The Thrash Metal Thread

I've heard it! Lots of wild thrash energy in many of the new Coroner album's tracks, plus a few more progressive ones. Back on track indeed...

Bathory - "Octagon" (1995)

OK, so I'm sure there will be a few people who will question my having awarded the universally-panned eighth full-length from Swedish black/Viking metal godfathers Bathory a decent score & I would have sat in that camp when I first heard it at the time of release too but it's honestly nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be. Sure, the production has intentionally been kept as raw as fuck & Quorthon's vocals aren't gonna win any awards but surely we were all used to his vocal deficiencies by that stage & the song-writing isn't half bad most of the time, if never threatening to deviate from the classic underground thrash metal sound.

Quorthon said at the time that Bathory had backed themselves into a creative corner after 1991's "Twilight of the Gods" by releasing ever more epic albums so he was looking for the next step in terms of style. He ended up releasing a grunge solo album in 1994 so as to tick off a bucket-list goal he'd always had & it felt great to be able to simply create something he'd wanted to for a long time without worrying about what his fan base thought. Some of his fans had been telling him that they missed his older, rawer Bathory material so he decided to make a raw, DIY-style thrash record for fun with 1994's "Requiem" being the result. He enjoyed the process so much that he followed it up with "Octagon" around six months later & both were brutally criticized by fans & critics. I agree that "Requiem" was subpar but "Octagon" is a little better in my opinion, if being noticeably simple in its construction. Sure, there are a few duds to be found here (see "Century", "War Supply" & "Judgement of Posterity") but there are also some very solid inclusions like "Sociopath" & "Schizianity" & the wins comfortably outweigh the losses. I even quite like the fairly faithful rendition of KISS's "Deuce" so I guess it's fair to say that "Octagon" is a guilty pleasure for me these days. It's strange how time can sometimes change your perceptions so much, isn't it? I can do without the sections that look to tackle the classic Anthrax sound though as they fail dismally.

For fans of Kreator, Slayer & Celtic Frost.

3.5/5

Like you, I think that "Requiem" and "Octagon" are overly hated by fans who obviously preferred the more epic viking metal of the preceding few albums, but I actually prefer "Requiem" of the two. The antipathy for these two albums is obviously based on expectations versus reality..

Frozen Doberman - "Dying Phase" E.P. (1991)

I discovered this Central Coast-based Aussie thrash metal four-piece's debut release through a late-night underground metal radio program at around the time this record was released, mainly off the back of the opening title track which is the clear highlight of the E.P & was receiving regular air-time that year. I later saw Frozen Doberman open for Sepultura at the Hordern Pavilion on their 1992 "Arise" tour too. Looking back at "Dying Phase" now, it really does rely far too heavily on the title track as the other three songs included aren't terribly interesting, particularly punky closer "The Scrubber" which is pretty awful. Front man Adam Marsh's vocals sound a fair bit like Anthrax's Joey Belladonna at times however he doesn't have the same sort of range or class. This E.P. isn't horrible & is certainly a step up from their self-titled demo tape from 1989 but the song-writing lacks energy which leaves this material sounding a bit flat in my opinion.

For fans of Anthrax, Nuclear Assault & Mortal Sin.

3/5

Mortal Sin - "Every Dog Has It's Day" (1991)

Sydney thrash metallers Mortal Sin hold a very strong place in my heart, despite never really quite living up to their reputation in my opinion. You see, they were the first local extreme metal band to cross my path when I first became obsessed with the scene in the late 1980's & they gave me the belief that I should try my hand at creating a band of my own. My attention was initially grabbed by their highly regarded "Mayhemic Destruction" debut album which led to me moving onto their 1989 sophomore record "Face of Despair". If I'm being completely honest though, neither of those full-lengths has ever left me convinced that Mortal Sin are worthy of being placed in the top tier of the global thrash heavyweights. In fact, I can't say that I'd even lump them in with the second tier either. To my ears, they're both serviceable & mildly entertaining but rarely get my blood pumping & it's for that reason that I've awarded both a middling 3.5-star rating here at the Academy. Their live shows where another story though & I had an absolute ball in many a Mortal Sin mosh pit over the years. However, I digress because the point I was trying to make is that Mortal Sin were well & truly on my radar when their third full-length "Every Dog Has It's Day" hit the shelves in 1991 which even led to me purchasing the "Every Dog Has It's Day" cassingle in the leadup to the album release. Now prepare yourselves for a hot take because you're about the receive one.

