The Thrash Metal Guide

Copyright (c) 2007 THE THRASH METAL GUIDE

0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

L.S.N. (USA)

This band features George Robb, the bass player who later took part in other more renowned acts, like Agent Steel and Detente, and more recently has formed another band: Obscene Gesture, along with his other colleagues from Agent Steel. This early formation offers typical energetic power/speed/thrash in the vein of quite a few bands from the American 80's scene: Agent Steel, Blessed Death, Whiplash (the vicious vocals will also lead you in this band's direction), etc. This is good speedy music, but is only 3 songs (the 4th track ("Trapped") is a 7-sec brutal joke), and the members scattering all over the metal spectre shortly after that prevented the band from recording anything else.

Fall to the Reich! Demo, 1986

LÄÄZ ROCKIT (USA)

This respected band began as one of the many power metal acts which the US music scene was producing in heaps in the mid 80's. With "Know Your Enemy" the band made their claims to become one of the new thrash heroes although the sound on this one is still pretty much power metal, with a few thrash headbangers thrown in for good measure. "Last Breath" is a truly impressive opener: a great power/thrasher, which remains the finest song on this one. Later on the band exercise their abilities in playing speed metal, and do a fine job, until the last couple of tracks, where the sound is a direct take on their heavy/power metal beginnings, and leaves a certain aftertaste.
However, on the next one power metal was a distant memory, and "Annihilation Principle" still remains one of the better achievements of the genre. "Fire In The Hole" thrashes uncompromisingly from the very beginning, leaving no room for any melodic deviations. "Chain Of Fools" is a mighty riff-fest, followed by the great galloping speed/thrasher "Shadow Company". "Holiday In Cambodia" is a marvellous cover of Dead Kennedys, and will definitely help you develop a liking towards the original, although there's hardly any shade of punk here. Later on every track is a masterpiece of razor-sharp thrash, with very good guitar work: a headbanging feast at its finest. "The Omen" is a very well deserved break for the band from the intense thrashing: a nice ballad, with a very good vocal performance (Michael Coons is one of the greatest singers on the whole metal field).

Things continued in the same vein on "Nothing'$ $acred": another smashing thrashterpiece, showing no signs of slowing down or compromises with the more aggressive sound. The album begins with intense up-tempo thrashing numbers, until it reaches the raging "Curiosity Kills"- a speed/thrash delight, but remains one of its kind on this effort. The next tracks take a slower, but quite hard-hitting turn, led by the excellent "The Enemy Within", laced with fine technical hooks. "Nobody's Child" is the obligatory ballad (the guys include similar songs on each of their works), this time shorter, but equally as cool. "Silence Is A Lie" tries to thrash in a faster manner once again, and admirably succeeds, giving way to the graceful closer: the marvellous instrumental "Necropolis", which boasts a magnificent lead guitar performance, which might make you listen to the preceding material again, just to check whether you will find traces of such guitar wizardry earlier (but no, and this is the mystery- why did the guy spared himself on most of the songs, but unleashing all his genius on just a single piece?!), and superb technical riffs.
Then the band split up, with some members later giving way to their infatuation with the 90's groovy sound with their other band Gack, which has almost nothing to do music-wise with the band's past.
"Left For Dead" is a very unexpected, unheralded comeback, but shows the band in a cool form to produce pretty decent thrash once again. This work is not an exact continuation of "Nothing Sacred"; it sounds like a mix of not much classic thrash and Gack ("Delerium Void", "Erased", etc.)- the continuation of Laaz Rockit during the 90's. The tempo is seldom fast, and there is one quite good heavy semi-ballad in the middle ("Ghost In The Mirror"). The guitars crush with pounding, heavy riffs, but apart from the more up-tempo opener ("Brain Wash"), there's not much material for headbanging. Fans of early and late period Laaz Rockit will not be very delighted, and this could hardly pass for one of the most impressive comeback releases of recent years.

