Review by Daniel for Sacred Reich - Independent (1993)

Phoenix thrash metallers Sacred Reich may not have been a member of the infamous Big Four or even one of the close runners up like Testament or Exodus but this didn’t stop them playing a significant role in the childhoods of Ben & I. I first picked up on them through their very solid 1988 “Surf Nicaragua” E.P. before heading back to check out their equally impressive 1987 debut album “Ignorance” & things only escalated further when Ben got onboard for 1990’s “The American Way” sophomore album whose steady stream of quality riffs could be heard emanating from our bedrooms for many a weeknight. While the impact of “The American Way” has faded for me a touch over the years, it’s still a pretty decent thrash record that had the two of us showing more than a little interest when its follow-up “Independent” hit the shelves in 1993. Sadly though, my initial exposure to “Independent” through metal radio programming hinted at a different sound that I wasn’t so onboard with & this caused me to hesitate a little before rushing out to buy the album. I opted to take the safer option of picking up a dubbed cassette copy through the tape trading scene rather than dishing out my hard-earned cash for a legal version &, once I heard the album in full, I was glad that I took that direction as “Independent” wasn’t everything I’d hoped it would be. It’s been decades since I last heard the album though &, given that I’ve found a new appreciation for Overkill’s notorious “I Hear Black” record over the last week, I thought I’d give it one more chance to win me over.

My first impressions upon revisiting “Independent” were that the production job is a little unusual for a supposed thrash metal release. The guitars are tuned down a half-step & have been given a thicker, heavier tone that’s more commonly associated with groove metal than it is with thrash which isn’t a coincidence. You see, despite what most online resources will tell you, “Independent” isn’t a thrash metal release or a heavy metal one for that matter. It is, in fact, a pretty obvious example of the groove metal sound that had quickly stolen thrash metal’s crown following the Pantera explosion. The riffs are far more simplistic & rhythmic than you’d expect from thrash which is more fast-paced, incisive & exciting. There is some tremolo-picked stuff here at times but it’s nothing out of the ordinary for your average groove metal release to be honest.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with this stylistic deviation in theory but there are a couple of obvious problems with “Independent” that make it feel like a poor option for Sacred Reich to have taken. The first is that bass-playing front man Phil Rind’s voice doesn’t suit this material as well as the thrash metal of the band’s roots as the less cluttered riff structures give him a lot more space to work with & he’s simply not a good enough singer to pull it off. It’s not that he’s consistently pitchy or anything (although he certainly is in places). It’s just that he feels a little bit out of his depth most of the time. The other issue is that some of the song-writing is subpar, particularly the God-awful heavy metal ballad “I Never Said Goodbye” & the double-whammy of “Crawling” into “Pressure” which is really very dull indeed. There are some positives though as almost half of the tracklisting offers something of interest. The high-quality, mid-paced chugger “Product” is my clear favourite but I also enjoy the more aggressive, hardcore-driven numbers “Independent”, “Supremacy” & “Do It” as well as the pretty folk instrumental “If Only”. The guitar solos of Wiley Arnett are also excellent & often represent the high points of the songs.

Look, there are worse records out there than this one but it was clearly a misguided attempt to cash in on the growing popularity of the groove metal movement & it didn’t pay off for Sacred Reich who were previously regarded as a consistent performer in the thrash scene. I would check out each of their subsequent releases, if only for reasons of nostalgia, but none of them could compete with their early releases so “Independent” is very much the tipping point for them as a band. It’s a real shame as releases like “Surf Nicaragua” & “Ignorance” showcased a clear talent that I expected to flourish into something genuinely special at some point but it was apparently not to be.

For fans of Machine Head, 90's Anthrax & "I Hear Black"-era Overkill.