Review by Daniel for Depression - Depression (1985)

The Australian extreme metal story isn't one that's too well known amongst the global metal community who are generally only aware of relatively few of the main players but Melbourne hardcore punk band Depression would play an important role in the early days of the movement. In fact, of all the artists who would go on to produce genuine extreme metal releases during the 1980's, Depression were arguably the first to form, trying their hand at being a band from as early as 1982. I didn't start to become involved with the local metal scene until around 1988 & wouldn't run into Depression until they'd well & truly transitioned themselves into a crossover thrash metal act with their 1988 sophomore album "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes". I never looked to venture back any earlier in their discography until the last few weeks either but the exercise has led to me coming to some startling revelations around Depression's significance in the forming of the Aussie scene of the mid-to-late 1980's.

Depression's earliest demo tracks were released within a year of the band forming & presented a raw, potent & consistently high-tempo sound that possessed pure punk rock energy with front man Spike's vocal delivery being very much in line with that snotty Sex Pistols vibe. They were also very well produced for a demo too & I can see why Depression would have been signed off the back of them. 1983's "Body Dump" demo tape would see Depression becoming a touch more violent & hardcore. The shorter songs show the four-piece band throwing themselves into their craft on a physical level & exuding a strong level of technical proficiency about what they do too. The production was complete rubbish on this occasion though with the song-writing being muffled by a washed-out live/rehearsal tape aesthetic. I wouldn't say that there was all that much metal in Depression's sound just yet but there are a couple of thrash riffs here & there while the universally high tempos & production issues do tend to leave everything sounding very samey. The vocals were still reasonably clean although Spike's lyrics were spat out with great vitriol & you can easily see how a relentless brand of hardcore such as this one might have spawned the extreme metal subgenres like thrash metal, black metal & grindcore. 1984’s "Money Chain" single would see Depression adding a touch more accessibility to their approach with more restraint & variation being evident in the tempos & with a stronger emphasis on song-writing. You can definitely hear the chugging, down-picked metal influence starting to increase in these three tracks but I wouldn't suggest that the material was particularly thrashy while the vocals still sat largely in the snotty punk space with the trademark political messaging being stereotypical for the punk scene. And that sees us leading into 1985’s self-titled debut album which is certainly Depression's most well-known & highly regarded release.

Now let's get one thing straight right from the start, "Depression" definitely isn't a metal record but it does contain some of the elements that would see these Aussies transitioning into a metal band shortly afterwards. There's no doubt at all about its status as a hardcore punk release though with its 26 short tracks all bounding past at a fair clip. Spike's vocals were now noticeably more aggressive & masculine than they were on those few 1982 demo tracks while the guitar work of Stephen Lazaros (aka Smeer) is abrasive, incisive & attacking. It's very clear that Smeer was becoming more & more influenced by the early extreme metal scene here as his technique is starting to showcase various shared techniques, so much so that we have a few genuine crossover thrash songs here which is really saying something when you consider that this was 1985 & the whole crossover scene would only kick off at that time with bands like S.O.D., D.R.I., Corrosion of Conformity, Slaughter & Concrete Sox all releasing records of significance within that twelve month period. Just listen to songs like "Big Business", "Breath of Death", "They Wouldn't" & "Universal Product Code" (my personal favourite) & tell me that it shouldn't qualify as thrash! This element has really surprised me actually as there are generally a few common names bandied around when people talk about the earliest steps out into Australian thrash & it's very rare to see Depression mentioned in that discussion.

The production job is perfect for this style of music in that it manages to harness the power of a live hardcore punk act while also allowing all of the individual components great clarity. I think this is a real feather in the album's cap actually. The musical proficiency of each band member is also very high for a hardcore debut & I'd suggest that the band took their craft very seriously, not only as angry youths but also as genuine artists. Perhaps the most impressive thing about "Depression" though is the fact that I enjoy every one of the long list of songs included, perhaps not to the point that I'd claim any of them as a classic of any sort but enough to make this a surprisingly enjoyable record, particularly for someone that's not usually much of a fan of hardcore. In fact, on the evidence of this experience, I'd have to suggest that Depression might have been a world class exponent of the hardcore punk sound, if not one that was particularly original in their approach or threatened the top tier of the genre.

Depression would go on to incorporate more thrash into their sound with each release over the next three or four years before they'd eventually call it a day in 1989 but I think it's fair to say that their legacy is a little under-appreciated because, on the evidence of records that followed this one, they played a much more important role in the early Australian metal scene than they're given credit for. If you have a penchant for well-produced, high-quality hardcore punk then I'd encourage you to dig into this fairly unknown release. It might just surprise you.

For fans of Discharge, Disorder & Crass.