There's a quote from Max Cavalera that I'll always remember that goes something like, "Back in Brazil there were definitely bands who had more talent than Sepultura, but Sepultura had the attitude," or something. That statement certainly rings true enough when listening to their full-length debut, Morbid Visions.
Don't get me wrong, Sepultura certainly play fast enough, but there's a sloppiness to their playing and a repetitiveness to their songwriting at this point which do nothing to separate them from the pack of thrash bands who are already starting to flood the market. Max's vocals here are also nothing compared to what they would become -- raspy, barked and largely monotone. Where they do set themselves apart is the youthful, reckless abandon with which they play. The feeling is so undeniably evil that you can't help but get caught up in stuff like "Troops of Doom" and "Funeral Rites".
It's not all just fast stuff either. There are moments, like the intro of "Show Me the Wrath" which are twistingly heavy at a pretty slow speed. Doom? No, but good thrash features variation in speed, and Sepultura are toying with that here. This is no landmark album, but it's the last of theirs to occupy that middle ground between thrash, black and death, and at the least it's a fun and nostalgic listen.
1. Morbid Visions
2. Mayhem
3. Troops of Doom
4. War
5. Crucifixion
6. Show Me the Wrath
7. Funeral Rites
8. Empire of the Damned
Score: 7/10
Album number two in the so-called "unholy trinity" of 1986 is an interesting one. Kreator reaches speeds here that are unheard of other than on Slayer's Reign in Blood, the first of that trinity, although these Germans do it much more sloppily than their American counterparts. In fact, while the speed of "Ripping Corpse" and the title track are impressive, there isn't a whole lot of interest riff-wise. When you strip the songs down, a lot of them are pretty mediocre riffs played really fucking fast. The album really doesn't do a whole lot for me until we get to the mid-paced section in the title track, which is just ruthless.
Mille and Ventor switch up doing vocals just like on their debut, but we are slowly seeing Mille taking over. Unlike the first though, I actually think the songs that Ventor sing on are better than most of the Mille-fronted ones. "Riot of Violence" is a killer thrash tune, while a lot of Mille's songs are just too fast and sloppy to be truly enjoyable, although "The Pestilence" is an absolute skull-crusher.
All that being said though, Pleasure to Kill is a pretty important album in the grand scheme of things. Other than Possessed's Seven Churches and the aforementioned Slayer album, this has got to be the biggest influence on death metal at the time, not to mention its hand in moving the thrash genre forward to more extreme tempos and harsher vocals.
1. Choir of the Damned
2. Ripping Corpse
3. Death is Your Saviour
4. Pleasure to Kill
5. Riot of Violence
6. The Pestilence
7. Carrion
8. Command of the Blade
9. Under the Guillotine
Score: 8/10
Given that Possessed's first effort was one of the most extreme and brutal thrash metal releases ever, hopes must have been high for their sophomore effort. Presumably to the chagrin of many (some?) though, Larry LaLonde's dirty little secret seems to make a concerted effort to sound more like Metallica rather than Death on Beyond the Gates. While it's definitely not a bad thing to refine a sound to a desired goal, Seven Churches was such a revelation that this album can be seen as nothing but a disappointment. Is it an enjoyable listen? Of course it is. The overall tone is still oppressively heavy, with Jeff Becerra's barking vocals leading the way over the whirling guitars and pounding drums.
What's that I hear, though? Is that a hint of melody in the vocals, especially noticeable on "Phantasm"? Is that a riff that sounds like an early demo of "Trapped Under Ice" ("Tribulation")? The answer is yes. This is a band who has decided to reel themselves in, and let other bands blaze the trail to death metal, content to become an also-ran in the thrash metal genre.
I'm being harsh though. This is a good album, as far as thrash in 1986 goes, and probably among the top 10 releases of that year. There are still few bands heavier than Possessed at this point, but there are also bands who play tighter and write more interesting songs.
1. Intro
2. The Heretic
3. Tribulation
4. March to Die
5. Phantasm
6. No Will to Live
7. Beyond the Gates
8. The Beasts of the Apocalypse
9. Seance
10. Restless Dead
11. Dog Fight
Score: 8/10
Earlier in 1986, Metallica released an album that featured songs with extended run-times, with somewhat more complex arrangements and riffs that were repeated over and over, almost to the point of ridicule. Later that same year, Slayer decided to go in the exact opposite direction. With the exception of the opening and closing tracks, Slayer almost forego song development completely in favour of short, violent bursts of evil the likes of which the world had never seen. Their tactic is successful in a way, in that when the album is playing it is very enjoyable to someone who loves fast, energetic, evil-as-fuck music. However, once the music is over there's not a whole lot to remember.
