Free Metal Monday: False Prophet-Murder or Mercy Live 1990

Heaven and Hell Records
2013

Formed in 1988 during the height of  the thrash metal explosion, False Prophet is a Greensboro, North Carolina band whose 1991 album, "The Second Death", won me over a long time ago thanks to it's wickedly raw take on death-laden thrash! Bootlegs of said album seem to pop up every now and then, but this digital-only(?) release is officially sanctioned by the band. "Murder Or Mercy" is a live EP from a band that should have been at least somewhat bigger than they were and it is available as a name-your-own-price download here. It includes four tracks of heavy thrash/death and with a run time that is over the twenty minute mark it is the perfect thing to get you up and going on this Monday morning!

With it's memorable artwork and heavy thrash/death metal sound "The Second Death" is a hidden gem!

Forgotten Gems: Lucy Brown-Lucy Brown

Released in 1991 on Megaforce/Atlantic Records, with producer Joe Blaney (Soul Asylum, Jack Bruce, Children, Bernie Worrell, Donna the Buffalo, The Beautiful, etc.) twisting the old knobs (or whatever you choose to call it kiddos!), "Lucy Brown" was the first major label release from the D.C. interracial "funk/metal" band of the same name. Originally formed in 1987, with lead vocalist/bassist Scott Llewellyn, guitarist Luis Peraza Jr. and drummer Chris Neuberg (reportedly) all serving as the founding members, Lucy Brown first hit the scene in 1988 with an entirely different self-titled affair. From what I've been able to gather (or per Wikipedia if you will!) that release was issued thanks to the Washington, DC-area label T.O.G. Records. Whether the bands first LP was/is as straight-up dope as this one happens to be is anyone's guess (or at least my guess as this is the only Lucy Brown album that I've had the pleasure of adding to my personal collection!), but for my money this little beauty (released during the heyday of the whole funk rock/funk metal explosion when bands like 24/7 Spyz, Living Colour, Red Hot Chili Peppers and (of course) Faith No More where busy ruling the top of the charts!) is TOTALLY where it's at! Unlike those mentioned acts Lucy Brown was more rock then metal. As the site AllMusic puts it (and they really hit the nail on the top of the head with this one!) Lucy Brown drew from "everyone from Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix to Sly Stone and Funkadelic" with equal access given to punk, classic rock, pop, soul and (naturally) funk! With this 1991 album the band added on a baritone lead singer in Gene Hawkins (R.I.P.) and with Llewellyn being able to full concentrate on (slap-heavy, drop-dead groovy!) bass riffs the band cut their path through and album that is more slick and damn stylistic then anything from the camps of 24/7 Spyz, Living Colour or Faith No More! While bassist Scott Llewellyn would leave the band in 1992 (he was replaced by Jon Papazoglou) Lucy Brown would muster one more (supposedly excellent!) recording in the form of a 1993 EP ("Five Dogs Dead") the group's long-term plans were derailed by the passing of Gene Hawkins in 1994 (his life was sadly cut w-a-y too short as a result of a heroin overdose). This 11-track LP stands as a monumental piece of funk-heavy rock and roll and as a lasting legacy to a band that (unfortunate as it may just be) few have ever heard of. Easily picked up on Amazon or Ebay from less then $10 (a total steal if you ask me!) "Lucy Brown" is a rock-steady, soulful, funk-filled and downright emotional ride which, for those looking to add something more dynamic to their life (only without necessarily indulging in thrashing guitars), seems like a surefire winner!

Forgotten Gems-Mystic Force-The Eternal Quest

Every state had and have their own hard rock and metal bands. I grew up in Maryland in the 80's and didn't really go to that many shows but knew of some local bands. KIX are likely the hard rock band most associated with my state from that time which is a shame because they really weren't that great, but people know them because they were on a major label and the local radio stations played them to death. I Child's Play were another mediocre hard rock band from the area that got some press. Far better than those two was metal act Wrathchild America (formerly Wrathchild) who knocked out two decent albums on Atlantic records before getting dropped and changing their name to Souls at zero. Twenty some years ago Wratchchild America would have been my favorite local metal act from back in the day. However there albums have not aged so well. They are still good, but flawed. Another band I heard back then who I like better know is Baltimore's Mystic Force. They formed back in 1983 and eventually knocked out a few demos, EPs and full length albums. Instead of following the  more popular trends of thrash or hair metal these guys went for the early progressive sound. Think early Queensryche, Mercyful Fate, Fates Warning, Iron Maiden and Crimson Glory. Now  "The Eternal Quest" includes a number of songs that appeared on previous demos, but it's a quite a few songs and it's a good representation of what this band was capable of. It shows a good variation of what they could do. "Shipwrecked with the wicked" is a flat out amazing tune that goes this way and that with more riffs than you can shake a stick at. "Temples of exiles" twists back and forth with vocals leading the way. "Another world" eases on with a late 80's Maiden vibe before gliding into a smooth flow. Mystic Force were tight in all areas and there is never a moment here where I felt like they missed and opportunity. They fill every second with sounds that make their songs more powerful and complete. Now they may be called progressive metal, but since they played the style year ago their brand of progressive metal pulled more on being heavy and less on trying to flash technical prowess. That last part is something that Mystic Force excelled out. These guys are back again these days playing shows in the area. It's a shame they never got discovered by a label that could give them the exposure they deserved, but if you never heard them that shouldn't stop you from tracking down some of their material and checking them out.