City's Gonna Burn Full-length, 1984
No Stranger To Danger Full-length, 1985
Know Your Enemy Full-length, 1987
Annihilation Principle Full-length, 1989
Nothing'$ $acred Full-length, 1991
Left For Dead Full-length, 2008

LACK THERE OF (USA)

A mix of modern thrash and death metal with some nice guitar work; there is some groove involved, too, but the final result is not bad at all; this is heavy music with some brutal death metal attacks and a frequent change of tempos, with two vocal styles used simultaneously: one a deep death metal growl, the other a black-ish rasp.

Fault Of The Flesh Full-length, 2005

LACOLPER (SWEDEN)

Based on the second demo, this is really unconventional stuff: technical/progressive death metal recalling Cynic, but Lacolper's music is heavier and less jazzy. The music is actually quite compelling if you manage to tolerate the slightly irritating lead guitar which is put too much in the front and is kind of screamy. The music is never fast, and the rending death shouts might stretch your nerves a bit, but those of you who enjoy the less ordinary side of metal will definitely dig the mechanical dreamy "Aeonic War Machine", or the industrial cyber instrumental "Metroid - Lower Brinstar Area". Maybe their full-length would be the next big splash on the scene?

Day Of Deliverance Demo, 2005
Demo Demo, 2006

LAFORDOVA (HOLLAND)

Based on "Circus of the Damned", this band plays cool dark progressive power/thrash with a more modern edge. The sound is crushingly heavy, but doesn't lack dynamics, like on the opening steam-roller "Circus Of The Damned". Still most of the time the music is hammering and mid-paced at best, but there are a couple of interesting numbers, like "Last Taste Of Innocence", for example, which combines tender progressive elements with the only up-tempo thrashy ones; or the more dynamic and direct "XXX-rated Dreams". "Wicked Divide" is quite a good exercise in technical thrash with very intriguing guitar work, but deviations of the kind should have been more, as they offer a nice break from the otherwise pretty monotonous atmosphere.

Circus of the Damned Full-length, 1999
Terms of Estrangement Full-length, 2001

LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR (USA)

This band provide us with an interesting mixture of two contrasting styles: doom and thrash, and especially on their last album ("The Ultimate Destroyer") they do a fairly good job. Slow, stomping parts shake hands with some more up-tempo thrashy moments. The thrash metal presented here is not of the aggressive, fast type: think Celtic Frost or early Bathory's more quiet moments.
"War Metal Battle Master" is the band's most aggressive offering so far; the first two tracks show the guys at their thrashing best, with the opener "Horde of the Undead" coming with even some brutal death metal sections. The doomy side springs up, of course, with "When the Ice Giants Slayed All", but soon the band go back to the death/thrashy patterns ("Black Viper Barbarian Clan" is pure unadulterated death metal, mixed with a slower doomier ending). "Doomtrooper" is the other exercise in sheer doom: 10-min of classic, pounding doom in the Pentagram, Saint Vitus vein.

Carnage Full-length, 2004
Cannibal Massacre EP, 2005
The Ultimate Destroyer Full-length, 2006
War Metal Battle Master Full-length, 2008

LAKRAU (PORTUGAL)

A 3-song promo of excellent aggressive thrash metal with a sound firmly rooted in the 80's, recalling Sepultura's "Beneath The Remains".

Promo Demo, 1993

LAMB OD GOD (USA)

One of the most celebrated bands from the USA for the past few years, Lamb Of God offer a mixture of thrash and death metal of the modern type as both Pantera and The Haunted could be cited as an influence. There's no need to go into needless details about a band whom everyone out there knows quite well; one of the leaders of the contemporary metal scene.

New American Gospel Full-length, 2000
As The Palaces Burn Sampler EP, 2003
As The Palaces Burn Full-length, 2003
Pure American Metal EP, 2004
Ashes of the Wake Full-length, 2004
Killadelphia Sampler EP, 2005
Sacrament Full-length, 2006
Wrath Full-length, 2009

LAMSTER (BELGIUM)

A 4-track demo mixing doom/stoner with groovy post-thrash; this is heavy, 10-ton mid-paced stuff, which has its a bit faster moments ("Lost in the Night"), where the thrash fan may bang his head for a while. "Back to the Metal" is pure classic doom ala Saint Vitus and Pentagram, and is the best song here.

