Znowhite - All Hail to Thee - 1984

Znowhite are unique for the simple fact that their vocalist is female. Other than some band named Thrash Queen, which from what I can tell are thrash in name only, there were no other female-fronted thrash bands around in 1984. Is Nicole Lee a great singer? No, not really, but she gets the job done. The music itself is pretty competent speed/thrash for 1984, with little to offer in terms of originality. Songs like "Sledgehammer" and "Bringin' the Hammer Down" are actually pretty enjoyable though. Unfortunately, tracks like "Never Felt Like This" exist as well.

1. Sledgehammer
2. Saturday Night
3. Somethin' for Nothin'
4. Bringin' the Hammer Down
5. Do Or Die
6. Never Felt Like This
7. Rock City Destination

Score: 4/10

Destruction - Sentence of Death - November 10, 1984

Destruction's first EP was pretty indicative of the sound they would always play -- definitely more melodic than Sodom but more abrasive than Metallica, their sound is a lively, snarling style, not unlike bands we would hear from a little later like Overkill and Exodus. There's a bit of sloppiness here and the songwriting chops haven't fully formed, but songs like "Total Desaster" and "Mad Butcher" really rip, but the quality slowly declines as the album goes on. The closer, "Devil's Soldiers" is the worst, seemingly going for a pounding, almost totally non-melodic style that just doesn't suit the band. All in all, it's a fun little EP, and a nice introduction to the band.

1. Intro
2. Total Desaster
3. Black Mass
4. Mad Butcher
5. Satan's Vengeance
6. Devil's Soldiers

Score: 7.5/10

Dark Angel - We Have Arrived - November 5, 1984

Some bands who attain greatness at some point in their career have rather mediocre debuts. Dark Angel is one of those bands. We Have Arrived is neither good nor bad -- it's just kind of there. There are flashes of brilliance to be sure, hell "Merciless Death" is one of the best songs they've ever written but it sounds a hell of a lot better on Darkness Descends. "No Tomorrow" has some good moments too, as does the title track but the over all feel just isn't the vicious, riffdiculous Dark Angel we would all come to love.

1. We Have Arrived

2. Merciless Death

3. Falling From the Sky

4. Welcome to the Slaughter House

5. No Tomorrow

6. Hell's on its Knees

7. Vendetta

Score: 5/10

Metallica - Ride the Lightning - August 15, 1984

So 11 days earlier, Slayer cracks the door to the world of thrash metal open, much like a deranged Jack Nicholson in The Shining with Haunting the Chapel. On this day, August 15, 1984 (coincidentally my younger brother's second birthday) Metallica blasts the motherfucker open with this masterpiece and slays everybody in that dang room! Metallica go at it a little differently than Slayer though. While Jack's simple and effective axe is a perfect metaphor for Slayer's brutal and ultra-violent style, Metallica go with a katana -- an equally effective killing tool, but there is a beauty in its killing style. Metallica make thrash a true artform with this one.

This album is perfect in nearly every way. I've heard it countless times and I can still sit and listen to it, eyes closed, from front to back and not get bored or antsy, as I just did now. The production is unbelievable. You can't show me an album 28 years later that sounds better than this album. The arrangement is masterful. So good in fact that Metallica would virtually clone it two years later with Master of Puppets. The one-two punch of "Fight Fire With Fire" and "Ride the Lightning" is devastating. The following of the beautiful and moving "Fade to Black" with the all-out thrasher "Trapped Under Ice" is equally so. And the album closer, oh what a fucking closer! An instrumental that truly transcends genres, "The Call of Ktulu" is a nearly 9-minute epic, with Cliff's bass wailing and groaning like the mythical sea beast that the song was titled after.

As far as I'm concerned this is the album that really announced the genre's arrival. I had to double-check that it was indeed released in 1984! I mean, look at what we've heard so far. There's nothing that even approaches the level of songwriting, musicianship and production values within the genre. 

OK, I guess I'm done gushing. This will probably end up being the longest review I write in here, and it was the easiest as well.

1. Fight Fire With Fire
2. Ride the Lightning
3. For Whom the Bell Tolls
4. Fade to Black
5. Trapped Under Ice
6. Escape
7. Creeping Death
8. The Call of Ktulu

Score: 10/10

Voivod - War and Pain - August 10, 1984

This just isn't very good. I've never been a big fan of Voivod, but truth be told I've only ever listened to their first three albums, which is probably the reason I just can't bring myself to listen to their later material. At any rate, we're talking about War and Pain right now, and to me, they should have just called it Pain. It's not a complete train wreck, but this is some pretty sloppy, messy, Motorhead-tinged speed/thrash. The vocals are OK, the lyrics are ridiculous, some nice riffs and leads show up every now and then, and the whole thing just kind of runs into one long cacophony that doesn't hold my attention one bit.