Hair Metal Hodge Podge with Every Mother's Nightmare and Diamond Rexx

Have not done one of these in a while so it was time to close my eyes reach into a bag filled with hair metal discs, pull two out, listen to them and either suffer or be surprised. Now if I said one of these discs was mainly influenced by Poison while the other disc was by a band with a singer who sounded kind of like Alice Cooper and they were heavy for a hair band then which band do you think you'd rather here? Well I am hoping that most of you will choose band B. So let's get into them and see.


Every Mother's Nightmare-s/t 1990
I remember seeing ads for this one when it came out, but I was full on thrash metal mode at the time so I didn't hear it then. Instead my introduction to this Nashville band was in the form of their 1993 release "Wake up screaming". Someone else played it for me and I found it to be mediocre and it suffered from poor production. It wasn't until just a few years ago then I spotted their debut in the bargain bin of a now defunct record store for $2. I picked it up not expecting much. The down side is these guys liked Poison a lot and their ballads are terrible as in skip over them kind of bad. However the up side is they are faster and heavier than Poison with a touch of blues rock thrown in and all of their non-ballads are at least decent. The music is generally tight although basic. They keep it going pretty well. The vocals are not as consistent, but certainly passable. This was a surprisingly decent album and I listen to it from time to time.



Diamond Rexx-Golden Gates 1991
This EP was the third outing from Chicago's very own Diamond Rexx. These guys had the glam look and a sound  that crossed metal and hard rock. The singer sounded somewhat like Alice Cooper and I said above they were on the heavier side of the hair metal spectrum. You can just sense the "however" coming. However as with their previous efforts this album was dull, almost painfully so. They can knock out a riff and the singer had some talent. Yet all their promise was flushed down the toilet due to lack of ideas. They begin a song, they run out of places to go about thirty-five seconds into it and then just play the same thing over and over. Even with only six tracks this album felt like it went on forever. It was maybe okay when I heard their debut because I remember thinking well, with experience they'll get better and grow as songwriters. Nope, they got worse with each album. What a shame.

There you go. What a surprising turn of events.

Forgotten Gems-Cancer-Death shall rise

I remember buying this one on cassette back in 1991. This was back in my death metal phase so anything that growled and flew by at 100 MPH was up my alley. In the early 1990's one of the top death metal scenes around was in the Tampa, Florida area. Cancer didn't hail from there. In fact they were from England, but the sound here was pure Florida death metal. Obituary, Death and Autopsy are all influences. A large part of the sound and the quality is likely due to the fact that James Murphy (Death, Testament and a pile of others) came to the band for this album. That probably explains the influences too, but he also brings his experience and his flair. I wore this one out back in the early 90's, but my tastes changed and I hadn't heard this album in about 17 years. Until the other day I decided to download it and give it a shot. Not every album of this style from back that has held up well, but fortunately this one has. Only eight songs and it's fairly predictable for the style, but it's actually even better than I remembered. It retains the speed and heaviness, but there are also some real grooves that many acts of still were sadly lacking. On "Death shall rise" every song is solid with a strong attention to detail. That last part is likely what has made this album hold up so well for 20 plus years. My only regret was that I waited so long to give this one a chance again.