The story behind "Every Dog Has It's Day" (otherwise known as "Rebellious Youth" if you've picked up the Virgin Records release) is that a fair amount of internal turmoil occurred within Mortal Sin's ranks following the release of "Face of Despair" which eventually resulted in the band breaking up altogether. Bassist Andy Eftichiou wasn't satisfied to simply let old dogs lie though, going behind the backs of the other band members to create a completely new version of Mortal Sin. Once the other band members found out about it, they took legal action & it got really messy. The new lineup didn't hang around too long but it did last long enough to record this third full-length which would be the first to be released while I was keeping tabs on the band. Sadly, the majority of the global metal scene gave "Every Dog Has It's Day" a pretty harsh panning at the time & that hasn't improved since but I have to admit that I don't remember the album that way at all & I've recently wondered whether that's due to nostalgia or whether Mortal Sin's diehard fanbase had simply not given the record a chance. This week I decided to find out as it's been decades since I last heard the record in full.

The lineup that recorded "Every Dog Has It's Day" isn't exactly star-studded with a number of relatively unknown new members filling key rolls. In fact, guitarist Dave DeFrancesco was the only one that had anything of significance on their resume, having appeared on the pretty decent "Into Reality" demo tape from local speed/heavy metal outfit Enticer a couple of years earlier. The band perform their roles admirably nonetheless & show themselves to have some pretty reasonable chops in the process. The major talking point though is generally the vocal ability of new front man Steve Sly whose delivery is noticeably more melodic & clean than the James Hetfield-ish voice of Mat Maurer on the two 1980's records. A lot of people claim that Sly ruins "Every Dog Has It's Day" but I simply can't prescribe to that line of thinking as he can certainly sing & delivers a performance that isn't all that uncommon for thrash metal in my opinion. Sure, you may prefer Maurer over Sly but, if you treat the album on its own merits, I think you'll find that there's not anything technically wrong with Sly's voice. The other main talking point is the theory that the new version of Mortal Sin had watered down the intensity of the 1980's lineup with a more accessible & commercialized sound. Once again though, I never really thought of Mortal Sin as being anything all that extreme & the material we receive here is some more than serviceable mid-tempo thrash metal that wouldn't sound all that out of place on a Testament or Xentrix record from the time. The average tempos are a touch slower than previous efforts but so fucking what really. The misguided ballad "Wasted Days" is the exemption to the rule though & is the clear weak point of the album.

But is the songwriting as boring as it's made out to be then? Well, in a word "no", it's simply not. There are plenty of great riffs included with the rhythm section doing a great job at maximizing their weight. Perhaps the Studio 301/Powerhouse production isn't as warm & heavy as a record like "Mayhemic Destruction" but it's certainly not bad. I'm quite a fan of the lead guitar work which is more than capable & it works nicely to provide support for the hooks which, contrary to popular opinion, are memorable enough for me to remember most of this material several decades later. Opener "Inside Out" is a beauty & is my favourite cut on the record while being ably supported by "Side Effect" & single B-side "See No Evil". I honestly don't see the quality being all that different from that of "Mayhemic Destriction" or "Face of Despair" if I'm being perfectly honest & are even going to go so far as to say that I marginally prefer "Every Dog Has It's Day" to "Face of Despair" these days. So look, I'm not asking that you all take my word for it & immediately realign your opinions on this album to be in line with my own but I am going to suggest that you ignore the general perception that's voiced online when going into the record as you might be surprised by the outcome.