Demo Demo, 2008

LANGUISHED (UK)

3 tracks of intense modern thrash with harsh death metal vocals; the guys mix faster even classic-tinged sections with heavy groovy ones; nothing unusual although there isn't a lack of dynamics reflected in a couple of more intense headbanging sections.

Burn EP, 2008

LANKMAR (CANADA)

Based on the demo, this band offers good dynamic thrash coming as a cross between Mordred's "Fool's Game" and Onslaught's "In Search of Sanity", with sharp riffs and cool semi-technical decisions. The tempo is mid for most of the time although "Too Muchin'fuch" in the middle is a major headbanger. The singer is not bad with his semi-clean mid-ranged delivery. Reportedly on their full-length 6 years later the guys have shifted quite a bit from the retro thrash formula serving a milder brand of the 90's post-thrash with touches of stoner/doom.

Prejudiced Demo, 1989
Lankmar Full-length, 1995

LANDMINE MARATHON (USA)

This is very brutal thrash/death metal which in terms of aggression could easily rival Hellwitch, but the guitars are not very technical, and the songs are quite short, some of them barely going over 2-min. Pieces like "White Widows" are pure death/grindcore, but there are moments where the guys (and a girl) slow down in a manner similar to the steam-roller sound of recent Bolt Thrower: "Muscles Crown". This is very fast and merciless music, and might startle the more traditionally-inclined thrash metal fans. The girl is the singer, and her voice is very harsh and shrieky, more along the lines of a more vicious version of Dawn Crosby (R.I.P.-Detente, Fear Of God), rather than the manly growls of Sabine Classen and Angela Kossoff.
"Rusted Eyes Awake" mixes the brutal thrash/death sound, already heard on the debut, with a solid doze of hardcore on the first two tracks, and consequently kind of misses the point. But then comes "Bled To Oblivion", which is a nice nod to the Swedish scene, and could pass for more aggressive At the Gates. "Xenocide" begins in a heavily-charged doom metal fashion, but later develops into a cool death/thrasher. "Heroin Swine" is furious high-speed thrash/death, and "Skin From Skull" adds more stylish guitar work without losing the intensity of the previous number. "Red Days" brings back the more hardcore-based sound from the beginning, influencing the closer "Rusted Eyes Awake", which slows down in a crushing pounding Obituary manner.

Wounded Full-length, 2006
Rusted Eyes Awake Full-length, 2008

LAPIDE (BRAZIL)

This band's line-up includes Eduardo Martinez: the bass player who was also a part of Panic and Leviaethan. His new band does a good job (based on the debut), by all means better than Panic, but not as impressive as Leviaethan. This is intense thrash, which sounds close to mid-period Sepultura and the Exhorder debut, rather than any of the two aforementioned acts. The guys mix more aggressive, up-tempo tracks ("The Life After Death") with heavy stomping ones ("The Wizard's Vision", the groovy closer "Faces"). The faster numbers predominate, and some are really good headbanging riff-fests: "Domain", "Slavery", and especially the crushing Slayer-esque "Terrorism".
On "Over the Grave" the guys continue moshing out with full force, and "Cleaning The Congress" and "Prisoner Of The Past" are major headbangers, thrashing with no mercy. "Human Hunt" serves as a break, with its post-modern, crunchy rhythm in the beginning, but later bashes out no worse than the preceding numbers. "Alone In The Crowd" may sound awkward with its doomy approach and melodic Oriental lead guitar work, as well as "Home War Drug Rules", with its stoner/blue-sy riffs, and nice melodic deviations. The final 3 songs are solid classic thrash, with "Insane Society" again providing the odd slower breaks.

