Lewd Preacher-The Raw Age

Karthago Records
2014

Just one of two recently-released CDs plucked from the expansive catalog of Karthago Records, with the other one being Adrian's lone/cult 1987 LP, "One Step Into The Unknown" (review coming shortly on that one as well), "The Raw Age" is a compilation CD from Marburg, Hesse-based Lewd Preacher. Released as part of the label's Heavy Metal Demo Classics, "The Raw Age" is a collection of Lewd Preacher's two late-nineteen ninety something demos combined in an Exclusive CD Edition that is numbered (limited to only 500 copies), coming with a certificate of authenticity. My copy is number 96 of 500 which means that there are still plenty of copies of "The Raw Age" yet to be acquired by fans and collectors alike. That observation comes across as both surprising (once you've heard this heavy metal/speed metal band for yourself you'll understand why) and encouraging (for those who read this review and hopefully are inspired to pick up this gem!) depending upon whether you've had a chance to hear this cult German metal act for yourself or not! Bio-wise it all might sound like a familiar story when it comes to this short-lived cult collective with the (likely) eyebrow raising name. It's 1985 and teenagers from two separate though equal (as in they both played hard rock) Marburg school bands (Cassiopeia featuring vocalist Tammo Holzhausen & guitarist Christoph Kirsch Stein and Confuse Productions featuring bass guitarist Frank Becker, keyboardist Wolfgang Cloos and drummer Marc Laukel) join forces and (inspired by the N.W.O.B.H.M. and U.S. metal movements and the evolving German and American speed and thrash metal scene) decide that it's about time that they two go forth and spread a little heavy metal mayhem of their own. In doing so Lewd Preacher gave heavy metal fanatics something new and bold to throw their horns at! And it's all been gloriously assembled here in this excellent, well-deserved and (thankfully) digitally remastered offering! And what an offering it is! Especially for those who worship at the almighty alter of dark and mysterious German heavy metal! Lewd Preacher first came into their own with the releases of the 1988 demo tape "The Master Socks the Fuse". Stacked with the tracks "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", "Wings of Evil", "Knights of Unknown Destiny" and "A Cry in the Night" this eighties' cassette demo should have shook the scene at the time! Of these four tracks it's all for one and one for all (aka: there's no dubs to be found among the bunch as these musicians seeming gave a 100% of their effort into putting out a cult metal classic! ) and if forced to pick one demo over another I'd reluctantly choose this one. And I do say reluctantly as both demos have a crap-load of goodies going for them! The only slight difference being the overall catchy nature of  "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", "Wings of Evil" and "Knights of Unknown Destiny" on demo number one. That said it's probably best that we expand upon Lewd Preacher's sound right? Or at least try to relay what it is about Lewd Preacher that really makes them kick. Seeing as heavy metal/speed metal is kind of a generic description and all!