If Slayer had made an album full of "Angel of Death" and "Raining Blood", it would truly be one for the ages! But instead we have two fantastic songs, a few lesser lights like "Postmortem" and "Altar of Sacrifice", and then a bunch of under-developed drive-by's. The influence of this album is far-reaching, inspiring a host of death and thrash metal bands to up the violence and aggression, and to start playing those strangled-guitar solos that I kind of wish Kerry and Jeff never decided to play.
Overrated? Absolutely. This is nowhere near the best thrash album ever, and I really question why so many people feel it is. Innovative? Somewhat. Hirax did the fast, short, metallic bursts already, but Slayer brings a new level of credibility, professionalism and pure evil to it. Is it good? Yeah, it's good. It's fun as hell, but just not very memorable nor is it deserving of a lot of the praise that is thrown its way. That said, it still shits on a good share of the thrash albums that have come out up to this point and beyond, which is a testament to just how good a band Slayer were in their prime.
1. Angel of Death
2. Piece By Piece
3. Necrophobic
4. Altar of Sacrifice
5. Jesus Saves
6. Criminally Insane
7. Reborn
8. Epidemic
9. Postmortem
10. Raining Blood
Score: 8/10
I've always felt that the New York area thrash bands wore their punk influences on their sleeves more so than their Californian counterparts, and nowhere is this more apparent than on a Nuclear Assault album. Whether you sported long hair or a mohawk, Nuclear Assault's debut must have appealed to a wide range of punks and metalheads since it featured metal-as-fuck riffs coupled with a punk rock attitude. Add in some excellent songwriting and the howling vocals of John Connelly, and you have one of the better releases of 1986.
Nuclear Assault could play as fast as anyone, but they also played a lot of mid-paced stuff that was carried by great riffs and powerful vocals. Hearing songs like "Brain Death" and "After the Holocaust" in a sweaty NYC club in 1986 must have been quite the trip because even though they may not be the fastest songs around, they evoke a sense of turmoil that would have to make for a great live experience. Given the amount of notoriety other releases from 1986 have garnered, I'm surprised that Game Over isn't right there with them -- I mean, it's fun as fuck, and there are moments that are as punishing as anything out there at the time. Sure, the guitars are a little thin and there are some needless interlude tracks, but this is a welcome addition to the thrash metal equation.
1. Live, Suffer, Die
2. Sin
3. Cold Steel
4. Betrayal
5. Radiation Sickness
6. Hang the Pope
7. After the Holocaust
8. Mr. Softee Theme
9. Stranded in Hell
10. Nuclear War
11. My America
12. Vengeance
13. Brain Death
Score: 8.5/10
Hallows Eve's first album was a bit of an up-and-down affair, lacking focus and direction. Their second release is not a whole lot different, but it's definitely an improvement on the first. Hallows Eve are not the most violent band, nor are they the most technical but they certainly are fun. They play thrash with a bit of an Iron Maiden flavour, epic and grandiose, which isn't a bad thing, but given what else is out there at this point, Death & Insanity just isn't all that impressive. "Goblet of Gore" is a fine song though, as is "D.I.E" and even "Lethal Tendencies" is enjoyable if not a bit repetitive. At any rate, this is a decent album, probably for fans of the genre only.
1. Death and Insanity
2. Goblet of Gore
3. Lethal Tendencies
4. Obituary
5. Plea of the Aged
6. Suicide
7. D.I.E. (Death In Effect)
8. Attack of the Iguana
9. Nefarious
10. Nobody Lives Forever
11. Death and Insanity (Reprise)
Score: 7/10
The problem with Hirax's first album, released a year earlier was that it was just too much of the same thing. 2-minute blast after 2-minute blast for a half hour can get tedious and is the main reason I've never been able to get into hardcore or grindcore. Whether it was intentional or not, Hirax improved on their debut in two ways. The first is that it's about half as long at a whopping 16 minutes. The second is that they figured out that good thrash isn't always full-speed ahead.
That second point is the key to this album being much better than their first album. Even though the first three tracks are straight-ahead speed freaks, with the 40-second title track featuring something that resembles a blast beat, it's the second half of the album where we see Hirax start to vary their songwriting. "The Last War" features an excellent, punishing main riff that sounds very similar to what Slayer would start doing a couple years later. The slower parts also give Katon's soaring vocals room to breathe and in doing so makes you wonder why they didn't do more of it. It's a shame that Hirax wouldn't be heard from again (other than a demo in 1987) until 2004, because there's a whole lot of potential in this release.
1. Hate, Fear & Power
2. Blind Faith
3. Unholy Sacrifice
4. Lightning Thunder
5. The Last War
6. The Plague
7. Imprisoned By Ignorance
8. Criminal Punishment
Score: 7/10
