Realm - 1988 - Endless War

Realm was an underappreciated thrash metal band from the US that raided and pillaged for about few years in the late 80s and then went on their merry way. They left us two albums with Endless War being their first. Everything that we can expect from the production of an 80s thrash metal band is here but the band often develops their ideas in a more progressive and complex song structure. A primitive thrash album this is definitely not. These guys were pretty talented musicians and this album absolutely shows it with plenty of ripping and interesting riffs. Vocals lean more on the heavy metal side of things with Judas like yells and choruses (Vio-Lence comes to minds). All in all this albums is fucking fun and should definitely get much more attention. Solos galore.

Get it!

Sadus - Death To Posers

Speaking of good demos, here's another one. This one comes from the very popular thrash band called Sadus. I guess they're most famous for their Chemical Exposure debut album that they put out in 1988 but they're also probably well known for sucking in doing anything after 1990. I got a hold of this demo a long time ago so I'm not sure if this is a direct rip from the demo or if I got it from a reliable source. So I'm not sure if all the tracks are legit. My main suspicion is on the first track which differs in production a lot from the rest but it also differs in style and in speed as well. It has more of a Kreator shtick. I dunno. It can be anything.

The main part of the demo is really fast, floppy and wild "no bullshit" thrash metal with Darren Travis screaming at the top of his lungs. The vocalist may be the deal breaker here for a lot of people mainly because his vocals tend to break at higher registers and he often does those. But for me this is probably the best part of this demo. It's just a couple of dudes giving everything they got on this little tape from 1986.

Get.

Merciless - The Awakening

Speaking of metal, here's another album that I've been planning to share. Merciless is well known for several reasons. The first and most important reason is that they made excellent albums during the 90s. The second reason why they're known is because they were one of the first in Sweden to fuse thrash metal with death metal. Oh and they were the first band to be signed on Deathlike Silence.

All I can really say is that this albums really deserves the praise it gets. Despite being very short for a full length (26 minutes) it is a highly enjoyable trip through old school death/thrash metal. It's sloppy, gritty and in your face music that makes no compromises. Couple that with raspy, distant vocals and you have all that you need from music like this.

Zippyshare.

Vio-lence - Eternal Nightmare

Honestly I have no idea why I didn't post this before. It's one of the most biggest classics of thrash metal and metal in general. The stars were perfectly aligned when this record was made.

From the production to the riffs everything fits together so nicely and well that I can't imagine how could this record be made any better. Praise aside this album generally is well known among the thrash crowd but maybe not so among other fans of music. Vio-lence were around for a while but they never really made it big during their time despite making really solid albums throughout their career. Maybe because the sound kinda leaned more to the punk side of things?

If I really had to choose an album as my favorite amongst their discography this would be it. It's fun, fast-paced and excellently composed with some really great hooks and "crowd choruses". The only thing that takes some time to get used to are the vocals. A lot of people tend to have problems with the vocals on this album mainly because they sound a bit out of place. I can't really explain how the dude sounds but I guess he sounds like an exaggerated version of a standard clean thrash vocalist. It's kinda weird but I like it and have no problem with it. So you might not have any problems with it as well.

Check this out if you haven't and you're into metal.

Enjoy.

Fav. track.

Lääz Rockit - Know Your Enemy

When summer comes along we often search for something merry and catchy to listen. I guess, the weather affects us that way or a gigantic turtle or something else. We all strive for this nice feeling of listening to catchy music and enjoying that light breeze. Feels good. For my preference I always enjoy putting on some old school thrash or punk. No particular reason; they just give me that summery feeling.

When it comes to the catchy riffs and hooks Laaz is probably somewhere at the top of the heap. Highly underrated and overlooked USA thrash band that was active during the 80s but continued on dying through the 90s. Know Your Enemy is definitely my favorite album they released along with No Stranger To Danger. It's packed with great riffs, decent vocals, interestingly catchy arrangements and a heavy dose of Judas Priest worship.

Download.

Youtube?

Cobalt - Gin

Cobalt stirred quite a lot of noise when they released Gin back in 2009. It even won some awards for the best album of the year and so on. That's not really important when it comes down to it. Before Gin they had a steady stream of albums. Some were good (like bird eater) and some were okay in a mediocre okay way. Gin on the other hand took me by a surprise. I didn't expect much but I received more than I could ever possibly want. The community seems to register this band as a war metal band. I'm not really sure as to what that specifically means; this sounds basically as a thrashed out black metal. It has relatively catchy riffs, not that much tremolo-ing and screaming vocals in a grunty way. Or something like that, I lost my creative words somewhere to be able to explain the sound.

What's interesting about this band is that the two members of it rarely see each other. One is in the military serving somewhere in Korea (I think, I don't feel like checking out that at the moment) while the other lives in the US. According to an interview I saw they meet up every year or so to record an album. It's almost like one of those internet bands. In any case this actually gives them a lot of freedom and time to think about their compositions and how they will eventually play it out when they meet each other. This system so far turned out to work great and this album is a solid proof of it. It's exceptionally good and I warmly recommend it to any metal enthusiast. The only downside is that there are no (official) lyrics.

Download.