Forgotten Gems-Slander-Careless talk costs lives

Slander were from the UK, they had a definite NWOBHM sound even down to the production and even the cover looked like it was done in the early 1980's. The only thing is the album was done a decade after the prime of NWOBHM. This band formed in 1990 and knocked out several demos in 1990 and 1991. They chose the best ones and released it as a limited edition, self-released album in 1991. The band broke up two years later. I imagine these guys were fans of the early 1980's style and even though that scene had been dead for half a decade before they formed, they still chose that as the focus of their music. They don't sound like a tribute band or like some of the second rate copy bands that are going today, but instead they sound like the genuine article. Influences include Tygers of Pan Tang, Dianno-era Maiden, Demon and others. Still Slander have their own ideas and every song here is worthwhile. The guitars are solid, the vocals are strong and all the playing is very tight. My favorite tracks are "On the run", "Colour of your money", "Lonely nights" and "In your world". Really you can't go wrong with any song here. I don't know what the reaction to this album was twenty years ago, but now this sound is back in vogue and this album received a two disc set release earlier this year. So at least Slander are finely getting some recognition for their fine work.

Forgotten Gems: Skull-No bones about it

The years between 1989 and 1991 saw tons of hard rock bands puring out everywhere. Some were good and some were pure crap that had no reason being signed in the first place. You just knew with so many acts springing up dandelions in the spring that not all of them were going to make it. Many bands did one and done during this period. For a number of them that was a good thing for us music fans, but some good bands got passed over then too. Skull were the brain child of guitarist Bob Kulick, brother of Bruce and his credits include playing with Paul Stanley's solo band, WASP, Meatloaf, Balance and many other projects. Also in the band were drummer Bobby Rock (Nitro, VVI, Nelson and a pile of others), bassist Kjell Benner and vocalist Dennis St. James. This album came out in 1991 a year that saw grunge knocking out hard rock bands like this one and many others. I was expecting run of the mill hard rock from Skull, but instead was bowled over by some severely tight melodic metal along the lines of Dokken, Whitesnake and Sammy Hagar-era Van Halen. Singer Dennis St. James can just flat out sing with so much power. Every note he belts out is spot on. Kulick of course shines some ripping riffs and tasty solos, but he never showboats. Instead it's all geared just making the songs stronger and building them up. Benner and Rock make a solid rhythm section laying down a heavy background and guiding the pace. My favorite songs include the shredding "Breaking the chains", the tight grinding "I like my music loud", the bouncing "Little black book" and the instantly catchy "Livin on the edge". I unfortunately never heard this one back in the day, but only remember seeing a tiny ad for it probably in RIP magazine. The download is easy to fine so definitely track this one down and give it a listen.

Uncanny-MCMXCI - MCMXCIV

Dark Descent
2011

Sweden's Uncanny were active in the death metal scene in the early 90's and released one full length album with 1994's "Splenium For Nyktophobia". The band faded away not long after that album and unfortunately that album was it for the band until now. The kind people of Dark Descent have gone back and packaged up all of Uncanny's work into this 30 track package. We get "Splenium for Nykorophoibia" plus their two demos-1991's Transportation to the Uncanny and 1992's Nyktalgia and a split release in 1993 with Ancient Rites. We get all this on a two disc set. Uncanny played straight up brutal death metal not far off from the likes of Entombed or Dismember. Uncanny didn't see the kind of impact in their day that they may have hoped for, but there is no doubt that their material is still impressive by early death metal standards. Some of the demos are not of the same sound or performances quality as the LP, but they are just just that demos so that's somewhat expected. They still show the raw talent this band had and how they improved over a rather brief period of time. It's a shame that has taken so long for all of this material to be released. However many thanks to Dark Descent for doing this right and getting these songs out there for the fans.

Best Albums Of 1991

Andy's Choices-

In 1991 I was a junior in high school. I was 17 and had no idea what I wanted out of life. I was out of touch with life around me and felt like an outcast in my own skin. Music was an escape for me. I certainly never tried to follow the trends of the day fashion wise or music wise. I attended school in a small town with small minded people. In the days of Garth Brooks and MC Hammer I was an island in and of myself. The following are my ten favorite metal albums of 1991. No particular order and obviously some have stood the best of time better than others.


1)Sepultura-Arise: Mind blowing thrash. Probably my favorite album from 1991.


2)Metallica-The Black Album: At the time I had convinced myself that this was the future of metal. Now I look back and realize this was the beginning of the end for Metallica. I did a lot of drugs in those days which probably explains a lot!


3)Ratt-Ratt & Roll: I am not ashamed to admit I've always loved Ratt. Out Of the Cellar is one of the greatest hard rock releases of all times. This best of collection is just plain awesome.