Infinite Life After Death Full-length, 2003
Over the Grave Full-length, 2008

LAPSUS (ITALY)

The band's first demo is good classic thrash with nice clean vocals and cool guitar work, with a slight folk/pagan-flavour. Later their sound becomes heavier and acquires some modern elements (groove, etc.), and loses its appeal a bit.

Ouverture Demo, 2003
Brani Non Registrati Demo, 2003
Destino Circolare Demo, 2005
New prologue Demo, 2006

LASH (ITALY)

An interesting cross between modern and classic thrash, sounding a bit like 90's Forbidden; the guys definitely have interesting ideas which would possibly develop further on a full-length release.

Insane Fiction EP, 2005

LAST BREATH (CANADA)

One of the undisputable gems of the Canadian metal scene of the 90's; great technical/progressive thrash in the Anacrusis-vein (think "Manic Impressions", "Screams & Whispers"). The songs are pure gems, all sounding different from each other, and memorable. So we have quite a variety here: heavy, haunting, slower tracks: "My Rebellion", magnificent speedy technical numbers: "The Answer", brilliant heavy, stomping ones: "Frozen Memories", or a combination of everything: the album highlight "Messenger of Death". The guitar and bass work are outstanding: seldom can one hear such great interplay between bass and guitars. The singer is a find with his dexterity to handle both the gruff, sinister and the nice, clean vocals in an impressive way. Canada is famous for its classy technical metal bands, and this band are probably one of the poineers in the field there, and one of the better ones to grace it worldwide.

Ashes to Ashes Full-length, 1994

LAST DAY EVER (GERMANY)

A modern thrash/death hybrid, mixing fast-paced with stomping, groovy parts; nothing exceptional, you've heard it all before thousands of times... although it would never be the "last day ever" for this kind of music.

The Worlds Fall Demo, 2004
Amicizia Famiglia Per Sempre Split album, 2005

LAST DECEPTION (SPAIN)

Modern thrash/death, well played, but hardly innovative or revolutionary; if you have heard the more recent works of Terror 2000 or Corporation 187, you know what to expect... When the music slows down, it comes close to mid-period Sentenced ("No Need to Believe"). "Celtic Pride" turns to more epic death ala Amon Amarth, and "Last Deception" is a cool semi-ballad again with a more epic shade.

A Nation Burning Fast Full-length, 2009

LAST DESCENDANTS (USA)

Complex, semi-technical effective power/thrash; sometimes the arrangements on the longer tracks are a bit difficult to follow, but the musicianship on display is on a high level, especially the lead guitar work; will appeal to fans of Helstar, Liege Lord, Heathen. The pace nicely varies, from elaborate, heavy numbers, which are the longer ones (the opener "Not My World") to impressive exercises on speed/thrash ("Traitor's Fate"). The middle song, on the other hand, belongs to neither of the aforementioned classifications, being a straight power metal number: "POW 13", quite energetic and enjoyable.

One Nation Under God Full-length, 1988

Vibrations of Doom

LAST REMAINS (USA)

The first demo is melodic power metal with slight technical tendencies, with no relations to thrash whatsoever. "Grasp For Existance" hardens the course, and although the sound is not ultra heavy, it contains enough sharp, thrashy guitars to keep it floating. The music is much more technical than on the first effort, moving towards progressive power/thrash quite a bit; the tempos change all the time, alternating between meaty, heavy moments and complex, twisted ones recalling even the Belgians Target. The lead guitar gives its fair contribution to make this work even more interesting. Although at times the music might come as too complicated for the regular thrash metal fan, and the power metal elements may dominate here and there, the good technical music played here will definitely win many in the end.

Demo Demo, 1991
Grasp For Existance Demo, 1992

LAST RITE (USA)

Classy power/thrash metal made by the same guys who later were responsible for one of the finest classic thrash releases of the 90's: Havoc Mass' "Killing the Future", here also assisted by two future members of Chris Barnes' Six Feet Under. The music here is more melodic than the one on "Killing The Future", but is by no means less impressive; this is great stuff along the lines of early Helstar, Deadly Blessing, Liege Lord. The demo is divided into shorter, faster tracks (3) and longer, more technical ones (2). Both types work fine, but the longer songs offer more musicianship, as a special place has been given to the excellent leads. The singer is a find, with his very powerful clean, a bit high-pitched voice, sounding like a mix between Ski (Deadly Blessing) and Michael Olivieri (Leatherwolf).

