July 2026 Featured Release - The Pit Edition
Yet another month flies by and a new feature is upon us. Unfortunately Vinny has temporarily got no internet access and, as it is his turn to nominate this month's Pit feature, he asked me to post his pick for him. He has gone with the 1989 debut album, "Human Wreckage" from relatively unknown UK thrashers D.A.M. Now I must admit to never having heard of these guys before so I am looking forward to acquainting myself with some good old english thrash metal.
https://metal.academy/releases/27225
Death and Mayhem (D.A.M. for short) hailed from the northwest England seaside town of Morecambe Bay, which is not far from where I live. I can remember seeing them in the various metal mags back in the day advertising their wares, with the mascot that reminded of an unmasked Dr Doom from the Marvel comics, but somehow, I never got around to hearing them at the time. With this being my month for a nomination in The Pit, I thought there was no better an opportunity to sample their debut album from 1989. Human Wreckage scrapes a 50% mark on Metal Archives, but we all know how bonkers people’s opinions can be, right?
Well, Human Wreckage starts off well enough. Opening track proper, ‘Death Warmed Up’ sounds a lot more alert than the title would suggest. Some rugged chops and a decent solo make it a finer opener indeed. The first criticism is hard to ignore as an issue though. The drums are way too far back in the mix, relegated to more of a supporting role as opposed to a central driving position in the mix. This certainly helps the guitars and vocals to shine. However, it adds a timidness to the edges of what I am listening to. Riffs and vocals can only go so far as to flesh out a song, and without the firm skeleton of the percussion department things soon start to sound a little wishy-washy.
Some of the song writing is also unfortunately questionable. When they slow down the pace on Prophets of Doom, the cracks do start to show. The track at times sounds like it is falling over itself and this a theme that recurs sadly over the course of the rest of the album. It is as if D.A.M. exhaust their song writing prowess after three tracks. When they go slower, it really is a mistake. ‘Infernal Torment’ would only work with a Dave Mustaine style sneer on it, and Jason McLoughlin ain’t no MegaDave unfortunately. It is only really the late Mark “Elly” Etherington’s lead work that saves Human Wreckage from being a complete car crash at times. This is their debut album, coming just a year after their demo, so some leniency is perhaps well entertained in reviewing this album. However, as feature releases go, I have picked better.
2.5/5
Sacrilege and Onslaught aside, the UK's thrash output during the 1980's was pretty fucking woeful. It was almost as if we Brits just didn't 'get' thrash metal at all and struggled to get up to speed with this new, more aggressive style of heavy metal and those pesky Yanks and Europeans were just making us look lame and lazy by comparison. As a result I have been on the lookout for decent British Eighties' thrash metal albums ever since, with little to no real success, so I was stoked to see an underground band of thrashers from a north-west England seaside town pop up as a feature and hoped against hope that this would be some kind of underground classic. Oh well, you can't blame me for hoping! As you can probably guess, this falls a fair way short of my, admittedly unrealistic, expectations.
I am guessing that D.A.M. were huge fans of Anthrax's "Spreading the Disease" album, because I think that is what they seem to be striving for here. Vocalist Jason McLoughlin does his very best Joey Belladonna impression, rhythm guitarist John Bury attempts to reproduce Scott Ian's trademark choppy, chuggy riffs and the gang vocals on the choruses that the New Yorkers loved to employ are present and correct. Unfortunately they lack the two chracteristics that made Anthrax what they were back then - the infectious, sing-along choruses and the sheer effusive sense of excitement and fun that set Anthrax apart from their West Coast and European peers. Anyone who loves 80s Anthrax also knows how vital Charlie Benante's lively and energetic drumming was to the band whereas, here, the production has rendered the percussion limp and lifeless, sounding like someone leathering their kit with a couple of fish rather than drumsticks! Hell, "Total Destruction" even starts with a flat copy of Charlie's drum intro to "Indians".
Look, I don't want to sound too down on them for that because, to be honest, for a few years in the 1980s Anthrax bottled lightning and managed to make it work, through sheer force of personality, excellent songwriting ability and technical ability. So, without these essential, but mercurial talents, D.A.M. merely sound like cheap imitators and would maybe have been better advised to plough their own furrow rather than follow in the steps of a unique act like Anthrax. In truth, I actually don't hate "Human Wreckage" but, as someone who was (and remains) a big fan of "Spreading the Disease" and "Among the Living", I can't unhear D.A.M.'s Anthrax worship and so I just keep wishing I was listening to one of those albums instead. I am sure these guys were probably a blast in the metal pubs and clubs of England's North West back in the day, but in the stark, cold spotlight of recorded music they just come up a bit short and sound too derivative.
3/5