decided to be the old Slayer again. However, this album only really impresses on the opener, "Flesh Storm," which boasts some pretty impressive riffage and feels extremely nostalgic for those familiar with the first five albums. But then we get immediately get to the part where Slayer is COPYING the first track over and over again until they finally do something different on the five-minute "Catatonic" which is already seven tracks in. In other words, not only does the entire first half copy the first track by making up for the variety with riffage, but the second half starts off that way before returning to that with the ninth track, "Cult."
So this return to form is palatable because it boasts some good thrashing. But on a critical perspective, I have to say that this is the first time one of Slayer's real "thrash" albums got tiring. In the end, each riff on the album, while pretty well done, is just another riff to get through before completing the album because Slayer already did better. Christ Illusion is a pure-blooded return to form in the sense that it offers nothing new. You might as well skip this one. In fact, I would even go against the norm by saying that Undisputed Attitude is better based on the merit of trying new things.
64/100.
Slaughter Lord - "Thrash 'til Death 86-87" (2000)
Back in the very late 1980’s & early 1990’s when I first became a part of the underground metal scene there were several local bands that sat beyond reproach as the very pillars with which the Australian metal scene was built on. Given how isolated our country is to the rest of the world (far more so back then), the vast majority of these artists were completely unknown in other parts of the world outside of a select few who were lucky enough to have well-informed contacts down under but the legends of these early metal acts have lived on still to this day. Mid-80’s Sydney extreme metal band Slaughter Lord sit at the very pinnacle of this ideology given that they tick pretty much every box required to ensure maximum notoriety: Only released a demo & some crudely recorded rehearsal tapes? Tick! Provided members to various other important bands? Tick! Had a sound that was ahead of its time? Tick! Were highly influential on some major players in the global metal scene? Tick! That’s right. What we’re talking about here is just as much an enigma as it is an artist selling their wares so it’s worth putting thing into perspective before we move ahead & get all analytical but at the end of the day I believe in reward on merit so there won’t be any free stars being awarded for influence alone from this ol’ metalhead.
Slaughter Lord formed 1985 in the Blue Mountains just outside of the Sydney metropolitan area & their reputation is built on a single poorly-produced three-song demo tape called “Taste of Blood” that was released some time in 1987. I encountered this release very early on in my tape trading days & it certainly got my attention. In fact, I’d suggest that it made a bigger impression on me than Mortal Sin’s legendary 1987 debut album “Mayhemic Destruction” which is saying something for any Sydney-sider. I wouldn’t say that I regard "Taste of Blood"as a classic though as Slaughter Lord still sounded like a work in progress more than a finished product with their sound jumping around a bit & the recording quality & performances still needing a fair bit of work. That didn’t stop “Taste of Blood” from changing to face of metal in ways that very few people are actually aware of though.
In 2000, band leader & drummer Steve Hughes (who is now a world-renowned stand-up comedian) contributed to a project that would see the majority of the Slaughter Lord recordings being re-released on a compilation CD called “Thrash Til Death 86-87” which includes a couple of additional studio tracks & four crude rehearsal recordings of non-demo songs. I hadn’t heard any of that additional material until this week as Slaughter Lord split up a couple of years prior to me first venturing out to my first local metal gig but my interest was certainly high given my familiarity with the demo & the aura of mystery & adoration around the band. I certainly became pretty closely affiliated with the bands that the various band members would go on to play with though & they all command a similar level of respect from myself & my peers. Hughes would do time in Mortal Sin, Sadistik Exekution & Nazxul, founding guitarist Mick Burke would play for Mortal Sin & his accompanying axemen Sandy Vahdanni & Anton Vasquez would both do stints in Sadistik Exekution too so you couldn't wish for a stronger resume than that when it comes to the Sydney extreme metal scene.