4)Guns -N-Roses- Use Your Illusion 1&2: Yes, this is actually two albums. Yes, Guns N' Roses are a band people love to hate. And finally yes, I hate to admit to liking these. Thing is both albums have good tracks, so-so tracks and some real dogs. I made myself a compilation of the best off of both. I just liked the pissed off attitude and anger these showed. Slash was on fire and his playing was just so powerful.


5)Death-Human: Man, I love Death. Probably the best death metal band of all time. Human was another masterpiece for Chuck and company.


6)Soundgarden-Badmotorfinger: Is this metal? Or is it just "grunge"? I fought long and hard about whether to include this. I'm sure I will get flack for this but I think it's more metal than people give it credit for. Some of the riffs on this record are just crazy good. It's loud, heavy and aggressive and one of my favorites of my Junior year.


7)Motorhead-1916: What can I say other than it's Motorhead!


8)Bolt Thrower-War Master: Another underrated album that no one seems to have ever heard. This will blow the roof of any metal heads foundations!


9)Armoured Saint-Symbol Of Salvation: With a sound all their own Armoured Saint's Symbol is classic metal. A powerful example of straight up heavy metal!


10)Dark Angel-Time Does Not Heal: Another thrash release that showed the power of the genre at a time when thrash metal was not in vogue. Dark Angel wasn't flashy but they got the job done.


Honestly this was a hard task. There were some albums that could have been on my list: Releases from Slayer, Tourniquet and Mortification. Also at the time I was listening to a demo by Affliction (USA) that was better than most of what was going on with thrash metal. I would have included it but as it was only a demo I decided to skip it. All in all 1991 was a decent year for metal.




Metal Mark's choices-


One of the main projects I wanted to do when this blog started six years ago was to go back and re-evaluate my top ten albums of the year for the year that was twenty years ago. So I have done that and I asked Andy if he would like to post his list this year too and he agreed. So now you get two views on 1991. This was kind of an odd year. I say that because although 1991 was a good year for a metal we also saw grunge really knock metal/ hard rock out of favor rather quickly. This was a gradual build-up that I think started back around 1989 and grunge had been growing since then, but in 1991 it exploded and popular music trends for the rest of the decade would never be the same. For metal it was a fine year. Lots to choose from. So here are my picks.

1-Armored Saint-Symbol of salvation
Four years since their last studio LP. In between that time Dave Pritchard passed away and they lost their record deal. They bounced back, filled in the band, got signed to Metal Blade and put out the best album of 1991.

2-Prong-Prove you wrong
My favorite metal band of the 1990's even though they broke up like 2/3 of the way through the decade. The follow-up to Beg to differ had more industrial touches, but it was also more adventurous in a lot of ways as well.

3-Overkill-Horrorscope
Darker than some of their previous albums, but it shreds and hammers it's way through. One of their bet albums.

4-Death-Human
I had been following them since their debut, but on this album they really beginning to bring a strong technical element into the death metal sound they had been playing for the previous three outings. The results were spectacular.

5-Sepultura-Arise

Like a wall of sound hitting you in the face. An overwhelming album in many ways.


6-Ozzy-No more tears

Hard to believe that it's been twenty years since the last good Ozzy album. Actually I think this is the third best of solo career coming in after the first two releases.


7-Metal Church-The Human factor
Often overlooked album. It didn't sell all that well, but boy did I play my cassette of it over and over in 1991.

8-Voivod-Angel Rat

I tend to like their first two albums a lot and didn't enjoy them as much when they branched out. Except the quirky nature of this album struck a chord with me.


9-Soundgarden-Badmotorfinger

My favorite Soundgarden album. It's loud, heavy and in your face. This was another one I played to death on my Walkman back then.


10-Morbid Angel-Blessed are the sick

None of their other albums hit me like this one. An intense attack that strikes and never lets up.

***I really liked Motorhead's 1916 and Roll the bones from Rush back in 1991, but neither has aged very well. If I could have picked the best songs off of the Use you illusions, trimmed down the fat and made one album than it would have made my top ten. As it is there is just too much filler on those albums. Honorable mention to Heathen's Victims of deception which just making the list. Biggest disappointments of the year would be C.O.C's mediocre Blind and Helloween's odd Pink bubbles go ape.

