Review by Daniel for Vio-Lence - Eternal Nightmare (1988)

San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal five-piece Vio-lence were first brought to my attention when a close school mate handed me a dubbed cassette copy of their debut album “Eternal Nightmare” some time in 1989. I’d certainly seen their name around in metal magazines, often in articles that linked them to the Bay Area scene that I already loved so much so I think it’s fair to say that I was well & truly open to being dazzled by whatever it was that was in store for me. What eventuated wasn’t altogether different to that either in all honesty but it did require a little effort before I got through Vio-lence's tough exterior to reach the creamy centre. Anyone that’s familiar with Vio-lence will do doubt know what I’m talking about too.

You see, Vio-lence sported (& still sport) quite an unusual front man in Sean Killian whose voice invariably sounds like a yelping dog that’s just being runover to the unprepared new listener. As with most people, I struggled with him initially but he’s very much an acquired taste & it didn’t take all that long for me to come round to his psychotic (& admittedly pitchy) style of artistic expression. Would I prefer a more well credentialed & capable singer? Well yeah, I’d be lying if I tried to convince you otherwise but I do think he also gives Vio-lence a unique differentiator that is at least partially responsible for their longevity.

Instrumentally though, Vio-lence’s debut absolutely rips! The band were very clearly on a mission to create the fastest Bay Area thrash record released to the time & I’ll be damned if they didn’t get close to achieving it too. There are thrashtastic riffs galore here with the dual guitar attack of Rob Flynn & Phil Demmel (both of Machine Head fame) absolutely going for broke for the majority of the short but blemish-free tracklisting. The faster the band got, the more I was into them with the short, sharp shock of “Serial Killer” & the powerful “T.D.S. (Take It As You Will)” being unmitigated Bay Area classics in my opinion. These moments often see me reaching for comparisons with Dark Angel’s classic 1986 “Darkness Descends” album which can only be regarded as a feather in Vio-lence’s cap now, can’t it?

Vio-lence would never again match the sheer potency of their debut which is a shame. I certainly played the shit out of my cassette copy of their 1990 sophomore album “Oppressing The Masses” too but it always seemed like a step down from “Eternal Nightmare” if I’m being honest. I’m not gonna lie, Killian’s vocals do prevent the album from reaching the classic status it had the potential to achieve but there’s still more than enough quality, high-energy thrash metal on offer to tick my boxes & your average Forbidden, Exodus or Sacred Reich fan will be doing themselves a huge disservice if they’re not all over this band.