First thing first. And that would be speed metal and thrash. Bands like Metallica and Megadeth (maybe even the dark appeal of Slayer?) come to the forefront, but that's merely a thin coating upon which Lewd Preacher was able to paint their own portrait. Past that Lewd Preacher (complete line-up featured below) was obviously influenced by the German metal scene in the eighties as they were smack dab in the midst of it! Listen closely and you can pick up on the likes of Gravestone, Stormwitch, Cutty Sark, Iron Angel, S.D.I., Grave Digger, The Hand Of Doom, Living Death, Scanner and Wallop. Oh, and dare we say Bloody Climax? How about Black Fate? Yes, those two cult outfits can be heard knocking around in this band's delightfully devious music meaning there's that much more to love about a band like this one! Quite the list right? The thing is there is so much more about this German band and their music. I'd also suggest that Lewd Preacher's music derives as much from  French acts like ADX, Blaspheme, High Power, Voie De Fait, Demon Eyes, Der Kaiser, H-Bomb, Killers, Satan Jokers, Sortilege, Vulcain and Warning. And then there is the whole N.W.O.B.H.M. influences like Satan, Hell, Demon, Cloven Hoof, Dark Star, Holocaust, Incubus, Rankelson, Shiva and Bleak House as well as anything/everything from solo Ozzy to Merciful Fate! To that mix we add in some Iron Maiden and a little Judas Priest and (trust me here as it works!) some Hawkwind and Uriah Heap! Now we're talking! Or are we? For the wicked thing about Lewd Preacher is how there's all of these different elements going on (fuzzy bass, kitsch keyboards, classic rock guitars and raw, almost-punk at times, vocal lines) within a band that is distinctly heavy. And that's just on the band's first demo! We're looking at a band that might just have been ahead of the times (weird keyboard effects over-top of thrash-worthy heavy metal?) and, judging by their own words in the CDs included interview, it might just have been that fact that proved to be their downfall!  Here was a band that was every bit progressive in nature and with all of these different musicians giving their own input and drawing upon their own tastes it's likely that it all proved to be too volatile! Thankfully they provided the word with two demos and (from the sounds of it) are once more active! But anyway, back to this release (one which features a total run-time of 59:48 and comes with a detailed booklet, colored tray and numbered certificate with hologram!) and on demo number two (1989's "The Fuse Strikes Back") Stefan Boßhammer came on board as vocalist with the result taking the form of  such creative numbers as "Hands From Me", "Borderline", "Sands of Secrets" and "The Other Side". And while I might just prefer the band's first demo, 1989's "The Fuse Strikes Back" has some killer moments all it's own! Can you say epic metal anyone?
Try "Sands of Secrets" which runs over 11 minutes long! This well-crafted number has such a remarkable flow to it that not once do you ever get the temptation to hit next on the CD! That says A LOT about Lewd Preacher and their talents as well as their ability to work so many different genres into one track! Meanwhile both "Hands From Me" and "Borderline" have slowly grown on me (I've listed to this album now about seven times since I pulled it out of my mailbox last week!) and album closer "The Other Side" wraps up what is without a shadow of a doubt one of those most unexpected surprises of the year! The body of this whole CD is remarkable as collective all eight tracks offer interesting twists and turns. Keyboard passages seemingly take their inspiration from 80's horror films like "Hellraiser" and "A Nightmare On Elm Street" as much as progressive rock bands of the seventies while the guitar solos often times switch from heavy rock to speed/thrash in the flash of an eye! Lewd Preacher simply had the right musicians in place for heavy metal like this to work. It's true that the catchy nature of  tracks like "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and "Knight Of Unknown Destiny" make it seem as if Lewd Preacher should have provided the metal community of the late eighties with one more great act. And yet there's something about this release the feels dangerous as if Lewd Preacher were really meant to be a well-hidden secret after all. One that was kept from prying eyes for a reason. God knows if any of that makes sense, but then again anything having to do with logic gets kicked right out of the front door when you find yourself rocking out to a band that merges heavy metal/thrash with odd things like 70's fuzz, keyboards which are arranged as if they are almost Calypso-like (credit the skills of Wolfgang Cloos throughout "The Raw Age"!) and classic rock guitar parts that sound as if they could have been torn right from the front pages of Rolling Stones Magazine circa the early eighties! In other words this is about the sweetest underground German metal band that I've EVER had the pleasure of reviewing and I wish that I could personal give EVERYONE who digs super creative heavy metal a sealed copy of this wonderful discovery!   Lewd Preacher's line up on these two demos was: Vocals (The Master Socks the Fuse) - Tammo Holzhause Vocals (The Fuse Strikes Back) - Stefan Boßhammer Guitars - Christoph Kirschstein Guitars - Matthias Koch-Schirrmeister Keyboards - Wolfgang Cloos Bass - Frank Becker Drums - Marc Laukel

