Exodus - Bonded by Blood LP

Label: Century Media/Combat; Year: 2022; Format: Gatefold Vinyl LP

Every music genre has defining records on offer and when it comes to Thrash Metal then "Bonded by Blood" by Bay Area Thrashers Exodus is one of them, and in my opinion probably the album that defines Thrash Metal at its best. If someone out there without any idea about Thrash Metal asked me to describe the genre I would simply suggest to put this record on as it is without exaggeration a masterpiece from the second the needle drops. It is almost needless to say that at one point I did own an early pressing of this album but as it goes I got rid off it in my haze believing that I would never feel the need to listen to Metal ever again. How wrong I was all those decades ago as quite a few of those albums that I sold or traded for next to nothing are collector items and hard to get these days. Well, let me not bother you for too long with my so called dilemmas as thankfully there are reissues and so I am again an owner of this album and this time it will stay with me until I drop dead I suppose. The other night I watched "Murder in the Front Row" again, a powerful and insightful documentary about the early days of Bay Area Thrash Metal. Exodus played a huge role in the development of a scene that started out around a record store where Metal Heads would meet to buy and exchange the latest imports from around the world. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal with bands like Motorhead, Iron Maiden, UFO or Saxon were the primary influence for a lot of the kids in the Bay Area and it wasn't long before bands like Venom or Discharge started to make the rounds in tape trading circles signaling a change in Metal towards a faster, more direct and more brutal sound influenced by NWOBHM and Hardcore Punk alike. I nearly laughed my head off when Gary Holt and co. were describing the scenes at Ruthie's Inn where Exodus and especially their singer Paul Baloff (RIP) would encourage to rip people's Hair Metal shirts off their bodies as to signal that only real Metal was accepted and posers were not welcomed. It brought back memories of my own youth and my buddies in Suburban Zurich, Switzerland. We acted so tough and evil without being evil and made fun of posers ourself, but to be fair we didn't advocate for any harsher actions. Speaking of Ruthie's Inn I recall reading about the club some time ago and thought it was fascinating to learn that the former owner Wesley Robinson (RIP) was an original jazzer who just happened to have an extremely open mind, a big heart and definitely a lot of patience by having opened the doors to a scene that was young, loud and obnoxious but generally speaking good natured. Back in the Mid-80s when I started to get into more extreme music "Bonded by Blood" had far more appeal to me than say the Sex Pistols or the Clash. My friends and I were looking for bands that could shock, would piss off our parents and stood apart from everything else. Exodus was one of those bands and it speaks volumes if an album can still live up to the hype nearly forty years after its original release. When I sat down to listen to the album tonight I felt pretty much the same excitement as all those years back and the nine songs were over with in no time. My favorite tracks have always been 'Bonded by Blood', 'Metal Command' and 'Piranha' but there really are no fillers on this album and in 2023 I can probably proclaim that I love this album even more than I ever had. Play loud and go wild!

Sheer Terror - Old, New, Borrowed and Blue 10"

Label: Blackout! Records; Year: 1994; Format: 10" Vinyl EP

Sheer Terror is one of those bands that in many ways bypassed me throughout the decades. I never dismissed their existence but for some reasons they never grabbed my attention as much as they probably deserved to. A few days ago I listened to a recent podcast interview with Paul Bearer (link at the end of this post) and I must say I not only had a good laugh but also learned a bit about the band's history which I always find fascinating. That was reason enough to pull out my only Sheer Terror record this morning and play it loud while exercising my arthritis knees to the mean beats blasting out of the speakers. What a shame that so many of these records have become so expensive if you want them on vinyl as this little 10 inch containing four songs is definitely well worth tracking down. What I probably like the most about it is that no song sounds like the other one and the three Sheer Terror originals deliver everything people expect of the band. While the typical brutal and mostly fast "Walls" is probably my favorite song on the record, the other two are equally great but slower, darker and heavier. Last but not least the record also contains a great cover version of the Saints' hit "Everything's Fine". Well, this leads me to the conclusion that at least when it comes to their old material I hope to find some more of it out there in the wild. 

Update August 1,  2023: Blackout! Records has reissued the 10" as of last week. 

Link to the Post-America Podcast with Paul Bearer

https://soundcloud.com/the-post-america-podcast/160-paul-bearer

Deranged - Place Of Torment 12"

Label: Supreme Echo; Year: 2021; Format: 45RPM 12" Vinyl

Lately I've again opened my eyes and ears to Thrash Metal or Extreme Metal from the '80s after having ignored those genres for decades. Back in 85/86 like many bored teenagers stuck in suburban boredom I adored bands like Exodus, Possessed, Venom et al. but once my interest turned towards hardcore punk I lost interest in Metal all together and never looked back again. The other day I paid a visit to my favorite local underground record store and the nice proprietor behind the counter played Canada's Deranged while I was flipping through the racks filled with punk and hardcore records. Initially I wasn't too impressed but on my next visit to the store I asked for a copy as the songs kind of got stuck in my brain whether I liked it or not. Deranged hailed from Victoria, BC on Canada's West Coast and released two Demos in '88 and '89 respectively. "Place of Torment" was the second demo and now sees the light again in the form of this 12". The four songs have been remixed and mastered to the highest standard possible from the original demo and they sound absolutely bombastic as I for one would not have guessed that they were taken from a demo tape, which speaks for the band and their ambitions back in the day. As to be expected with releases from Supreme Echo much love has been poured into this release and a nice thick booklet containing an interview with the band members and old photos is included with this killer release. The songs themselves are quality Thrash/Death metal numbers reminiscent of acts like Kreator, Death or Sadus to name a few. I am no expert when it comes to '80s extreme metal but still have a good recollection of bands when I was into this sort of stuff all those decades back and highly recommend this release if no frills metal is your thing. 