Coroner - Punishment For Decadence

So back in the day when metal was thrashing mad in Germany and USA there was this sort of little and obscure band called Coroner from Switzerland. As with many other great underrated thrash bands at the time they didn't have a lot of luck so they released a few albums; stayed active in the 90s for a while and finally quit. But they are not forgotten as their fanbase grew over time and now they are rather popular it seems. Popular enough to inspire them to regroup and will supposedly attend Hellfest in 2011. I think they deserve every praise they get. Their songs are pretty much everything I ask for in thrash metal. High speed, complex riffs and mad drumwork but most of all it's very precise. It's not sloppy work as  is the case with some more popular thrash bands that I could mention. If you are into thrash metal then you should not miss this one out! And they cover Jimmy Hendrix for fuck sake! :D

1. Intro
2. Absorbed
3. Masked Jackal
4. Arc-Lite
5. Skeleton on Your Shoulder
6. Sudden Fall
7. Shadow of a Lost Dream
8. The New Breed
9. Voyage to Eternity
10. Purple Haze (Jimi Hendrix cover)

Bitrate: 320

Melting faces.

Bathory

When I was in my prime teen years everybody had their favorite band. We used to sit around school and discuss which one is the most awesome of them all. Those bands and people were prime examples of perfection for us and we fiercely defended them against other perfect bands. My worship was Bathory and thus this post. Sadly at that time I was very alone in my worship club. Nobody else that I knew liked Bathory. ;_; Nevertheless I still proudly collected slowly all of his albums and daily read his website and every other information that I could find. Later on I got his shirt with a picture of his first album. First time I wore it I looked like a complete stereotype of a Satanic kid. It was freezing cold that day but I wore it even if it wasn't a sweater and people looked at me and laughed but I was happy because I had my awesome shirt. 8)

Time passed and bands came and went but Bathory along with Boris will always have a special part in my little life. Those wonderous days when I would listen to Blood Fire Death on repeat the whole day or when I would yell at people "PEOPLE OF ASA BAY IT HAS ONLY JUST BEGUNNNNNNNNNNNN" will never fade away from my memory. I even managed to get Blood Fire Death on cassette so that I could listen it in a car and annoy my parents with it.

So is this any good? Well it's one of the most famous bands in the metal world. Everyone already listened to at least one album who explored metal a bit. If you haven't, well here's your chance to listen his first 5 albums, in flac. :3

Musically (objectively speaking without being a fanboy) each album changes the sound drifting more and more into this viking epic style of music. First album is complete thrash metal highly influenced by Venom (even though Quorthon denied this but I'm not so sure about his story). When it came out people hated it but over time it became a classic and first edition is now a collectors item if I'm not mistaken. :O After the first one shortly after came The Return and In The Sign which were a big influence to the second wave of black metal. It's still thrash metal but very raw and basically it can be called black metal. Blood Fire Death is the turning point towards the viking oriented metal which paves the way for Hammerheart that perfects the vision that was in Blood Fire Death.

That would be a quick guide of his progression in music for the first five albums. If you are new I guess you should start with either the first album or Blood Fire Death. To me those two are the most memorable. Anyway, not to ramble any further...

[...]


 *will not be uploaded again

Assassin - The Upcoming Terror

Assassin was one of those thrash bands that released one or two albums and then went missing (kinda like Toxik). I always liked their named. It spelled ass twice. :O They did release an album in 2005 but nobody noticed.

Jokes aside this one is a cult status album. It's filled with catchy riffs and high pitched screams in true tank smashing German fashion (just like on the cover). Released in the prime time of thrash which is the year 1986.

1.	Forbidden Reality	05:32
2.	Nemesis	03:51
3.	Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)	02:29
4.	The Last Man	06:55
5.	Assassin	05:56
6.	Holy Terror	04:57
7.	Bullets	04:13
8.	Speed Of Light	02:52

Download.

Toxik

Toxik is a thrash metal group formed in 1985 by Joshua Christian and Lee Erwin of Peekskill, New York. The band’s style was comprised of a complex thrash metal base mixed with progressive influences. By the end of 1992 the band had broken up but not before reshaping what was to be termed “progressive thrash”.

Bands like Watchtower, Fates Warning and King Diamond had all approached the point of actually becoming mainstream. Toxik was in that group and had an equal commercial potential or greater but before they had that chance the industry changed. Toxik, originally called Tokyo line up, consisted of Josh Christian (guitar), Lee Erwin (bass), Sal Dadabo (drums), and Michael Sanders (vocals).

While the groups music was highly regarded especially Josh Christians technical guitar playing, the vocals were a hit and miss with fans. On the second release Think This (RoadRacer 1989) Mike Sanders had been replaced by Charles Sabin who unlike Sanders had a very versatile vocal range. The group also added guitarist John Donnely for a fuller live sound. Think This received even more acclaim than World Circus and was followed by a European Tour and a Tour of the States with label mates King Diamond.

In 1992 the group disbanded. Although Toxik never broke through to the masses in the United States they enjoyed a very strong following in Europe and Japan. Toxik officially re-united in 2007.

One of my favorite thrash metal bands.

Here's the two legendary albums:

World Circus
(1987)

Tracklist:

01. Heart Attack (3:49)
02. Social Overload (3:27)
03. Pain And Misery (3:17)
04. Voices (3:26)
05. Door To Hell (3:50)
06. World Circus (5:02)
07. 47 Seconds To Hell/Count Your Blessings (4:59)
08. False Prophets (2:22)
09. Haunted Earth (3:29)
10. Victims (3:58)

Download.

Think This
(1989)

Tracklist:

01. Think This (05:37)
02. Greed (04:10)
03. Spontaneous (05:10)
04. There Stood the Fence (04:43)
05. Black and White (05:10)
06. Technical Arrogance (05:25)
07. WIR NJN8/In God (05:10)
08. Machine Dream (04:27)
09. Out on the Tiles (Led Zeppelin cover) (03:06)
10. Shotgun Logic (05:14)
11. Time After Time (04:55)
12. Think That (00:27)

Download.