Review by Daniel for DBC - Dead Brain Cells (1987)

1987 was a big year for Canadian thrash. Bands like Voivod, Razor, PileDriver & Sacrifice had already done the groundwork over the previous few years but ’87 would be there year that saw the local scene taking the next step in its evolution with a new generation of bands making their initial forays into the world of recorded music. Amongst them were outfits like Slaughter, Aggression, Infernal Majesty & the subject of this review in four-piece Montreal thrashers DBC (otherwise known as Dead Brain Cells). 

DBC had only formed in February of the previous year but had wasted no time in delivering their self-titled debut album in partnership with well-respected New York metal label Combat Records who had already made quite a name for themselves in the underground scene through records like Megadeth’s “Killing Is My Business… & Business Is Good!”, Possessed’s “Seven Churches”, Nuclear Assault’s “Game Over” & Dark Angel’s “Darkness Descends”. Combat brought in experienced campaigners Steve Sinclair & Randy Burns to handle the production & engineering duties; each possessing some imposing resumes that included production credits on genuinely classic metal records such as “Seven Churches”, “Darkness Descends” & Megadeth’s “Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?”. It almost sounds too good to believe for a young Canadian band that had yet to make a name for themselves but such was the scenario DBC saw themselves in when they made their way into the studio for the first time. 

As with so many 80’s metal releases, the cover artwork for “Dead Brain Cells” is a cheap & nasty affair that was drawn by bass-playing front man Phil Dakin. It really doesn’t do anything to push DBC’s chances of commercial success outside of their home country. I mean if you saw this in the shelves of your local record store you’d probably assume that it was a self-financed & recorded effort from the band down the road. Not a release from a label with as strong a reputation as Combat. I’m quite surprised that Combat allowed this to happen & it would likely be one of the main contributing factors to DBC not having made the commercial impact they deserved. The other is probably the childish moniker they opted to take up. It does nothing for DBC’s chances of presenting themselves as a sophisticated modern metal band & portrays them more as a group of immature teenagers looking to shock their parents. In fact, I’d suggest that reducing the band’s full name to DBC was likely an effort to reduce the impact of their poor initial decision but a full renaming would have been a much better option. Thankfully these aesthetic issues are not representative of the musical quality contained within. 

Sinclair & Burns’ production job is actually very good & presents DBC in a very positive light. "Dead Brain Cells" certainly sounds of its time however there’s a great energy to this music that gives the band every chance of impressing the listener. The most noticeable element is a rhythm guitar sound that could probably do with a touch more distortion at times as the guitar tracks sound a little thinner than I’d like when unaccompanied but come together nicely with the other instrumentation in the grander scheme of things. It reminds me of another Combat Records release in Nuclear Assault’s “Game Over” album in that respect which just so happens to be another Sinclair produced effort. The kick drums have a snappy click to them that sees them really cutting through the mix & during the more intense hardcore-driven moments they can almost fool you into thinking that you’re listening to blast beats. 

DBC’s musical direction is made up of several components. Firstly, you have a very sophisticated & mature modern thrash metal sound that’s been built on a love of aggressive American thrash like Slayer & Nuclear Assault. DBC are a fucking tight outfit & I regularly find myself being surprised at just how accomplished the composition & arrangements are considering that this was only the band’s first studio outing. I can only assume that the various band members had done a fair bit of time paying their dues in other bands before forming DBC. Otherwise the producers have done a fantastic job at pulling this off. There’s an impressive complexity to some of this material that sometimes even hints at the tech thrash direction the band would take for their second & final studio album “Universe” two years later. Album highlight “Monument” is the strongest realization of this & it leaves my mouth watering at the prospect of an entire album’s worth of that sort of material. The transitions are particularly impressive & showcase a group of musicians that understand that a good metal song is not just a series of disparate riffs thrown together in haphazard fashion but should flow naturally. The excellent performance of talented drummer Jeff St. Louis shouldn’t be overlooked in this regard. Then on the other side of the coin, there’s a clear crossover thrash influence here with several short two-minute tracks having been included & a good third of the album being comprised of high velocity bursts of hardcore punk-derived aggression in the spirit of Bad Brains & DRI. In fact, front man Phil Dakin’s delivery comes very much from the classic snot-nosed hardcore model & he suits these light-speed sections down to the ground. I really enjoy his performance actually. He presents plenty of anger but also possesses a not insubstantial amount of charisma. 

There are no weak tracks included on “Dead Brain Cells”. It’s an extremely consistent album that starts with a real bang as the opening three songs represent the strongest part of the album. In fact, the B side also kicks off with four belters so I’d suggest that it was a conscious decision to ensure that they got off to a good start on each side of the album with the less impressive material filling out the remainder of each side but that’s not to say that you’ll find the quality to peter out because that’s simply not the case. I tend to enjoy the more mature & ambitious thrash metal focused numbers the most with “Monument”, “Lies” & “M.I.A.” being the pick of the bunch. The more crossover heavy tracks tend to appear on the B side. There is one instrumental track included in “Tempest” which is interesting listen but isn’t one of the stronger works. I think I would have preferred it to be vocal given my strong opinion of Dakin. 

This is some top notch thrash right here which sees “Dead Brain Cells” sitting very comfortably under the undiscovered gem banner. Regardless of those aesthetic issues I mentioned earlier, it’s still very hard to explain how a band with this much talent didn’t manage to make more impact than they did. I mean there are a lot of second tier thrash bands out there that can only wish that their music had this much impact. I would highly recommend that all fans of 80’s thrash give this one a few spins because I can’t see you being disappointed. 

For fans of: Slayer, Nuclear Assault, DRI