Poison Idea - War All The Time LP

Label: Alchemy Records; Year: 1987; Format: Vinyl LP

To all the losers out there in the gaping world of the intranet I would like to send out a heartfelt apology for not introducing Poison Idea earlier to this little blog of mine. Your cries have been heard and "War All The Time" was after all my introduction to one of my all time faves back when this LP was released in 1987. Somehow - and I am not sure I am in the minority with my feelings here - it seems that this LP positioned between the two classics "Kings Of Punk" from '86 and "Feel The Darkness" from '90 is not getting the much deserved recognition and admiration in my honest opinion. Call it a great hardcore punk record, or one of the best crossover records ever made, both would be fitting descriptions as this LP hits the nail from the second the needle is dropped. With the introduction of Eric "The Vegetable" Olson of Portland Speed Metal band Mayhem on second guitar and Steve Hanford aka Thee Slayer Hippy on drums   naturally the band's sound moved in a more metallic direction but it has to be said that Poison Idea mastered the fusion of mean old school hardcore punk and Heavy Metal to perfection. Name me one band that would record a cover of the Hawkwind and Motorhead classic "Motorhead" and actually turn it into a version superior to the original. The rest of this rather short but on every level intense LP includes masterpieces when it comes to nihilistic song writing with the title of the LP being informed by Charles Bukowski's '80s collection of poems by the same name. I'll keep it short and encourage all of you out there to grab your copy and crank it up loud and should you not own one yet remember it's never too late. War All The Time!

Bathory - The Return......LP

 

Label: Under One Flag; Year: 1987; Format: Vinyl LP

So, what does one do on Labour Day? If I were to still reside near the Ocean maybe my wife and I would head to the beach but in rainy Buffalo (and we needed the rain!) today felt like the perfect day to grab Bathory's "The Return..." LP for a rare spin. I have hinted in yesterday's post that I shall review this record next as I had bought it around the same time as the Offenders "Endless Struggle" LP. Since this particular UK license version of Bathory's second LP came out in the spring of 1987 my memory did not disappoint me. It was a time when I definitely have already bought a few hardcore punk releases and had my share of stuff on tapes as well but here and there I still shelled out some money for a Metal release, something that didn't last all that much longer thereafter. I really can't remember how I discovered Bathory but friends of mine and I did have access to some fanzines and magazines hence I must have come across them somewhere. Today marks the first time in decades that I sat down to listen to this LP and judging by the crackles on the record I must have played it quite a bit all those years back. Then again I had friends whom I used to exchange records with to put them on tape who practically flipped their records while eating their breakfast. What's there to be said about Bathory though? The name was taken from the noble Hungarian family Bathory and their serial killer Countess, and the band started out in 1983. I did not know that acclaimed filmmaker Jonas Akerlund was actually a founding member of Bathory but such is the case according to an article on loudersound.com from earlier this year. Jonas and his cousin Frederick were looking to start a band by advertising in a record store in Stockholm, Sweden. 'Ace' aka Quorthon (real name was Thomas Borje Forsberg) saw the add and met up with the two and the rest is history. But said early incarnation of the band only lasted until after the release of the 1st LP. Interestingly Quorthon's father is Borje 'Boss' Forsberg, owner of the Swedish record company Tyfon Grammofon. 'Boss' set up Black Mark as a subsidiary for his son to release Bathory records and "The Return....." is Bathory's second LP. To be honest with you I am not a hundred percent sure but I would think that by this point Quorthon has played all instruments by himself, but please do correct me if I am wrong. First and foremost I was really curious to see how I'd like the record after so many years not listening to it and to my surprise I actually liked it a lot. During my teenager years I really took to Venom and enjoyed their primal metal music and their silly British humor. Surprisingly Quorthon claims that he has never heard of Venom, something that is hard to believe as the influence is hard for not to be heard. I don't know any of Bathory's recorded material beyond this record but if you like your Black Metal sounding very rudimentary and basic you will love this record. It should not come as a surprise that Bathory went on to influence countless Black Metal and later on Viking Metal acts, something Quorthon did not acknowledge very much though. According to the above mentioned article Quorthon loved the Beatles and classical music first and foremost. Quite frankly I really couldn't care less about the lyrics on this record as I have never been into any occult leaning stuff and apparently Quorthon only used it for entertainment value. More importantly though the music holds up to this day as I still have time for some early raw extreme Metal with roots in hardcore punk. Glad I pulled this out after decades on the shelf. RIP Quorthon.