Sacred Reich-Independent, 1993

Sacred Reich had gotten some attention on their album American Way which came out in 1990. Yet the metal scene had changed between 90 and 93 as metal was falling out of favor and some bands were changing their style in hopes of maintaining an audience. Arizona based speed metal band Sacred Reich opted for a very little compromise approach and so their third album Independent was actually fairly heavy and straight forward. It took about ten seconds of the opening title track for me to know that this band was not going to bow down, tone it down or give in to the changing sounds that were going on in early 93. Other speed metal bands like Megadeth and Flotsam and Jetsam were indeed toning it down or trying different styles. Sacred Reich's debut Ignorance was pure speed metal and the American Way was much more contained, yet this album manages to be coherant yet powerful. The band seem to have much more of a sense of control on this album as they are far better at manipulating their sound here than on their previous albums. If it had come out in 1991 then it may have elevated the band to another level, but as it was it's a very good album that got overlooked. Standout tracks include the title track, Free, Pressure and Open book.