The Crossover Thrash Thread

Depression - "Big Brother" single (1986)

The Melbourne hardcore act returned with their finest work yet, a short three-song affair that I hadn’t heard previously that once again highlights their defection to crossover thrash with some tight metal guitar work from Smeer. The opening track "Have a Look" is my favourite inclusion & is probably the thrashiest number with the title track hovering between crossover & hardcore & closer "Du-pres-shun" being more of an early example of the metalcore sound. It's all worth hearing as usual & these guys have been tragically overlooked in terms of their importance to the development of extreme metal in this country.

For fans of D.R.I., Suicidal Tendencies & S.O.D.

4/5

Depression - "Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash" (1987)

The last couple of months have seen me making a significant discovery when it comes to the history of Australian extreme metal. While I’ve always been aware of Melbourne hardcore punk outfit Depression through their 1988 sophomore album “Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes” which is widely known as being a crossover thrash release, I had no idea that Depression had actually spent a lot more time dabbling with thrash metal prior to that time. In fact, I now firmly believe that these guys were the very first Australian extreme metal band & count myself as a big fan of a number of their earlier releases, much more so than some of this countries other more talked about 80’s thrash treasures too. 1985’s self-titled debut album would show the first signs of a crossover into metal but it would be the “Australia, Australia” E.P. from later that year that would see them finally committing to a hybrid sound & with great success too. The “Big Brother” single from the following year would continue down that path before the release of this live album in 1987, a record that would see Depression moving on from their earlier incarnation with renewed vision. I’ll be fucked if it’s not another great record from these guys too actually, which is saying a lot from a dude that doesn’t usually dig a lot of hardcore punk.

Depression had taken on a slightly different lineup for the “Big Brother” single. Original front man Spike had moved on by that point with guitarist Smeer (also of Melbourne hardcore punk outfit Gash) taking on the vocal duties. Spike’s delivery was a little more gruff & masculine while Spike brought more of a screamy, rabid & psychotic element to the band that I slightly prefer, although both do a pretty decent job of it so there’s not a huge reason to want to take sides. Drummer Sham Littleman (Nothing Sacred/Hobbs Angel of Death/Non Compos Mentis) had also been replaced by Darren Antoci (Persecution) & it would be this lineup that would produce 1987’s “Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash” live album at Depression’s first live show in around two years. They make an excellent fist of it too with the production doing the band a lot of favours & highlighting Depression’s amazing energy & electricity very well.

Depression were a very talented group of musicians for a snotty bunch of punks with Smeer being the clear focal point. The influence of metal on his guitar technique is clear for all to see here & he proves that he’s more than capable of shredding along with the best of them in a stellar performance that seems to easily achieve the riotous cacophony of hardcore while also drawing upon the more disciplined & precise techniques employed in thrash metal. The fact that he does all of this while also doing an excellent job at delivering the vocals is a testament to his drive & skill. Admittedly, Depression steer well clear of the debut album so one gets the feeling that the song-writing was all tailored to the idea of a Smeer-led trio. Boy, do they do a good job at it though as there’s a searing lightning bolt of hardcore adrenaline running right down the centre of this set. Bassist Liddy holds his own during Smeer’s guitar solos & clearly knew his role very well as he never overplays his hand.

The tracklisting contains thirteen songs in its 34-minute run time & is generally very consistent. I’d suggest that the short duration is actually a positive here as the record never overstays its welcome & is well positioned to command back-to-back listens. The material generally jumps between hardcore punk & crossover thrash in roughly equal measure but there are a couple of more traditional punk rock songs included in “Money” & “Out of Touch”. I’m not much of a fan of the less aggressive brand of punk music but “Out of Touch” is pretty decent. “Money”, on the other hand, tends to grate on me a bit & I’d suggest that it’s the only failure amongst this lot. The more appealing material clearly comes in the form of the faster & less restrained numbers (at least it does for me) with Depression proving themselves to be a formidable unit when they drop their shackles & simply go for broke. Despite still possessing a general tongue-in-cheek attitude though, one gets the feeling that Smeer & co. took themselves fairly seriously as artists so there’s been quite a bit of time put into ensuring that their live show came across as a tight, professional & universally coherent performance.

