Forgotten Gems-Blood Feast -Face Fate

Despite some negative things I have said about 80's record label New Renaissance records I still end up picking quite a few of their acts to do on this feature. Many of the albums on that label suffered from poor production and limited distribution. It seemed to a black hole for bands in that they went in and signed for that label but no ever got very far after inking their names to a contract with New Renaissance. However they had some real talent including Medieval, Executioner, At War, Post Mortem, Holocross and Blood Feast. New Jersey's Blood Feast might be the most typical of that batch. Originally known as Blood Lust this band formed in 1985 but soon switched band names. After signing to New Renaissance they would release their debut "Kill for pleasure" in 1987.  They were on occasion referred to as an "East Coast Slayer". I wouldn't totally agree with that label since there is really only one Slayer, but Blood Feast certainly liked that style. "Kill for pleasure" was a decent album comprised to straight ahead thrash, but is suffered some from let's say not the greatest production job in the world. That same year they would release an EP. The EP includes one new track, a re-worked demo track and two re-worked songs from the debut. Even though it's only four songs and I had already heard two of them this is still the Blood Feast album that impressed me the most. The title track is perhaps the most aggressive song they ever took on. It's messy in spots, but it shows how this band could just go straight out and create a crushing attack. "Blood Lust" benefits from a strong, crisp riff and some insane vocals. "R.I.P" follows a manic pace and includes some sore throat style vocals that actually suit the music very well. The closer "Vampire" is a punchy, semi-fast thrasher that shows the bands ability to switch up the tempo but maintain a solid level of heaviness. This album is raw as were all of Blood Feast's albums, but this one definitely demonstrates the potential they had.