Shake City-s/t

Eonian
2009

The Sunset Strip scene was flooded with tons of hopefuls trying to getting a slice of the pie. The realty was that not everyone was going to make it. So numerous bands were left by the wayside. One such act was Shake City. The band has ties to Warrant as Adam Shore fronted that band for a while before being replaced by Jani Lane. In 1986 Shore met guitarist Don E. Sachs and formed Hot Wheelz. The band would soon become Shake City. This line-up included Erik Turner's cousin guitarist Michael Blair and bassist Ray Bailey and drummer Jaycee Cary rounded out the line-up. Over the next few years they managed to play at The Roxy, the Whiskey and the Coconut Teazer plus they ventured outside of the LA area playing in Utah, Florida and Arizona. All of the songs collected here were recorded in 1990 and 1991. Tommy Thayer of Black -n- Blue and Jani Lane and Erik Turner of Warrant all contributed writing to a few of the tracks. The sound is very much like Warrant which to me means they really lacked hooks, life and fire that would have qualified them as a good hard rock band. I don't know if they always sounded like this considering they were around for three years before the earliest of these recordings. Whatever the case the impression I get from this collection of songs was that the band had heard Bon Jovi and Warrant, seen the success those bands had so they set out to try and churn out radio friendly songs in the hopes of getting a record deal. The results were some stale songs, no record deal and they broke up in 1992. The production is fine and as usual Eonian records does a good job with the packaging. A lot of bands and fans may have flocked to the clubs on the Sunset Strip in the 1980's but the truth is that for every good band like Motley Crue or Ratt you had half a dozen pretenders like Shake City trying to make it.

A funny thing happened in my planning of this Lesser of two evils. I originally thought this would be the sophomore releases from Sweet F.A. and Every Mother's Nightmare. I had not heard either in a while and pulled them out for a first listen. Right away I knew that I was correct for including Sweet F.A., but EMN were way better than I remembered. So I felt like I needed to find another band to complete this match-up. I immediately turned to Jag Wire because they have been on my maybe list for this segment for some time. So let's get this one started. It is...



Jag Wire-Made in heaven (1985)

vs.

Sweet F.A.-Temptation (1991)

Vocalist

Art Deresh for Jag Wire takes on Steven David De Long. Both vocalists suffer from attempting to to do parts that they are not up to. However some of Deresh's shortcomings are due to problems with the writing more than just lack of vocal ability. De Long has a few moments, but there are too many songs where he tried to sound beyond his all too limited ability and ends up sounding silly and out of tune. Deresh has an okay voice and handles mid-ranged songs adequately, but he doesn't elevate any of the songs. However he doesn't kill them either.

Point to Jag Wire



Guitarist

Howard Drossi of Jag Wire is up against Jon Huffman and James Lee Thorpe of Sweet F.A. The Sweet F.A. duo sound like they tried very to cram in little bits of G-n-R, Extreme, Bang Tango and Poison into their sound. Unfortunately they didn't have the skill to use or manipulate these parts. Instead they sound messy and incomplete. Jag Wire are as much an AOR band as they are hard rock. Which in this case meant the guitar parts are all to often hidden behind the keyboards So the guitar parts are often minimal, but Drossi keeps it going okay. More importantly he hits a couple of solos that are not only solid, but actually wind up saving the songs .

Point to Jag Wire



Rhythm section

For Jag Wire it is Joey Cristofanilli on bass and Carl Elizondo on drums and they are going against Frank Coglitore on bass (actually listed as an additional musician) and drummer Tricky Lane. I had to listen to both albums a second time to figure out this category. The Jag Wire guys are okay, but hidden in the mix and all too content just churn out the the most basic parts they can. The Sweet F.A. guys follow the same approach. The only difference is that the production helps Tricky Lane's drums sound to stand out a little.

Point to Sweet F.A.





Originality/production

Considering the rotten band names that these guys picked I knew right away that neither group could help themselves much in the originality department. Jag Wire sound like they enjoyed late 70's hard rock and early 80's AOR. Unfortunately this was the mid-80's and they had very few ideas of their own. Which means they sounded like copycats and they were slightly behind the times. Sweet F.A. fared even worse because they sound like a jumble of other band's ideas. This made them sound poor and difficult to take. Sweet F.A. definitely had stronger production although Jag Wire's production was average. I can deal with run of the mill production more than I can a haphazard musical approach.

Point to Jag Wire



Who rocks more?

Jag Wire tend to be not so bad rather than doing anything positive on a consistent basis. That doesn't make for a good album though. However their biggest shortcoming was that they just didn't push hard enough to really capture any one's attention. They try to slide by, but they do manage a degree of tightness and their guitarist had a few good bursts up his sleeves. Sweet F.A. sounded like they thought they could win people over by being a second rate version of bands that had succeeded in hard rock at the time. Unfortunately it sounds more like it came from a third rate band and no one bothered to listen to the final product before releasing it. If they had bothered to hear it then they would have sent it back and told these guys to tighten it up a lot and put some of their own ideas in.

