The underrated/overrated thread - The Pit Edition

Tell us which Pit-related bands & releases you regard as either heavily overrated or cruelly underrated.

I'm not sure how the 1986 debut album from Californian thrash metallers Sacrilege B.C. managed to drift by without much fuss as it's great stuff. Check out this belter:

Maybe more under-known than underrated, but Japan's Outrage. Their first two albums in particular, Black Clouds and Blind to Reality.

A lot of thrash bands get compared with early Metallica, and certainly those influences are widespread, but those are some of the only albums I've listened to and actually felt they captured that same sense of song-craft and making something both thrashy and catchy at the same time.

I've never heard of them! You've got me intrigued now.

I haven't either. This Metallica you mentioned sounds interesting too. I've heard they show some promise.

Overrated:

Overrated:

Macabre - "Grim Reality" E.P. (1987)

This is majorly overrated:

Blood Feast - "Face Fate" E.P. (1987)

If you can get past the inconsistent production job & unbalanced mix you'll find a noticeably underrated US thrash debut here:

This album is terribly underrated. I think it's mainly due to fans of the traditional rough & ready Teutonic thrash sound taking offense to the obviously more US influenced u-turn Exumer have taken here. If you like mid-80's Slayer then you should be all over it although you'll undoubtedly be able to pick out the exact tracks they're trying to emulate.

Exumer - "Rising From The Sea" (1987)

1987's "Destined For Extinction" is another underrated piece of mid-80's Slayer/Dark Angel worship. Or perhaps I'm just a sucker for this nasty over the top style thrash.

Blessed Death - "Destined For Extinction" (1987)

I'm gonna shake things up a little by claiming that this "classic" thrash metal album is overrated. Discuss!

Artillery - "By Inheritance" (1990)

Look, you're not alone in your feelings there Andi. "By Inheritance" is a very well regarded record in the thrash community. Particularly given that it was released in the 90's when thrash was on a steep decline. But I make no secret about the fact that I struggle a bit with the more melodic styles of metal (i.e. melodeath, melodic black metal, melodic metalcore, etc.) & this record sits right at the more melodic end of the thrash spectrum. Don't get me wrong. I still get a fair bit of enjoyment out of it. I've just never come close to thinking of it as a classic release in the entire thirty year relationship I've had with this record which is partially a matter of taste. I recommended it to you because I knew it would tick a lot of your boxes so I'm not at all surprised to see that you love it.  In truth, the tracks that you said were your highlights were the ones that I don't have any time for which is a strong indicator that our musical palates come for opposing ends of the metal spectrum. Neither of us are right or wrong though. We just have different personalities & perspectives. I'm just very pleased that the site is helping people identify releases that are so perfectly suited to their unique personal tastes.

I'll say this, I think By Inheritance is the first time I've been truly excited about a Thrash release since....hell probably Rust In Peace. Although the tempos and overall feel of the record is a bit slower than the other classic thrash releases it's just as energetic and just does a lot of things right in my book. Some parts do miss the mark, like the beginning of "Bombfood" and "Don't Believe" in general, which keeps this from being an obvious instant classic. 

I find it interesting how Rust In Peace, which dropped during the same year, is easily proclaimed as one of the best while this one is very much an arguable cult hit. To me they have a lot of similar qualities and while Rust In Peace is faster and shreddier it has many of the same "melodic" qualities as By Inheritance does. Rarely does Megadeth simply chug or rely purely on rhythm, they always add in a scale, riff, or some kind of flourish, so I'm not quite convinced that By Inheritance is really that much more on the melodic side of Thrash, although I will admit it's on the slower side compared to the rest of the classics. 

Cryptic Slaughter's sophomore album "Money Talks" is overrated in m y opinion. The guitar sound is weak & thin, the performances are sloppy & the dilution of their sound through the regular use of groovy mid-tempo breakdowns doesn't interest me as much as their up-tempo blasting stuff. There's always debate over which of the first two albums is the better record but I don't actually think it's all that close actually.

Nasty Savage - "Indulgence" (1987)

As with the first Nasty Savage record, I can't help but feel that "Indulgence" is heavily overrated. Perhaps this band simply aren't for me but it all seems to be a little chaotic & unpolished for my taste. Sure there's something very unusual about this band. Ronnie Savage's vocals are certainly different as he's extremely raw in his delivery & those random King Diamond screams seem to come out of nowhere. The experimentation with progressive song structures is appreciated but often comes off as more ridiculous than it does classy. There are a few songs where they get things right but even then they're held back by Ronnie's vocals. "Indulgence" is marginally better than the self-titled debut but it's still more interesting than it is entertaining.

3/5

No Mercy - "Widespread Bloodshed/Love Runs Red" (1987)

This record seems to be heavily overrated, perhaps mainly due to the fact that Suicidal Tendencies re-recorded some of this material after No Mercy broke up. I just don't see the attraction personally as I find the rough & ready production & Mike Muir's out of key vocals to be pretty tough to stomach.

Carnivore - "Retaliation" (1987)

BAM! Yep I went there! this album & Carnivore in general are overrated as hell in my opinion.

Grip Inc. "Nemesis" (1997)

A massively underrated groove/thrash metal outing from Dave Lombardo's crew.