Early Man-Death Potion

The End
2010

As with their previous albums Early Man still sound like it's 1985. Think back to the early days of thrash when the riffs were raw the production was thin, but the energy and the enthusiasm were high. This is where Early Man's approach stems from. They have obviously spent a lot of time sitting around a basement, garage or whatever listening to the early efforts of Metallica, Exodus, Megadeth, Overkill and others. That's exactly how they sound. On some songs they shine and bring the power of early thrash with them. On other songs they sound rather pedestrian and just seem to be going through the motions. For the most part they do enough to make fans of old style trash appreciate them. However the big down side for me is they accomplished that several years ago. I don't feel that they have moved ahead or even tried to move beyond where they were a few years ago. What they are doing is good, but other than playing this disc a few times for review purposes am I really going to return to "Death Potion" this year if I want to hear thrash? Likely not because although good they are sure not one of the best playing retro thrash or old style metal today. This is a good album, but they never really push to get beyond sounding like a merely decent band from 25 years ago.

Early Man-Beware the circling fin

The END
2008

Early Man tap into the beginning days of thrash oh circa 1983-1985. They remind me of early Metallica and Anthrax with a few NWOBHM influences shining through at times as well. Back when thrash was first being developed NWOBHM was a very big influence as bands like Raven and Venom were once thought of us speed metal in the early days. At the same point acts like Metallica, Slayer, Exciter and others were taking what acts like Iron Maiden, Raven, Venom and others had done and sped it up and added thickness and more aggressive vocals. Why the history lesson? Well, these young guys from Early Man have managed to tap into a sound that I think a lot of the retro thrash bands of today have missed out on. That's the fact that solid, classic metal like NWOBHM that was really at the core of early thrash. I think a number of young thrash bands shoot for a late 1980's style and are content to just pump away and try to pretend it's 1988 and sometimes they just come off as a poor copy and they oftentimes lack spirit or soul. Early Man are not doing anything new, but they have a grasp on the raw root of this style and they pick it up, dust it off and parade it around in all it's glory. The four tracks here bring you focus into the hooks and the changes instead of just trying to soar off. Okay, the vocals need a Sure, it's twenty plus years after the fact yet it's still entertaining and they milk it for all it's worth.

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