I originally intended to do this match-up some two years ago, but either I found bands that were worse or I grabbed bad CDs that were easier for me to get at. However the stars alligned, I found the CDs and I got my strength up to try and tackle these. So it is...


Slaughter-Stick it to ya

vs.


White Lion-Big Game

In the late 80's/early 90's for every good band like G-n-R, Skid Row and Faster Pussycat you had three or four bands like these. Now these two acts were better than some others, but they still checked their souls at the door and churned out some lifeless slop. Remember for a short period of time when Hit Parader was trying to tout Mike Tramp and Vito Bratta as the next Diamond Dave and Eddie Van Halen? That sure was a stretch. Slaughter seemed to come out of nowhere to all of a sudden being played regularly on the radio much to the dismay of unsuspecting ears. Since I have waited two years to get at these bands lets go ahead and have at them.


Vocals
Mark Slaughter is up for his band taking on White Lion frontman and major league hair farmer Mike Tramp. Mark Slaughter ranges between sounding like Brian Johnson with a sore throat and a screeching cat. He tries and does keep in pace with the music, but he doesn't much range at all. Mike Tramp has a better range, but he tends to be drippy and lacks any real emotion. I guess he was too busy swinging his hair around and trying to maintain a certain look. Neither is much good as individuals and they don't help their bands a lot, but Mark Slaughter's effort is more evident so...
Point to Slaughter

Guitars
Tim Kelly and Mark Slaughter are up for their band taking on White Lion's Vito Bratta. Tim Kelly and Mark Slaughter have an okay tone, but what they play is rather standard. The hit on a few moments, but never take many chances as all. Vito Bratta was frequently pushed by the fluffy magazines of the day as some kind of up and coming guitar hero. Now don't get me wrong he could hit some flash, but normally it was few and far between plus the rhythms only varied from fair to forgettable. He had some playing skills, but without good writing to back it up the sparkling solos don't mean much. Except in this case a few brief moments will be enough to earn his band a point.
Point to White Lion

Rhythm section
For Slaughter it is Dana Strum on bass and Blas Elias on drums vs. James Lomenzo on bass and Greg D'Angelo on drums. As with 98% of the hard rock bands of the time we really don't hear much of the bass so it's hard to judge those two guys. For drums both guys get some help from alright production. Overall both guys are all too happy to plunk, plunk, plunk along like a couple of mindless monkeys providing barely useful beats and they stay well in the background. Still one drummer shows a little more rhythm.
Point to White Lion

Originality/Production
By 89-90 the swarms of faceless, lackluster hard rock bands were taking over the airwaves with their sickening power ballads and warmed over, limp attempts at rockin. These two bands very much fit that mold as they just hoped to hold on make a few bucks. Originality doesn't come into for either album. The production is alright on both as everything is fairly loud, but somewhat too smooth on White Lion's disc. Depsite hearing Marc Slaughter's wretched voice too clearly the production still manages to add a slight sting overall to their band's album
Point to Slaughter.

Who rocks more?
Once again it's category where I have to dig down deep to find a winner. In this case effort goes a long ways and Slaughter were the one who seemed to be trying harder to at least briefly appear to be pretending to be some sort of rock band. White Lion had trouble even pulling off a whole song wihtout collapsing into some kind syrupy mess or just being painfully dull. Slaughter were predictable, but there was some genuine effort there although in small doses.
Point to Slaughter

Slaughter win a battle of two of the many bands who didn't deserve a major label deal. Still they showed enough sparks to pull it off even though as players them may have been the less talented band. Good thing album covers wasn't a category because White Lion would have really been slaughtered. Hahaha, get it? Slaughtered-Slaughter? Oh, never mind.

***I am going to go rest my ears up for the next one. Be back soon.

Unfortunately named

While writing about Canada's Slaughter the other day I began thinking about how they had to watch a hair band with the same name get some popularity and inevitabley cause some confusion. Now Canada's Slaughter were actually going by Strappada by the time the hair band released their debut. However they still probably had some confusion and may have even gotten teased. Another band in a similar situation is the far more obscure Warrant from Germany who knocked out an EP called First Strike and an LP The Enforcer both in the mid-1980's. I have never heard this band, but have heard them described as an early speed metal band. Now granted the German band released their albums several years before the hair band, but this could cause confusion even today. Somehow I envision a member of the German Warrant now in his late 40's browsing in a local record store. He sees a young metalhead wearing a Kreator shirt and can't help but try to talk about his past. Perhaps the conversation would go something like this.

Warrant Guy: Cool shirt.
Metal Dude: Thanks

Warrant Guy: I used to be in a metal band.
Metal Dude: Really, which one?

Warrant Guy: Warrant
Metal Dude: EWWWWW

Warrant Guy: No, no, not that Warrant.
Metal Dude: I think I am ready to leave.

Warrant Guy: I was in Warrant the metal band!
Metal Dude: Uh, yeah, Cherry Pie, real thrashin' stuff, Grandpa.

Warrant Guy: No, wait, come back I really was in a cool band!
Metal Dude: Get, away from me you nut. Why don't you go where the Down Boys go and stay there! (as he heads towards the exit)

***See how much trouble this could cause?

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.

Slaughter-Strappado

Metal Mind
1986/2008



Every mention of this band over the last 17 years has to include "no, not the hair metal band of slight early1990's fame". Instead these guys were from Canada and played a rather early style of death metal that was influenced by the likes of Venom and Celtic Frost. Unlike other early death bands like Death and Possessed, Slaughter (at least at this point) were as much about heaviness as they were about speed. Strappado has some thick, killer riffs that grind forward and it's easy to see why this band had a bit of a cult following. With all the bands trying to blaze forward, Slaughter stood out a little because their direction was far more creating a pounding sound that you would not just hear but feel in your bones. The vocals are even less of a typical thrash style, but actually there is a slight hardcore influence as well rather than the standard growling of most early death metal singers. A few songs sound a little bit alike yet that's not all that important compared to the relatively fierce sound they churned with ease on this underground classic. This re-issue also includes an entire live show that sounds like the band is playing to maybe a dozen people in a basement somewhere on a Tuesday night. The quality of the live recording is extremely raw even by 80's standards yet their style and agrressiveness shine past their primitive sound and off the cuff banter with the crowd. It may not have seemed like an essential release in 1986 amidst all of the typical thrash of the times, but Strappado holds up well and there's no doubt it was influential on death metal bands over the next half decade or so.