From what I can tell, Zoetrope's debut is a very strong album indeed! While there's nothing groundbreaking about it, Zoetrope plays a nice gritty style that makes me think a little bit of Motorhead and probably a little bit of Overkill as well -- Razor around the same time period isn't a bad comparison either. The band self-described their music as "street metal" which is bang-on... I can only assume this would have been the perfect soundtrack for Chicago thrash pits in the mid-80's -- screaming guitars, gang shouts, mosh riffs, yes please!
1. Indecent Obsessions
2. Kill the Enemy
3. Mercenary
4. Amnesty
5. Member in a Gang
6. Break Your Back
7. Another Chance
8. Creatures
9. Trip Wires
Score: 7.5/10
It's pretty apparent when listening to Morsure's (French for "bite-wound") lone full-length that these Frenchmen like to play fast! The album is one big blur of crackling guitars, pounding drums and horribly-constructed lyrics. For 1985, there wasn't much that was this fucking FAST. Unfortunately for Morsure, fast does not a good album make. The production is pretty awful -- the drums are too loud, the guitars are thin, the vocals are buried (which may actually not be a negative), and there is not enough variation in the songwriting. I can probably count on one hand the amount of times that the band isn't blazing at full speed, and most of the time it's a little bass or guitar interlude. There does however seem to be some interesting things going on when you cut through all the racket, and there's some potential for some pretty cool stuff. Unfortunately we'll never find out.
1. M.A.D.
2. No Moral
3. Ahriman's Heart
4. Et Not Fracta Est
5. Morsure
6. Neither Pity nor Remorse
7. XX World
8. L'Irrémédiable
9. Oderint Dum Metuant
10. Vreder Strack
Score: 3/10
From the extremely violent (Seven Churches) to the extremely catchy (this!)... Spreading the Disease is where Anthrax really hits their stride. Definitely not as aggressive or abrasive as the other members of the "Big Four", Anthrax plays a style that is still very close to speed metal or NWOBHM in places that relies on big choruses to pull the listener in. Witness tracks like "Lone Justice" (Justice, law and order) and "The Enemy" (He is but a solitary man) where Belladonna's soaring vocals guide you over some pretty great riffs. This album also features a lot of gang vocals, which is something Anthrax would utilize frequently throughout their classic output. In fact, looking at the track list, almost every song features some shouts from Scott Ian and company. All in all, this just might be the best Anthrax would ever sound, I haven't quite decided yet.
1. A.I.R.
2. Lone Justice
3. Madhouse
4. S.S.C./Stand or Fall
5. The Enemy
6. Aftershock
7. Armed and Dangerous
8. Medusa
9. Gung-Ho
Score: 9/10
While it's true that Possessed's first LP was the first death metal LP, it's also true that it's a great thrash metal LP. In the early days, death metal was just extremely brutal thrash metal. We've already heard the same kind of aggressive riffing from the likes of Slayer and Metallica, and the shredded vocals aren't all that different from what Sodom or Kreator were doing at the time, but nobody had put it all together quite like Possessed did here. Seven Churches really sets a new standard for violent music that thousands upon thousands would start to immitate. Sure, a lot of the songs could be catchier, and because of the sheer speed throughout most of the album it sounds sloppy sometimes, but this is thrash metal of the highest order, and such a solid album too, with very few weak spots.
1. The Exorcist
2. Pentagram
3. Burning in Hell
4. Evil Warriors
5. Seven Churches
6. Satan's Curse
7. Holy Hell
8. Twisted Minds
9. Fallen Angel
10. Death Metal
Score: 9/10
With every album it seems that Razor ups the intensity and attitude just a little bit. Where Executioner's Song from earlier in 1985 was more fun speed metal, Evil Invaders is decidedly meaner. Dave Carlo's picking hand is truly something to behold on songs like "Iron Hammer" and "Cut Throat", and the songs are all pretty short, controlled bursts of violence. The mix is a little weird, with the guitar really out front, and for some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, this album isn't as memorable as it should be. I find myself remembering the album as a whole, with it being pretty difficult to pick out certain standout tracks.
1. Nowhere Fast
2. Cross Me Fool
3. Legacy of Doom
4. Evil Invaders
5. Iron Hammer
6. Instant Death
7. Cut Throat
8. Speed Merchants
9. Tortured Skull
10. Thrashdance
Score: 7/10
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 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