1. Voivod
2. Warriors of Ice
3. Suck Your Bone
4. Iron Gang
5. War and Pain
6. Blower
7. Live For Violence
8. Black City
9. Nuclear War

Score: 3/10

Slayer - Haunting the Chapel - August 4, 1984

This EP, this little tiny 3-song EP is where thrash becomes THRASH. It's almost immediately recognizable. As "Chemical Warfare" kicks in, there's a noticeable increase in darkness, in aggression, in violence... and then Araya comes in sounding like a demented madman and it's settled: this is what thrash will be. "Chemical Warfare" is easily the best song here, and among the best in Slayer's vast catalog. The other two are still good, just a little less so. The title track really has an "Angel of Death" vibe going on during the verse. The guitar solos are a little more towards that dissonant style that Slayer would develop later but still pretty good, and Lombardo still isn't amazing either. This is some quality, early thrash though. I just wish there was more of it.

1. Chemical Warfare
2. Captor of Sin
3. Haunting the Chapel

Score: 8.5/10

Sodom - In the Sign of Evil - May 5, 1984

And yet another debut album from a classic thrash band that isn't quite thrash. But this ain't freaking speed metal, kids. This is first wave black metal! This has to be one of the absolute heaviest things around at the time. The production is a little lacking, especially for thrash, with the guitars a little low and the drums and demented vocals way out front, but the effect isn't lost. This is heavy, ugly, snarly, Venom-inspired blasphemy. It's pretty simple blasphemy though. The riff-o-ramas from later Sodom albums haven't made an appearance yet, as most of the songs consist of about 2-3 real riffs. 

1. Outbreak of Evil
2. Sepulchral Voice
3. Blasphemer
4. Witching Metal
5. Burst Command til War

Score: 6.5/10

Razor - Armed and Dangerous - May, 1984

Another album more on the speed side of things, but still a pretty important release since Razor would become one of the more active thrash bands throughout the 80's. This is more or less pure Motorhead worship, right down to the vocals. Most of this stuff would show up on their full-length debut, Executioner's Song, and it seems to work best when they keep it short and fast like on "Hot Metal" or "Take This Torch". Some fine guitar work here for sure, but really nothing all that memorable... well, except for "Take This Torch", I keep screaming that chorus in my car! And how awesome is that album cover?

1. The End

2. Killer Instinct

3. Hot Metal

4. Armed and Dangerous

5. Take This Torch

6. Ball and Chain

7. Fast and Loud

Score: 6/10

Anthrax - Fistful of Metal - February, 1984

More of a speed metal band at this point, Anthrax's debut doesn't quite have the same impact of the first two thrash LP's. There are thrash moments to be sure, like Metal Thrashing Mad and Howling Furies, but most of it adds nothing to the fledgling thrash movement. This really doesn't sound like Anthrax anyway, and not just because of Neil Turbin's over-the-top vocals... Scott Ian and co. just haven't found that signature Anthrax sound that would be so obvious on their next album. One 'groundbreaking' thing about this album is that it's the first to feature the Ill-advised Thrash Metal Cover Song. I'm Eighteen totally fucks up any and all momentum created by the first two tracks. They don't butcher it or anything, but fuck... leave it until the end or throw it on a b-side. 

1. Deathrider
2. Metal Thrashing Mad
3. I'm Eighteen
4. Panic
5. Subjugator
6. Soldiers of Metal
7. Death From Above
8. Anthrax
9. Across the River
10. Howling Furies

Score: 6/10

Slayer - Show No Mercy - December 3, 1983

The second thrash LP! It's really a unique album for Slayer, nothing else in their catalogue sounds much like it. The main reason for that is probably the fact that, like Kill 'Em All, it's still really heavily rooted in the NWOBHM sound, albeit a bit more on the evil side with Slayer playing Venom to Metallica's Motorhead. Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman actually bust out some pretty nice solos here too, which is something later Slayer records lack. Lombardo's work here is not his best, but it's light years ahead of Ulrich's. Sorry to keep comparing the two, but Show No Mercy and Kill 'Em All will always be linked in my mind. They were the first two, and still among the best.

1. Evil Has No Boundaries
2. The Antichrist
3. Die By the Sword
4. Fight Till Death
5. Metal Storm/Face the Slayer
6. Black Magic
7. Tormentor
8. The Final Command
9. Crionics
10. Show No Mercy

Score: 8.5/10

Metallica - Kill 'Em All - July 13, 1983

What can you say about an album like Kill 'Em All that hasn't already been said? It's really a groundbreaking piece of music, obviously influenced by the NWOBHM with most of the music being pretty heavily rooted in that style. One great thing about this album is that most of the songs fall into the 4 to 5 minute range, keeping things fresh and interesting, which is something Metallica would start to have trouble with as soon as 3 years later. Unfortunately, the writing is already on the wall for Metallica as the best tunes are the ones that Dave Mustaine helped write.

1. Hit the Lights

2. The Four Horsemen

3. Motorbreath

4. Jump In the Fire

5. (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth

6. Whiplash

7. Phantom Lord

8. No Remorse

9. Seek & Destroy

10. Metal Militia

Score: 8/10

Number One

A few months ago, I started on a bit of a thrash metal journey. I decided I wanted to start where it all began, with Metallica's Kill 'Em All and listen to everything I could get my hands on until... well, whenever I decide to stop, and write reviews for each album. I'm not an accomplished writer by any means, but I can string a sentence together, so hopefully my reviews are at least mildly enjoyable. I originally started posting my little journey on lastrit.es and www.metalsetlists.com and will continue to do so, but I thought I may reach a wider audience with a dedicated blog. At any rate, I'll start posting reviews soon.