"Thrash 'til Death" opens with the two additional studio cuts in “Destructor” & “Slaughter Lord”, both quality tunes in their own right & sounding like they might have been recorded after the demo due to the greater level of sophistication in the composition, performances & production. “Destructor” is a very fast & aggressive thrash metal number that sounds like classic Dark Angel with Mille Petrozza from Kreator behind the mike. I really dig it & it’s one of the highlights of the release. “Slaughter Lord” sounds more like the demo tape with the brutal thrash metal sound being diluted with something more sinister. You see, what made Slaughter Lord so notorious in the global underground was the nastier blast beat-driven death/black metal component. In fact, it baffles me as to why the band aren’t spoken of as one of the founders of the war metal movement because a lot of this stuff is undeniably worthy of that tag with the death & black metal influences being thrown at the listener in a heinous mess of barbaric violence. “Slaughter Lord” isn’t quite as strong as “Destructor” but it’s still a really decent inclusion nonetheless.
“Slaughter Lord” flows nicely into the “Taste of Blood” demo even though the production jobs are vastly different because that war metal component is evident on all three of the demo tracks, particularly the first two. One of the reasons I feel that Slaughter Lord’s sound was still a work in progress though is because the demo tracks all include some pretty standard Slayer/Kreator-worshipping thrash parts & you get the feeling that they hadn’t yet decided on which way they wanted to go, almost like they were still in transition & the next release might be the one that defined them. All three demo tracks are worth listening to though, particularly the title track “Taste of Blood” which is the one that maintains the war metal savagery for the greater majority of its run time. I’ve always wondered how an extreme metal band could manage to release a demo where the guitar tone is lacking in distortion like it is here though, particularly the frantic solos which definitely suffer for it. The vocals are nothing short of savage & sit somewhere between Kreator & Bathory. Hughes’ blast beats are particularly brutal for the time & take their queues from the South Americans as much as they do from grindcore. It’s easy to see the influence that Hughes had on a young Morbid Angel when you look back now & I’d go so far as to suggest that “Altars of Madness” would have sounded a bit different if not for the influence of “Taste of Blood”. The same can be said of Bathory’s classic “Blood Fire Death” album actually as some of the relentless thrash included sounds so similar to the faster thrashers on that particular record & I know that Quorthon was a big fan along with other major players like Sepultura & At The Gates.
The rehearsal recordings are unfortunately where “Thrash Til Death” runs out of steam though. All four are fairly standard thrash tunes that have been recorded poorly & offer nothing additional to the legend the band has created. I do like closer “Cryptic Terror” quite a bit but I struggle to sit through the three that precede it which is ultimately what makes releases like this one more of a novelty than an essential testimonial to a unheralded champion of the global scene. This doesn’t diminish the impact of the “Taste of Blood” demo but it does highlight the fact that Slaughter Lord really built their reputation on a very small body of work & mostly through their own tape trading network (which is kinda cool, isn’t it?). While the band was no doubt a critical player in the Aussie metal scene, I’d suggest that they’re more influential than they are essential but would recommend "Taste of Blood" to anyone that likes the idea of the brutal thrash metal of Necrodeath & Morbid Saint being crossed with the death metal insanity of Sadistik Exekution.
3/5
Nice review Daniel and a real insider's view of a little-known, albeit influential, act from days gone by. It's great to get a picture of such an underground band from someone who was a contemporary of theirs. I, in common with many others I suspect, had never heard of them before.
Is that release on u-toob?
Nice review Daniel and a real insider's view of a little-known, albeit influential, act from days gone by. It's great to get a picture of such an underground band from someone who was a contemporary of theirs. I, in common with many others I suspect, had never heard of them before.
Is that release on u-toob?
Hobbs Angel Of Death - "Hobbs Angel Of Death" (1988)
Following on from my having revisited the Slaughter Lord compilation last week, I felt like it’d been too long since I last revisited another legendary underground Aussie thrash enigma in 1988’s self titled debut album from Melbourne’s Hobbs Angel of Death. This record made a huge impact on the local scene when I was first becoming involved with extreme metal & it would have been hard for me to avoid becoming well versed in the unapologetically thrashtastic approach that Pete Hobbs & co. took with it. I have to admit though that I've never quite understood the heights of some of the praise that gets heaped on “Hobbs Angel of Death”.