The Beginning of the End Demo, 1990

LAST RITES (GERMANY)

Last Rites play competent, if very typical for its time modern thrash. There are attempts at a more technical play on the full-length, but not enough to make it really stand out. The pace is quite good, though, and the guitar work is frequently energetic, reminiscent of Cyclone Temple and Xentirx. The EP, despite only containing 5 songs, is a fair slab of good headbanging thrash, which sounds more classic than the full-length, and is overall better. It starts with the heavy, semi-complex "Bleed", where the predominant riffs are from the 90's, but then the thrashing begins with the excellent "Backwards Reality", and goes on until the end, with a fine string of 4 headbanging pieces.

Silverball Full-length, 1995
Bleed EP, 1997

LAST RITES (ITALY)

Based on "Mind Prison", these Italians come up with an interesting blend of classic 80's thrash metal in the Metallica, Exodus-tradition, and death metal. It works quite well, and it nicely stays closer to thrash, with the more intense death metal parts helping the album to sound even better.

Mind Prison Full-length, 2003
Hate EP, 2006

LAST RITES (USA)

Members of Bloodlust decide to form another band, and play some better music. The sound here is more aggressive, more technical, and the musicianship is definitely on a higher level. The songs are quite interesting, with several tempo changes (quite fast at times) and nice technical guitars. This demo will remind you of some of the early technical acts on the American thrash metalscene: Have Mercy, Ulysses Siren, but with a more aggressive delivery.

Don't be Denied Demo, 1990

LASTWAR (POLAND)

Cool aggressive thrash metal in the vein of Slayer and the Brazilians Atomica (the similarities with this band are also in the vocal department); the production of both demos is very good, and could have easily secured these guys a several album-deal if having been released a few years earlier.

Skazani Na Zaglade Demo, 1990
Darkness in Eden Demo, 1992

LATRODECTUS (GERMANY)

Based on "Storm In Mind", this is dark, doom-y thrash with a certain gothic shade. If you can imagine a more thrashy version of the Swedes Katatonia, but without the melancholic guitar tone of the latter, you would probably have a fairly good idea how these guys sound. There is also a ballad ("Down"), and a rock-ish joke song ("For Soulitary").

...In Unisono... Full-length, 1999
Storm In Mind Full-length, 2003

LATVALA BROS (FINLAND)

This band is a kind of a continuation of Stone; it was formed by the latter's guitarist Roope Latvala. This is an instrumental album which is much better than the disappointing last Stone album, but on the other hand it doesn't contain many heavy, meaty riffs which were the band's trade mark on the earlier releases. The sound is melodic, but technical thrash with good riffs and solos. The tempo is calm, mid-paced with variations both in the slower and faster spectre; worth hearing, and not only by the Stone fanbase.

Latvala Bros Plays Wooden Eye Full-length, 1994

LATZEN (SPAIN)

One of the finest Spanish thrash metal bands of the 90's (mostly citing the debut); fans of Paradox, Angel Dust and even early Helloween, beware! The guys play with conviction and force, with sharp riffs producing nice speedy killers ("Ze Ingo Xu?", the furious aggressor "Mezua Hil Aurretik", the brilliant up-tempo instrumental "Indarra"), but the slower heavy numbers are also quite good ("Torturaren Artea", which is graced by a fine Oriental tune; "Mamuak Baztertu"). "Laztana" is a good heavy ballad, where the melodic, clean vocals display their talents best.
The second album is a letdown: it has not much to do with the brisk thrashy style of its predecessor. It's much more melodic, modern-sounding and groovy, still containing more intense thrashy moments ("Mila Esker", "Ohituren Menpe", "Nola Azaldu"), but they come with more retouched guitars, and groovy breaks. Another good semi-ballad comes near the end: "Gor".

