Dr. Living Dead-Radioactive Intervention

High Roller Records
2012

 

Stockholm's Dr. Living Dead were formed in 2007 and, following a pair of demos, released their self-titled debut album four years later. On their 2011 album the name of the game was early Anthrax meets Suicidal Tendencies. With "Radioactive Intervention" the band (vocalist Dr. Ape, guitarist Dr. Toxic, drummer Dr. Dawn and bassist Dr. Rad) still find themselves stuck in the mid-80's when crossover was king of the mountain. You can still name check Anthrax and Suicidal Tendencies (especially those first couple of albums from both bands) although you could also toss in some C.O.C., Excel, S.O.D., Ludichrist, Uncle Slam and D.R.I. and still be in the same ballpark. The Anthrax comparison really hits you thanks to vocalist Dr. Ape. It's doubtful it's on purpose or anything. That would be too obvious. Man alive though he sounds like he could be the younger brother of Joey Belladonna and, yes I am deadly serious, it might just be that he is as good if not better then Joey. With the band playing mid-80's crossover that doesn't sound retro (like say Municipal Waste) at all (instead it sounds as if it was plucked right out the 80s!) or goofy (as some of these retro thrash bands sound really) album number two is a beautiful thing. It's 12 tracks of pit-inspired speed/thrash with a hardcore gloss.Tracks like the Suicidal Tendencies inspired "Mental Warzone" offer quick little bursts of punk energy while numbers like "Hiding Inside of Me" and "Life Sucks" recall Bay Area thrash. The only down side? Well, the album feels short. It falls under 38 minutes and leaves you wanting more. Of course that was/is the nature of crossover. Songs rarely made it past the 3 minute mark to begin with. The longest cut here ("Dead New World") is also the last cut which does offer a nice way to wrap things up. Length issues aside if your a crossover fanatic and/or you wore out numerous cassette copies of Anthrax's first few albums then "Radioactive Intervention" is a must-have.