If you don’t mind a bit of hardcore in your metal then Depression might just be the hidden gem that you’ve been looking for. I certainly can’t imagine why they’ve been so overlooked for all these years. I’d suggest that the “Australia, Australia” E.P. is still my pick for their best release to the time but “Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash” is definitely another must-own release for those with their feet in both camps & it should come into the discussion when talking about Australia’s best early thrash releases too.

For fans of D.R.I., Suicidal Tendencies & Discharge.

4/5

These guys sound very interesting to me, Daniel. Did they carry on after this or were they a short-lived outfit?

They split up after their sophomore album but reformed around 2010 & I believe are still playing the occasional show. I think I might need to select one of their records for next month’s The Pit feature release actually.

Here's my updated Top Ten Crossover Thrash Releases of All Time list following my recent discovery of Depression's early works:

01. Slaughter - "Surrender Or Die" demo (1985)

02. S.O.D. – “Speak English or Die” (1985)

03. Depression - "Australia, Australia" E.P. (1985)

04. Agnostic Front – “Cause For Alarm” (1986)

05. Depression - "Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash" (1987)

06. Cryptic Slaughter – “Convicted” (1986)

07. The Accused – “The Return Of… Martha Splatterhead” (1986)

08. Agnostic Front – “Liberty & Justice For…” (1987)

09. Ratos de Porão - "Brasil" (1989)

10. Attitude Adjustment – “American Paranoia” (1986)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/174

Vicious Circle - "Hidden-Supervision?" single (1985)

This single represents the earliest signs of thrash metal seeping into the Melbourne hardcore punk outfits sound with the B side "Viewing Time" fully qualifying for the tag. The A side "A Nightmare So Quick" is one of Vicious Circle's more experimental efforts to the time & I'd suggest fits best under a post-punk tag. Both are worth hearing & I've quite enjoyed my time with this short release.

3.5/5

Depression - "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" (1988)

Those readers that are regular contributors to the Metal Academy website would likely have witnessed my recent indulgence in the back catalogue of a relatively unknown Melbourne hardcore punk band from the mid-to-late 1980's by the name of Depression over the last couple of months & have wondered what all the fuss was about. Well, the truth is that I've been taken aback by my discovery that there is a lot more to Depression's legacy than I'd given them credit for back in the day. You see, I only ever familiarized myself with Depression's final studio effort "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" in my youth, trusting the consensus that the remainder of their discography stayed predominantly within the constraints of the hardcore punk sound. The reality is a bit different to that though & I've actually found a lot more that would be of interest to your average metalhead than I'd bargained for. In fact, I've uncovered the true roots of the Australian extreme metal scene along the way with 1985's "Australia, Australia" E.P. being the very first thrash-based release to be recorded in this country in my opinion. It's been a really interesting journey & one that I've found to be universally rewarding too but I've purposely left "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" to the end, electing to take a chronological path through Depression's back catalogue in order to gain the appropriate level of context along the way. Depression's sophomore album made quite an impression on me as a kid & I've returned to it a number of times over the years as a result but I've been wondering how it might stack up against some of Depression's earlier works, particularly given that it apparently saw many of the band's longer-term fans jumping ship due to the increased focus on metal.

"Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" arrived a year after Depression's previous release in the excellent 1987 "Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash" live album which documented the band's first live show in two years. Depression had parted ways with former vocalist Spike following the ground-breaking "Australia, Australia" E.P. & returned with a three-piece lineup fronted by talented guitarist Smeer (also of Melbourne hardcore act Gash) who first tested the waters behind the microphone on 1986's highly enjoyable "Big Brother" single. Producer Mark Woods (who was also responsible for producing Nothing Sacred's 1988 debut album "Let Us Prey") would once again oversee the recording sessions after the success of the "Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash" exercise & he does a reasonable job here with the album sporting enough clarity to allow all of the instruments to be easily discerned but maintaining enough raw grit to adhere to the expected hardcore aesthetic. The guitars are vibrant & full of life while the rhythm section offers plenty of power, particularly the bass guitar of Liddy & snare drum of Dakka (Persecution) which add some driving bottom-end depth to Depression's audio assault. Smeer's vocals sit beautifully over the top with his higher-register delivery cutting through the instrumentation with great vitriol.

As with the last few Depression releases, this material is pretty much as showcase of the breadth of the band member's various influences, rarely sticking to the one subgenre for too long. Metal & punk are both well represented but on this occasion we find the metal component outweighing the punk one in around a two-to-one ratio which could perhaps explain the loss of some of Depression's more punk-oriented fans. I'm a little confused as to why those fans didn't drop off earlier though as I'd suggest that both "Australia, Australia" & "Big Brother" followed a similar musical trajectory with the crossover thrash tag being more than appropriate to encompass the sound of both of those records & I don't think "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" is much more metal than those two in all honesty. It does, however, explore a few more of the various styles of metal music than Depression had touched on in the past with "Instrumental" toying with a more technically structured thrash metal sound, "Masters of the Universe" being a synth-backed heavy metal number that pays homage to the great Iron Maiden & closer "Spiritual Warrior" even reaching genuine speed metal status. The more straight-forward crossover thrash material is where the true gold can be found though with the incredible ode to heroine "Fifty Bucks" (one of my all-time favourite crossover tracks & the clear album highlight), the wonderfully short & violent "Civilisation of Destruction" & the powerful "Have a Look Around" being my picks of the bunch. As with most of Depression's back-catalogue, there are no weak moments to be found here as these guys were a class act & must have absolutely killed in a live capacity, particularly given that Smeer's guitar skills are pretty amazing for a punk. I mean, this dude can easily compete with (if not outclass) the best the local metal scene had to offer at the time. His ability to sing this stuff at the same time is pretty amazing really.

What can I tell you? This is really a case of another Depression record, another unheralded gem. I'm not sure whether my long-time affiliation with this album is seeing me holding any subconscious biases but I'm gonna suggest that this is Depression's best work & have now had to find room at the top of my Top Ten Crossover Thrash Releases of All Time list with "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" managing to usurp all but Slaughter & S.O.D. at number three on my list. It's also worth noting that Depression now hold a previously unheard of THREE places in that list which makes them arguably my favourite crossover band of all time now. Wow! I never would have thought that might end up being the case when I undertook for my first casual listen to their earliest demo recordings a few months ago now. But that's why our beloved metal scene is so great now, isn't it? No matter how experienced & knowledgeable we think we've become, there's always something unexpectedly incredible around the corner to pull us out of our own arses.

For fans of D.R.I., Discharge & Municipal Waste.

4/5

Here's my updated Top Ten Crossover Thrash Releases of All Time list with Attitude Adjustment's "America Paranoia" being pushed out to make way for "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes":

01. Slaughter - "Surrender Or Die" demo (1985)

02. S.O.D. – “Speak English or Die” (1985)

03. Depression - "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" (1988)

04. Depression - "Australia, Australia" E.P. (1985)

05. Agnostic Front – “Cause For Alarm” (1986)

06. Depression - "Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash" (1987)

07. Cryptic Slaughter – “Convicted” (1986)

08. The Accused – “The Return Of… Martha Splatterhead” (1986)

09. Agnostic Front – “Liberty & Justice For…” (1987)

10. Ratos de Porão - "Brasil" (1989)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/174

S.I.C. - "Screaming in Churches" E.P. (1988)