Band leader & guitar-slinging front man Pete Hobbs was originally a member of a highly influential & important Melbourne heavy metal band called Tyrus who never got past the demo stage but developed a really strong following & significant notoriety through the Metal For Melbourne record store which put on some of the initial metal gigs in this country. Another band to benefit from these gigs was Nothing Sacred who would go on to become known as one of the earliest thrash bands in Australia, a claim I deny as I've always thought of them as being closer to heavy metal personally. Hobbs would initially recruit three ex-members of Nothing Sacred to record a couple of demo tapes that would see him signing a recording contract with legendary German metal label Steamhammer Records. Guitarist Mark Woolley was the only one of the three who would still be onboard by the time the album was recorded with bass player Phil Gresik (who would later go on to play for other notable Melbourne extreme metal acts like Bestial Warlust & Destroyer 666) & drummer Darren McMaster-Smith completing a four-piece line-up.
The production job on “Hobbs Angel of Death” is one of its strongest attributes as Steamhammer had brought in renowned producer Harris Johns who already had widely praised releases like Kreator’s “Pleasure To Kill”, Voivod’s “Killing Technology” & the first couple Helloween records under his belt. You can easily hear why the label paid the big bucks as this is far from your average under-produced, demo-quality 80's thrash debut. Gresik's bass sound is particularly impressive & suits his Tom Angelripper-esque style very nicely. The performances are highly professional too with the band sounding really tight & professional. The are a few acoustic guitar sections included which do tend to sound a little out of place given the metal-as-fuck, Satanic image that Hobbs seems to be trying to portray with his vocals, lyrics & imagery. The lengthy “Marie Antoinette” is the most atmospheric example of that.
I really enjoy Hobbs’ aggressive vocals & clever use of Satanic themes in his lyrics. It’s a bit of fun more than anything else but it works. The thrash-at-all-costs instrumentation is a suitable accompaniment for him too as the band pulls few stops in presenting themselves in as metal a fashion as possible. A lot of people will have you believe that Hobbs Angel of Death were right up there with the Slayers & Dark Angels as far as intensity goes & they certainly have their moments but I’d argue that they were nowhere near as consistent with it. Sure, a song like “Lucifer’s Domain” sounds very similar to Sodom & there are plenty of Slayer references scattered across the tracklisting but the riffs don’t quite have the edge of the top tier thrash gods as they're a little too basic in structure which also makes them sound a bit generic at times.
There’s no denying Hobbs’ consistency though as none of the ten tracks on offer (eight if you’ve got the vinyl version) come close to being weak. I just don’t think the band have achieved a genuinely classic thrash tune here though. “House Of Death” (my personal favourite) & “The Journey” are certainly very strong examples of their type but they never come close to the top tier in my opinion. At their best Hobbs Angel of Death compete with the likes of Canada’s Infernäl Mäjesty but more often sit closer to England’s Deathwish or fellow Aussies Mortal Sin due to a lack of sophistication & x-factor in their composition. Don’t get me wrong, Australia has certainly produced a pretty decent thrash record here. I’m just not sure it’s deserving of the cult status it seems to enjoy amongst old-school Aussie metalheads & I'd probably take Slaughter Lord's "Taste of Blood" demo or Mortal Sin's "Mayhemic Destruction" over it if I had to choose. Who said I'm biased towards Sydney?
3.5/5
Mortal Sin - "Face of Despair" (1989)
Sydney thrash legends Mortal Sin were very much the hometown heroes when I was first being initiated into the extreme metal scene in the very late 1980’s & early 1990’s. I’d become aware of them through the title track from their highly regarded 1987 debut album “Mayhemic Destruction” which was one of the standout tracks on the cover CD from the first edition of seminal Australian metal magazine “Hot Metal” & it very quickly saw me hunting down dubbed cassette versions of Mortal Sin’s full-length albums which were picked up from older kids at my school. I recall finding both “Mayhemic Destruction” & their 1989 sophomore effort “Face of Despair” to be enjoyable listens but neither would have the sort of impact I would see them having on my peers in the local scene over the coming years. It would be Mortal Sin’s live presence that would have me placing them on a pedestal as one of the earlier sources of inspiration for me wanting to become a metal musician. Nothing much had changed when I looked back on “Mayhemic Destruction” recently but it’s about time I revisited “Face of Despair” to see how it compares.