For fans of Metallica, Xentrix & Testament.

3.5/5

Cromok - "Image of Purity & Live" (1996)

I was aware of these young thrash metallers back in the early 1990's when I picked up their self-produced 1990 "Image of Purity" demo through the tape trading scene. Cromok were formed by a group of Malaysian students who attended the University of Wollongong in my home state of New South Wales around 1987. They'd later graduate & relocate back to their home country around 1991/92 where they'd become pioneers of the Malaysian metal scene. I don't think I ever saw Cromok live before their departure but this release combines that early demo tape with a couple of live versions of two of the songs from that release, both recorded at Life Centre in Kuala Lumpur in July 1992. I didn't like "Image of Purity" much at the time & it still fails to hit the mark today but the live material is even less engaging which makes "Image of Purity & Live" a pretty ordinary release in my opinion.  The lead guitarist Khairul Anuar Shariff has some serious chops on him when he solos on the live tracks but the rhythm guitar work is very sloppy indeed. I lost track of Cromok after they left Australia but they're supposedly very well respected in their homeland. I can only speculate that they improved quite a bit on later releases because this one isn't anything to write home about.

For fans of Mortal Sin, Darkness & Metallica.

2.5/5

Critical Mass - "Unholy Wars" (1992)

Sydney five-piece Critical Mass were a name that I saw floating around the live scene in my home city during the early 1990's but never had the opportunity of experiencing in the flesh as far as I can recall. I did, however, get the chance to check out this one-off album which would occasionally find its way onto the CD player of whoever's house the after party happened to be at though. Critical Mass had begun life as a cover band called Foreign Order in the late 1980's before changing their moniker & attempting originals but they didn't really amount to much before calling it quits around 1993/94. I was familiar with vocalist Greg Moore through the 1989 "Into Reality" demo tape from Sydney speed/heavy metallers Enticer (3.5/5) which I quite liked but the rest of the band didn't really come from any level of metal pedigree & it shows on their sole full-length.

The "Unholy Wars" album was released through Vampire Records in 1992 which surprises me really. Label owner Danny Kaleda was a well-known member of the local metal community thanks to his long-standing "Monday Night Metal" radio program on 2RRR (a show that I was a guest on at least once) & Vampire would be responsible for putting out high-quality extreme metal records like Sadistik Exekution's "The Magus" & the first couple of Nazxul releases. It seems a little strange to me that he'd associate himself with such a mild-mannered & fairly easy-listening metal release such as this one but that would appear to be the case. The production isn't anything to write home about either with the rhythm guitars being too far back in the mix & being over-powered by the rhythm section. For this reason, "Unholy Wars" sounds a lot like a self-financed affair.

Critical Mass' musical approach sits somewhere between Metallica's more chuggy, mid-paced thrash metal material & a more accessible heavy metal sound built around power chords & vocal hooks. Unfortunately the thrash riffs are so simple & generic that I can't help but feel that the band would have been better served by concentrating on their less intense side as they're certainly a little better at it with power ballad (& clear album highlight in my opinion) "Road That Never Ends" & the catchy heavy metal singalong "Nineties" being two of the more rewarding numbers. The lead guitar work is quite accomplished for such an inconspicuous release though & is definitely one of the better elements of Critical Mass' game although Moore doesn't possess the vocal chops to see the song-writing maximizing its potential. There are no genuine shockers included here but the peaks are rare & I generally find myself feeling a little underwhelmed rather than disappointed.

It's not hard to see why "Unholy Wars" might have drifted past most of the global metal scene without much fanfare because it's sound is simply a little too simple, generic & lightweight to raise too many alarm bells. I can't in good conscience score it any lower than three stars though as it certainly has its moments (such as thrasher "When..." which I quite like). It just feels a little flat & never really sees my heart-rate increasing which means that it was never going to amount to more than a blip on the radar of my metal journey.

For fans of Metallica, Nothing Sacred & Aggressa.

3/5