Melbourne crossover thrashers S.I.C. (or Screaming in Churches as they were also known) were yet another underground Australian act that I discovered shortly after I joined the local metal scene & started associating with older & more experienced metalheads. I believe I came into possession of a cassette that contained all three of their releases in their 1987 “Sick” demo, their 1988 “Screaming in Churches” E.P. & their 1989 “Spastics Inflicting Carnage” demo on the one side along with a bunch other Aussie crossover stuff on the other. I’ve recently sought out those two demos to see what they sound like in the modern day but I’ve been unable to find them anywhere online thus far so I’ve had to satisfy myself with the E.P. which I had some fairly foggy memories of enjoying when I was a kid.

Much like the two demos, the “Screaming in Churches” E.P. is a short burst of thrashing hardcore energy that includes eight fairly brief songs across just a thirteen-minute runtime. The band members co-produced it with a trio of external contributors including Vicious Circle front man Paul Lindsay, Reactor Records owner Phil MacDougall & Warwick Thomas who had worked with Lindsay on the last few Vicious Circle releases. The result of their efforts is a rough & ready record with all of the sharp edges having been left on in classic hardcore fashion. It sounds very live yet you can easily discern all of the instruments & it simply feels very appropriate for the content its attempting to showcase. The record would end up being released through Melbourne punk label Au Go Go Records which surprised me as they weren’t known as a metal label, instead making a name for themselves through more accessible artists like The Scientists, God, Spiderbait, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Magic Dirt & The Hellacopters.

S.I.C.’s sound was nothing new for the time & one gets the feeling that that wasn’t really the point either. They were a straight down the line crossover thrash band that closely emulated their US counterparts, particularly those who also went by initialist monikors like S.O.D., M.O.D. & D.R.I. There’s a similar sense of fun & not taking yourself too seriously here with the surf & skate themes that those bands often pushed being evident as well. Each song contains moments of sheer violence that work to offset the silliness & its those moments that make “Screaming in Churches” an enjoyable listen for someone like myself. I can do without all of the tongue-in-cheek bullshit & prefer a more serious approach to my metal so I’m thankful that S.I.C. obviously know how to thrash out with sheer hardcore aggression. Front man Luke may not be a technical wizard but he certainly knows how to spit out a compelling hardcore performance while his band mates (who interestingly included bassist Damian Gardiner who would later go on to experience significant local success with Victorian alternative rockers 28 Days) throw themselves into a series of lightning-fast thrash riffs.

The tracklisting kinda hovers over that line between mildly enjoyable & fairly disposable to be honest but the wins just manage to outweigh the losses which has left me with a generally positive taste in my mouth. As you may have gathered already, it’s the sillier moments that see my interest waning a bit with “Skatehead”, “Don’t Nag Me” & “Gadgetry” (complete with its rendition of the “Mr.Gadget” theme song) all leaving me fairly cold. Opener “Radiation”, “Brown Paper Bag Man”, the short hardcore blast that is “S.I.C.” & “Little Boy” are all pretty entertaining though & make up for S.I.C’s failings through uncompromising spurts of violence & vitriol.

Look, there are no doubt better crossover releases out there but I think there should be enough quality here to satisfy most fans of the subgenre, particularly those who have enjoyed a drunken laugh with their skater or surfer mates on occasion. Crossover thrash has never played a particularly major role in my listening habits but S.I.C. make a good fist of that sound here & are worthy of a few casual spins if you’re partial to that sort of thing.

For fans of S.O.D., Suicidal Tendencies & M.O.D.