Point to Jag Wire



Jag Wire take it fairly easily to a tune of 4-1. They may had one of the absolute worst band names all time, but they didn't have the worst album. Jag Wire came out sounding a little better than I thought and Sweet F.A. were even worse. Jag Wire may have actually helped their case by only doing eight songs while Sweet F.A. tested my patience by doing 13 tracks.



***I'll have another one of these out next month.

Here is another post that is about Jag Wire.
http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2008/05/jaguar-jag-wire.html

Acid Drinkers-Dirty Money, Dirty Tricks

Metal Mind
1991/2009



Poland's Acid Drinkers were back for their sophomore effort in 1991. Now I wouldn't go as far to say that they had mellowed since their debut, but they were overall less chaotic this time around. The Dead Kennedy's influence is perhaps even greater this time around. These guys were still rooted in thrash as well, say similar to Anthrax. However none of that quite does justice to the gung-ho direction of Acid Drinkers. They take metal, punk, hard rock and stir it all up in the pot and then pull just various elements from their arsenal as they see fit. Having that kind of take on their music allows for it to be both surprising and exciting. At a time when many metal bands were becoming all too predictable, these guys seem to have more than their share of ideas and they were not afraid to use them. They also benefit from not caring much about labels or sticking to one style. They pretty much just did what they wanted to. Obviously they had more varied influences than some of their peers, but these guys knew how to pull it off as well. Pulling off this style isn't something that everyone could do. This kind of insanity has to have a flow to it to really work, but apparently this band had the kind of skill and personality to make it look easy. This disc didn't have quite the spontaneous feel of the debut. It's close, but the debut just had more pace and style changes. Still this is another fine chapter in their career of this long running band. The re-issue includes a lyric booklet and a live version of "Street Rockin" from 1996 as a bonus track.

Dragon-Scream of death

Metal Mind
1991/2008 Re-issue

Dragon’s third release has every song being about some element of a future apocalyptic world. The lyrics are about dying and suffering is far more alive on their previous album “Fallen Angel”. The speed comes in spurts mostly be intermingled with mid-tempo parts that are even heavier. Additionally they seemed a little more confident in adding short musical bursts incorporating slightly offbeat sounding parts. More than anything the playing here is easily tighter than on the previous album plus on this album seemed to know exactly what direction they wanted to go in. However they likely traded speed and raw aggression for a far more creative and interesting sound. For 1991 they were really reaching out a bit in their attempt to try and include different sounds. The vocals are more typical of death metal of the early 1990’s but far better and more consistent than on the previous album. It’s produced by the same person that did “Fallen Angel” yet this album has a much richer sound. The rhythm section really stands out here with the steady changes and the sound of the guitar is overall solid. There are a few times where it seems a little dry and dull, they normally would shortly pick up and move along after that. Yet it seems like some parts could have been speeded up a little more to make the songs more concise. Still this was a fine effort that saw a great of progress taking place in just one year’s time. As with the “Fallen Angel” re-issue Metal Mind have included bonus tracks and a lyric booklet with a band history and pictures.

Slaughter-Not dead yet/Paranormal

Metal Mind
1988/1990/2008

First the brief history lesson, Canadian thrash/death metal outift Slaughter recorded the Paranomal EP in 1988. Then the band changed some members and their name as they became Strappado. As Strappado they released "Not dead yet" in 1991 so this release includes both those albums plus four live tracks recorded in the 1980's. The "Not dead yet" material comes first on this release and it's rather typical although semi-satisfying thrash. The guitar is a little muddy in the mix and the complexity and fire are adequate yet nothing that's going to bowl you over. For 1991 it's even a little behind the times I would say due to some rather one dimensional thrash parts. The Paranormal EP is slightly better with a bit more steam behind them a stronger and richer production. Both albums are decent, but both fail to really pick up on the sound that this band established on their 1986 debut "Strappado". It's as if they became more basic and less aggressive at they went along which makes no sense to me. They also started as an early death metal band and were ahead of the game by mid-80's standards. Yet by 1991 they were playing rather standard and even slightly dated thrash. Perhaps they dumbed down the style in hopes of getting a better record deal during while thrash still had some following. I am not sure of the reason behind the change, but it was slightly disappointing. This version also includes four live tracks that are good, but the sound is somewhat fuzzy. A decent package for sure, but it's shame these guys didn't follow what they are started on their debut.