The Heavy Metal Thread

Nothing Sacred - "Let Us Prey" (1988)

A few months ago, I decided that it was well past time that I revisited some of the earliest roots of the Australian extreme metal scene in the interest of confirming or denying some suspicions that I'd long harboured about the true origins of the genre in this country & that exercise led me to Melbourne's Nothing Sacred almost immediately. Nothing Sacred are often referred to as being band one in the grand scheme of Aussie thrash metal but, looking back now, I can't say that either of their 1985 releases (i.e. a live demo & the infamous "Deathwish" E.P.) should really qualify as thrash. To be honest, I've always thought of the demo as being traditional heavy metal with "Deathwish" falling somewhere between heavy metal & power metal & I didn't recall Nothing Sacred's "Let Us Prey" debut album being all that different in that regard. I revisited it only relatively recently actually but didn't afford it the dedicated time required for a full review so I thought I'd rectify that now & also see how it compares with Nothing Sacred's earlier releases.

The "Let Us Prey" album was recorded with producer Mark Woods a good three or four years after the sessions for "Deathwish" are reported to have been taken place. Woods is the cousin of Graham Owens who was responsible for producing some of the 1970's releases from Aussie hard rockers Taste & he'd also produce Melbourne hardcore punk/crossover thrash outfit Depression's 1987 "Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash" live release & 1988 sophomore album "Thrash till Death - Studio Tapes" during this short period of activity with the local metal scene. Sadly though, the results of his labour on "Let Us Prey" weren't terribly successful as it's a very raw & primitive sounding metal record with a thick layer of white noise left sitting over the top. The guitars in particular sound tinny with a lot of high-end & the performances are a little patchy too which doesn't help. Still... this flaw is more of a hindrance than it is a deal breaker as Nothing Sacred clearly possessed enough class in their ability to write captivating metal songs with the oomph to overcome a few sound issues. That wasn't really in question though as they'd already proven that with the live demo which sported a very dodgy sound indeed but was somehow still reasonably enjoyable.

While "Deathwish" didn't offer much in the way of genuine thrash, "Let Us Prey" at least sees Nothing Sacred achieving a few songs that tick that box with the title track & the cover version of S.O.D.'s "Freddy Kruger" being clear examples of the mid-to-late 80's thrash sound. I'd suggest that opener "Warheads" & the excellent "This is War" should also qualify although both are more hybrids than they are pure thrash, the opener with speed metal & "This is War" with power metal. But given the fact that the album contains a healthy twelve tracks, that's not really enough to command a primary thrash tag in my opinion. The main genre at play here is heavy metal with early Iron Maiden being the most obvious influence, particularly in the vocal delivery of front man Mick Burnham whose performance is more than a bit patchy but manages to capture the listener through sheer charisma, despite his struggles from a purely theoretical point of view. He really does sound like Paul Dianno at times & has that rough & ready, punky hard rock vibe that the NWOBHM became known for but his pitchiness definitely holds Nothing Sacred back a little when the instrumentation is generally very well composed with each song containing a fair amount of class & ambition. The guitars of Mark Woolley (Hobbs Angel of Death) & Richard Snape exude a strong pedigree in metal music while the rock-solid rhythm section of bassist Karl Lean (Hobbs Angel of Death/Non Compos Mentis) & drummer Sham Littleman (Depression/Hobbs Angel of Death/Non Compos Mentis) provide the perfect driving platform for the band to work off.

Nothing Sacred cover a fair bit of creative ground across the thirty-six minute run time. 1980's speed metal gets an airing on the previously mentioned "Warheads" & the punky Motorhead style anthem "Dogs of War" while the more epic power metal sound that made up half of the "Deathwish" E.P. is represented on "No Tomorrow", "This is War" & "Guardian". There's even a more ambitious progressive metal number included in the very impressive "The Dark" which sits amongst my favourite tracks alongside "This is War". The rest of the album is best described as classic heavy metal & Nothing Sacred are very good at their craft too with the majority of the record being fairly entertaining. Things only start to tail off a bit across the back end of the tracklisting with the two thrashiest songs (i.e. the title track & "Freddy Kruger") both being fairly disappointing & closer "Damaged" seemingly having been phoned in. One gets the feeling that the band didn't quite have enough material to fill the album as a couple of the tracks included sound decidedly half-baked compared to the more fully realised material that preceded it. Still... there's more than enough decent heavy metal here to keep me interested & I've generally found this revisit to be a worthwhile exercise.

While I can't agree that "Let Us Prey" is in any way a classic Aussie metal release, it does offer a rewarding look into the roots of the local scene & proves that we would have had plenty to contribute to the global scene if we could have overcome the obvious geographical obstacles. Let's be very clear though that Nothing Sacred were NOT a thrash metal band with The Guardians being a much better fit for a record like this one. After revisiting both of Nothing Sacred's 1980's releases in quick succession, I feel that I slightly favour "Deathwish" over "Let Us Prey" these days as it's simply a little more consistent, even if Burnham's struggles behind the microphone were perhaps a little worse. Fans of the more metallic end of the NWOBHM could do a lot worse than to explore this old record as there's certainly something about Nothing Sacred that leaves you feeling like they may have been able to accomplish something special with a bit more financial backing & a decent international studio & producer.

For fans of Taramis, Iron Angel & Paul Dianno-era Iron Maiden.

3.5/5

I revisited the 1988 demo tape from Brisbane four-piece Iziah this morning. I used to have it back in the day but didn't like it much so it only got a couple of listens. I can see why too as the sound quality is very ordinary & it's definitely not the power/thrash metal release that it's reported to be. It's a fairly basic heavy metal one that doesn't offer me much in the way of appeal.