stars on thrash full (album) Checking out the Vinyl #2

 And so day two of me going through the old vinyl and this time I thought I would focus on a THRASH METAL compilation I have,It's one of a few I picked up a pound box at a record fayre in Wellington alongside this I picked up volumes 1-3 of the Speed Kills compilations which maybe more of in the future...anyhow....

This album regularly features in polls for worst album covers and the like and in fairness the cover is an atrocity,It seems to be a kind of school book sketch which as a early teen attempt at catching a scene would maybe have some merit but as the frontpiece of a commercial release its really rather poor...The Guitarist on the left(Who seems to have inherited the Great Kat's Guitar) in particular seems to be so bent out of shape I suspect the dry ice had blocked the sun and given him rickets....

Anyhow what's the music like?...well here's the track listing first(all in good time)



 Flotsam & Jetsam - Dreams of Death 00:00 Mucky Pup - Lie 4 Def 5:30 D.R.I. - Manifest Destiny 7:22 Pestilence - Commandments 9:57 Toxik - Heart Attack 15:03 Paradox - Paradox 18:44 Stormtroopers of Death - Kill Yourself 22:50 Acrophet - Corrupt Minds 24:45 Gothic Slam - Fought for Death 26:54 Slayer - Evil has no Boundaries (Live)30:41 Sacred Reich - Death Squad 33:32 Znowhite - Baptised by Fire 37:47 Kat - Satan Says 41:38 Atrophy - Chemical Dependency 45:32 Hades - Opionioate! 48:26



I borrowed the above from the youtube comment to save me some time so some credit lies there,Musically the early Thrash stuff to me seems less Metal and More Punk,Sure it has the long Hair and some of the aspects of metal and the sound though distorted is cleaner that the street punk it seemed to  be partially an offshoot from but I think some of the sonic changes is down to better recording techniques...I think that is why lots of the old Punk bands(The Exploited and the like) and even the young breed can't recapture the rawness of the past, Where the pistols to record their debut today I suspect though it would still be punk the cleanness of the recording and fixing of bits would make for a different sound..In fairness this album is still old enough to provide some rawness and power.

Of note is Ex Metallica Bassist Jason Newstead's early band are represented on here with Foltsam and Jetsam being the band in question, Other points of interest are Anthrax spin-off S.O.D.(stormtroopers of death who released the controversial 'Speak English or die' L.P) being represented and of the big four Slayer also make an appearance

Znowhite are of intertest too due to them being fronted by a Female singer..in the days of Arch Enemy this is less a big thing but the early days of Thrash seemed a male preserve so this is kind of trailblazing.

Female Input is also shown with the inclusion of self professed virtuoso the Great Kat who released the Classical/Speed Metal Crossover L.P. 'Beethoven on Speed' mixing the genres whilst performing scantily clad...Crazy days.

In honesty it's an O.K. album and does collect material from the early days of a scene,Thrash was a reaction against the pop metal that was clogging the charts in the mid to late eighties and although it didn't have the power to clear the boards the way grunge did later it did offer some bands who have since stuck around such as aforementioned Slayer,Anthrax and Metallica as well as creating a sub genre of extreme metal which is now made up of a myriad of other sub genres.

For a while Thrash was hip mixing Skateboarding style with Hardcore sounds, The Thrash/Hip Hop crossover was sealed by the Anthrax/Public Enemy collaborations plus Slayer's Kerry king offering Guitar on the Beastie Boys debut..the fact the hip american label of the time Def Jam was essentially a Rock and Rap label certainly helped with this.

Like most scenes it burnt bright for a while and did offer an alternative to the more sedate 'Desmond Child' co-written Metal clogging the charts, The L.A. hair metal scene which offered some pop sensibilities within a metal frame work whilst retaining a bar room feel would however overtake it and gain the true metal foothold for at least a few years.

All in all this isn't a bad compilation despite the godawful cover hence I have kept hold of it, I listen to it less these days as it hasn't dated too well but if I'm needing an injection of good solid hardcore metal tunes whilst ironing....this can fit the bill...