Ministers of Anger-Renaissance

Divebomb Records
2013

Serving as another entry in Divebomb Records' first (so far so good) Bootcamp Series (number 5 of 5 to be exact!) "Renaissance" is a compilation of previously-released material from  L.A.'s (sadly defunct) Ministers of Anger. Along with "Renaissance", which was originally released back in 1990 (on cassette tape no less!) this collection includes the band's 1988 demo as well as a demo from 1991. Now, as to the who and what of this cult band (as we've already discussed the where and when) the line-up includes none other than guitarist/vocalist Dave Clemmons of Damn the Machine fame! Along with (well-traveled) drummer Dave McClain (Machine Head, ex-Catalepsy, ex-Murdercar, ex-Narita, ex-S.A. Slayer, ex-Sacred Reich, ex-Juggernaut, ex-Mark Reale Project, ex-Turbin, ex-Tyrant) and engineer Joe Floyd (Warrior) Clemmons (who not only handled lead vocals and guitars for Ministers of Anger, but also took care of bass duties!) first released a demo in 1988. Although those three tracks, "Guns of War", "Sticks & Stones" and "The Governor" (no, not about The walking Dead character!) do border on thrash they are more in line with what was happening around that time as far as the U.S. power metal scene is concerned. Offering up a slightly-raw take on heavy power metal not unlike bands like Metal Church and Armored Saint the demo, while not that well-received at the time, did in fact point out what was to be in store for the 1990 release of "Renaissance". Even though both demos were recorded around the same time with Joe Floyd's help the (originally) eight-track "Renaissance" showcases a much more technical-inclined/progressive thrash metal band. Falling somewhere between (Kentucky-based) Lethal, Anacrusis and Watchtower (with some early Flotsam and Jetsam thrown in for good measure!) "Renaissance" showcased a band that was probably a little ahead of the times, but most certainly destined for greater things! So, what happened? Well, we do know that the group released another demo in 1991. With the tracks from said demo ("We The People", "Wake To The Flames" and "Man Vs. Man") closing out this collection (which is really a must if you are into technical thrash!) the band seemed poised to make it. For whatever reason though it just didn't happen and as David Clemmons would go on to hook up with Mark and Chris Poland that ended any chance of Ministers of Anger achieving (well-deserved) recognition for their highly skilled technical thrash. That is until now! Thanks to Divebomb Records and this limited-edition collection Ministers of Anger gets another shoot at glory. While we'll never known just how far this group could have gone (my guess would be that had Damn The Machine not come along Ministers of Anger could have easily made a dent in the technical thrash scene even if their timing was off*) at least we have this collection available as a reminder that there is no shortage of great releases from the eighties and even nineties still waiting to be rediscovered by a whole new generation of heavy metal fans!

*Remember that in 1991 "Nevermind" had changed the face of music for better (it killed off a lot of the horrible glam and hair metal bands of the day) or worse (sadly it also killed off far too many good heavy metal acts as well).

Wargasm-Satan Stole My Lunch Money (Deluxe Expanded Edition)

YAAG
2013

Back in 1988 Boston, Massachusetts-based trio Wargasm, which was made up of bassist/vocalist Bob Mayo and (twin?) brothers Barry & Rich Spillberg (drums and guitar respectively), made the scene thanks to one sensational slab of thrash metal goodness. With the 25th anniversary of that album, which for the uniformed amongst you was Wargasm's classic debut album "Why Play Around?", now staring us in the face it would be nice to get a well-deserved deluxe copy of said album on CD right? Well, unfortunately the rights to the said album remain in some sort of limbo so the band did the next best thing and ended up gathering  all of their mid-eighties demos ("Satan Stole My Lunch Money," "Your Dog's Teeth," "Gasm It," and "Spirit In Decay.") for this 11 track (digital-only) release. On "Satan Stole My Lunch Money (Deluxe Expanded Edition)" you're treated to the same kind (wonderful) crushing thrash metal that was on display the group's killer full-length debut "Why Play Around?". As I have "Why Play Around?" on vinyl I can confidently say that if you dug that album as much as I do then you will love this collection! Amazing as it may sound the material on "Satan Stole My Lunch Money (Deluxe Expanded Edition)" still comes across as fresh which is really something when you stop and consider the fact that these 11 tracks were taken directly from original cassette demos which, believe it or not kiddos, were 20-25 years old! Crazy right? And yet all it takes is one listen for yourself and you'll hear what I'm talking about. Even after all this time the 11 tracks here showcase a band that should have been bigger. This is classic (read: TIMELESS!!!!!) thrash metal from a trio of musicians who embraced the music of the time and pulled off no stops in order to give their fans real metal! Even if it's a bummer that "Why Play Around?" will probably never get it's proper treatment (which is really stupid as it would be a GUARANTEED hot seller as a deluxe CD re-release!) this collection is a real treat for fans of this legendary Boston thrash act. This great collection of demos (which sound more like professional studio recordings) is available on iTunes and is obviously a must for Wargasm fans as well as those of you who out there (both young and old) who appreciate the glory of old-school thrash metal!