“Mayhemic Destruction” was very much an example of “Kill ‘Em All” worship with it’s simple NWOBHM-infused thrash sounding a touch dated even by 1987. “Face of Despair” presents a very confident band that ooze of professionalism & have clearly honed their craft over the two years since the debut. The clear production & super-tight performances are very impressive with the lead guitar work being particularly effective. Front man Mat Maurer still sounds a lot like Metallica’s James Hetfield but it’s the instrumentation that’s the focal point here with the band opting for a mid-paced chug more often than all-out velocity. That in itself isn’t a negative as there are plenty of great mid-paced thrash albums out there but I do think the album feels a little lethargic at times & would have preferred a touch more energy. It just seems like the mid-paced material is less inspired than the faster parts which see the guitarists showing exceptional right-hand precision & offer a similar sound to early Testament.
The tracklisting begins very strongly with opening cut “I Am Immortal” going on to become one of the great metal anthems of the Sydney scene but I’d have to wait until quite late in the album to see proceedings reaching the same sort of heights again through my favourite track on the album “Terminal Reward” (which includes an incredible bridge & solo section). A lot of the other material is more than serviceable but fails to grab you by the balls like top tier thrash releases tend to do which is mainly due to a general lack of intensity. If you’re going to keep things a little more chuggy then it’s essential that the song-writing is top notch in order to compete with the big boys but I don’t feel that Mortal Sin often compete at the elite level, instead tending to stay amongst the also-rans for the most part. There are a couple of weak tracks included that ensure that “Face of Despair” stays there too with “Martyrs of Eternity” & the terrible novelty closer “Robbie Soles” leaving me cold.
I may not enjoy “Face of Despair” quite as much as I do the youthful exuberance of “Mayhemic Destruction” but it’s far from a poor effort & there’s actually not all that much between the two. “Face of Despair” is a more than decent sophomore album but I do find it hard to see where the unanimous praise that the rest of the Sydney scene heaps on the early Mortal Sin albums comes from to be honest. This is a working-class thrash record from a band that clearly knows what they’re doing but it fails to dazzle me enough to see me coming back to it regularly & that kinda sums up my feelings on the early Australian metal scene overall. I think we had a tendency to overrate our home-town heroes in the late 1980’s given that we were so far away from the rest of the world & were rarely impacted by big name tours in a pre-internet world.
3.5/5
Annihilator - "Alice in Hell" (1989)
I was a big fan of "Alice In Hell" when it was released & it still comes across as a really solid & ambitious thrash metal debut today. Every song includes at least a couple of classic thrash riffs but there are also plenty of more melodic King Diamond & Iron Maiden style heavy metal parts tossed in throughout the tracklisting, only they're generally played at high speed which gives the album a noticeable speed metal feel (see "WTYD", "Word Salad", "Ligeia"). The bass lines are really interesting & are also quite prominent in the mix which really enhances the progressive nature of the composition. Randy Rampage's vocals have invariably been a cause for debate over the years but I've always quite liked them. Jeff Waters guitar solos are certainly impressive, if a little high in the mix. His opening intro piece "Crystal Ann" is pure Yngwie Malmsteen worship.
I have to admit that the song structures are pretty loose by today's standards. In fact, a few of the songs sound quite pieced together but the quality of the riffs is good enough to overcome it. The links to technical thrash metal are overly ambitious as there's really not very much genuinely technical stuff on offer. "Alice In Hell" sits much more comfortably alongside bands like Testament & particularly Megadeth although it's the precision performances & overall sophistication in the song-writing that draws comparisons with the likes of Coroner.
Annihilator's debut album is comfortably their best work but I've never regarded it as a thrash classic. The title track certainly is & there's a case for "Burn Like A Buzzsaw Blade" too but the remainder of the album doesn't quite fit the bill, despite displaying an undeniable consistency & maturity.
4/5