3.5/5

Mass Confusion - "Rolling in Stitches" demo (1988)

A pretty decent second demo from this Melbourne crossover thrash four-piece from Melbourne, Australia. Plenty of energy & some great hardcore vocals from front man Darren Walsh. Drummer Chris Phillips (Depression/Tyrus) sets the scene nicely for a session of hectic thrashing with some driving beats too. There's a bit of a psychotic Scatterbrain & a progressive Voivod edge to their sound at times. It's just a shame that closing track "Upper Storey to Let" is a bit of a fizzer as the other four songs are all pretty good, particularly the classic Aussie thrasher that is "Die by the Ward", a real favourite of mine when I was on the piss as a young fella as the best bits have a classic Exodus/Vio-lence feel to them. This demo is definitely worth a few listens for crossover thrash fans.

For fans of Nuclear Assault, S.O.D. & Municipal Waste.

3.5/5

S.I.C. - "S.I.C." demo (1987)

I've been looking around the internet for this obscure demo tape that I used to enjoy back in the day & have finally located this recording on YouTube which sounds pretty good considering it's an Australian crossover thrash demo from the mid-1980's. In fact, I think I slightly prefer this cassette over S.I.C.'s 1988 "Screaming In Churches" E.P. as the extra hardcore punk edge really suits these Melbourne rapscallions & their outrageous party antics. This time I'd suggest that a good half of the eight tracks sit just as much in the hardcore space as they do the crossover one but it's definitely when they let loose with violent punk aggression & limb-tearing speed that I find myself most engaged.  The sounds of a teenage skater party on "Party Crashed" bring back oh so many memories from my youth too which is an added bonus. S.I.C. is yet another Aussie band that deserved more attention than they received.

For fans of S.O.D., Suicidal Tendencies & M.O.D.

3.5/5

Not listed as crossover on RYM, but this is 100% crossover.

Garlic Boys - Smegmania (1990)

Genres: Street Punk, Crossover Thrash

The genre-tagging on RYM's a bit on the screwy side.  There's a seriously metallic side to this album that rules almost the whole 36 minute runtime.  Having recently re-evaluated some Ratos de Porao and Wehrmacht just a couple days ago, I'm fully convinced this is crossover.  Having said that, I don't really need to put this on Metal Academy, and why?  Because it's just an alright album.  It has some of the melodic tendencies of the previous more punk-rooted album, and the production's clear enough to grasp everything.  There's also the fact that the metallic edge was a total and somewhat pleasant surprise.  But since the major focus seems to be the crossover sound, there's a little less of that weird variety present in the previous album.  Consider that the previous was only 24 minutes and this was 36, we have yet another Master of Puppets scenario with a noticeable drop in quality.

61/100

Iron Sheiks - "Do You Fancy Me?" (1990)

This one-off album from an obscure crossover thrash outfit from the South Australian capital city of Adelaide has really impressed me with its dirty hardcore-driven production & violent tempos. The vocals are strong & there's a clear Motorhead influence to some of the material, particularly the two songs that bookend the ten tracks included. I really enjoy the speed metal-inspired moments which bring genuine energy to proceedings too. It might be a big call but I think I'm gonna have to find some space in my Top Ten Crossover Thrash Releases of All Time list for this one 

Fo fans of Motorhead, Depression & S.I.C.

4/5

Here's my adjusted Top Ten Crossover Thrash Releases of All Time list after really enjoying this week's revisit of the 1990 debut album from Adelaide punks Iron Sheiks with Ratos de Parao's "Brasil" album being the unlucky record to drop out. It's great to see such a strong Aussie component here. I'll update the list once the band are added to the Academy database. 

01. Slaughter - "Surrender Or Die" demo (1985)

02. S.O.D. – “Speak English or Die” (1985)

03. Depression - "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" (1988)

04. Depression - "Australia, Australia" E.P. (1985)

05. Agnostic Front – “Cause For Alarm” (1986)

06. Iron Sheiks - "Do You Fancy Me?" (1990)

07. Depression - "Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash" (1987)

08. Cryptic Slaughter – “Convicted” (1986)

09. The Accused – “The Return Of… Martha Splatterhead” (1986)

10. Agnostic Front – “Liberty & Justice For…” (1987)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/174