Living Death - Metal Revolution - October, 1985

I didn't review Living Death's first album because it sounded more like AC/DC than it did Slayer, but they decided to up the aggression on their second album. It's not all that original, and the singer sounds like Brian Johnson with an elastic tied around his nuts but there's some pretty nice, lively sounding thrash here. There are still some pretty rock-ish sounding numbers, but even those feature more aggressive riffing that sets this album apart from the power chord rock of the first one. 

1. Killing Machine
2. Grippin' a Heart
3. Rulers Must Come
4. Screaming From a Chamber
5. Intro
6. Shadow of the Dawn
7. Panic & Hysteria
8. Road of Destiny
9. Deep in Hell

Score: 6/10

Hirax - Raging Violence - October, 1985

Hirax were a pretty unique band in the 80's thrash scene. They played a heads-down, full-speed-ahead, crossover style but with Katon W De Pena's soaring, almost boyish vocals over top, they stood out from the pack. Just looking over the song lengths on their debut, you can see that they're all pretty short bursts of violence, which is fine but it leaves little room for variety. By the time you get about halfway through the album, the constant speed and De Pena's incessant warbling gets kind of tiresome. It's always been my opinion that good thrash should have a good amount of mid-paced and even slow parts to set up the breakneck, I'll-fucking-murder-your-family riffs. In that respect, Hirax fails. It's a fun album to listen to in short doses, but I can't see myself sitting down and listening to the whole 30:52 any time soon.

1. Demons - Evil Forces
2. Blitzkrieg Air Attack
3. Guardian Protector
4. Bombs of Death
5. Defeat of Amalek
6. Raging Violence
7. Call of the Gods
8. Warlords Command
9. Suicide
10. Executed
11. The Gauntlet
12. Destruction and Terror
13. Destroy
14. Bloodbath

Score: 5/10

Kreator - Endless Pain - October, 1985

The last (and in my opinion, the best) of the big German thrash bands to make their debut, Kreator's sound on Endless Pain is decidedly aggressive and raw. In the early days, Kreator went with two vocalists, Mille and Ventor alternate singing on each song here, with mixed results. Mille's vocals are downright evil, featuring an inhuman rasp that we haven't heard before at this point. Ventor's vocals are deeper and more traditional sounding. As a result, the songs with Mille singing sound heavier, and he seems to sing on the more aggressive tracks anyway, where Ventor sings over the more traditional sounding tunes. At any rate, the album is fairly solid but pretty simplistic when you consider what the band would do later.

1. Endless Pain
2. Total Death
3. Storm of the Beast
4. Tormentor
5. Son of Evil
6. Flag of Hate
7. Cry War
8. Bone Breaker
9. Living in Fear
10. Dying Victims

Score: 7.5/10

Sacrifice - Torment in Fire - September 27, 1985

Much like Dark Angel a year earlier, Sacrifice are one of those bands who would go on to certain greatness after putting out a pretty lacklustre debut. Don't get me wrong, the attitude is there. The aggression is there. But all that youthful exuberance can't make up for the fact that these guys just aren't writing very good songs and they're just not great musicians yet. The horribly muddy production doesn't help either. Sure, the lyrics are ridiculously satanic and violent, and the vocals verge on death metal, but when you break the songs down, there's just not a whole lot here. 

1. The Awakening
2. Sacrifice
3. Turn in Your Grave
4. Homicidal Breath
5. Warrior of Death
6. Infernal Visions
7. Burned at the Stake
8. Necronomicon
9. The Exorcism
10. Possession
11. Decapitation
12. Beyond Death

Score: 3/10

Slayer - Hell Awaits - September 16, 1985

Of all the classic Slayer albums, Hell Awaits seems to be the one that gets forgotten about. Sandwiched in between the groundbreaking debut and  their 1986 tour de force, Reign in Blood, Hell Awaits seems to just be along for the ride, allowing the other albums to take all the credit for Slayer's notoriety. And even though Hell Awaits took a while to really hit me, let me tell you, it stands tall on its own merits.

Hell Awaits more or less continues where the Haunting the Chapel EP left off, albeit with a muddier production that takes away some definition from the guitars but adds to the oppressive, evil feeling of the album. The songwriting has gotten more aggressive and complex, with most of the songs clocking in at 5 minutes or more. All of the songs feature some pretty pummeling riffage and dark imagery, influencing a slew of thrash, death and black metal bands for years to come. All in all, this has got to be the most underrated Slayer album there is. Before I started listening to it for the purpose of this review, I didn't have a very high opinion of it. I can't fucking put it down now!

1. Hell Awaits
2. Kill Again
3. At Dawn They Sleep
4. Praise of Death
5. Necrophiliac
6. Crypts of Eternity
7. Hardening of the Arteries

Score: 9/10

Nasty Savage - Nasty Savage - August 30, 1985

I just can't take this album seriously. I haven't listened to any of their later stuff, so I don't know if it gets any better but Nasty Ronnie is just way too over the top. He's a good singer and all, and the band behind him are actually pretty competent at churning out some pretty good heavy/thrash metal, but I just have to laugh during songs like "Gladiator" and "Metal Knights". The band never really kicks it into top gear either, but they are pretty good at creating that campy, horror-show type of vibe.

1. No Sympathy
2. Gladiator
3. Fear Beyond the Vision
4. Metal Knights
5. Garden of Temptation
6. Asmodeus
7. Dungeon of Pleasure
8. The Morgue
9. Instigator
10. Psychopath
11. End of Time

Score: 4/10