Kontzientzia ala Infernua Full-length, 1997
Ardi Larruz Full-length, 1998

LAUGHING DEAD (USA)

This band was founded by members of Heathen and Defiance. Based on the 3-track demo, this is cool, up-tempo thrash similar to 80's Metallica, or Defiance, but with shorter songs, and more simplistic, with catchy and headbanging riffs. All the songs are in the same energetic pace; "Mad Man Clash" introduces more technical guitars, but there's no room for this to develop further.

Demo 1990 Demo, 1990
Walk On EP, 1996

LAVATORY (GERMANY)

Based on the first two albums: a good thrash/crossover band who sound like a mixture of D.R.I. and Tankard. This is good music, fast and intense, with a very catchy, playful character, but coming with sharp meaty riffs. It thrashes hard, sounding closer to Tankard, rather than D.R.I. on a bigger number of the songs, but it has its light crossover spirit ("Manipulations"), as well as the more aggressive, Slayer-esque moments ("Lies").

GLAsshouse Fools Full-length, 1989
To Protect And To Serve Full-length, 1992
Yes It Hurts Full-length, 1996

LAWNMOWER DETH (UK)

A good crossover/thrash band, gifted with a huge doze of humour, expressed mostly in the lyrics; the music varies from hard-hitting thrash to uplifting punk, to other elements which are hard to pin down. There are loads of original ideas here, like the choice to make a cover version of Kim Wilde's hit "Kids In America"; an enjoyable band whose non-standard approach to song-writing will keep the listener entertained most of the time.
The debut comes a bit late on the scene, when the major thrash/crossover purveyors have moved on more or less successfully (Nuclear Assault messed it up on "Out of Order", D.R.I. and Suicidal Tendencies were getting thrashier, and Prong took the avantgarde path with "Beg to Differ"). The opening "Spook Perv Happenings In The Snooker Hall" may literally scare you with its furious super-fast riffs, and later on there's no much relief offered, since the guys seldom let the speed go down, with the shorter tracks blasting out in an uncontrolled grindcore fashion. Still, there will be noone unable to recognize the energetic cover of Motorhead's "Motorhead" near the end; but there will be hardly anyone to get the other cover version included: the fast crossover take on Kim Wilde's "Kids in America".
"The Return Of The Fabulous Metal Bozo Clowns" again starts unpredictably, with the more serious, even technical hectic thrasher "The Return Of The Fabulous Metal Bozo Clown", but soon the staple playful atmosphere is established, getting lost on the clumsy funky "Feetcleaner", the extreme thrasher "Urban Surfer 125" and the heavy doom-laden "King Of The Pharaohs".
"Billy" is merry unpretentious crossover, with very few shades of thrash, uplifitng soft punk-ish music which may have been an influence on the wave of proto-punk acts which sprung up very soon after this album's release (Green Day, Green Jelly, The Offspting, etc.). The band's "biggest" hit "Kids in America" is here again, a little updated, although again it would be a difficult task for anyone to see the Kim Wilde song there. The new cover here is Jimmy Hendrix's "Purple Haze", which is delivered in a not very respectful manner, lasting for a bit more than 1-min.

Ooh Crikey! It's Lawnmower Deth! Full-length, 1990
The Return Of The Fabulous Metal Bozo Clowns Full-length, 1992
Billy Full-length, 1993

LAWSHED (JAPAN)

The band's debut is excellent thrash in the early Testament-vein. It starts thrashing from the very beginning, with the fast "Go It Blind", which is the shortest and the most immediate number on the album. Later on the songs become longer and more technical; there is no much speed anymore, and the tracks are sometimes jumpy and choppy ("Faces"), sometimes even with a shade of power metal ("Dumb Millions"), sometimes with a more modern, groovy sound ("Lowbrow"), but always enjoyable.
"Spirits & Souls" has a heavier, thicker sound with a decidedly modern edge, and although it is not as good as the debut, is not completely bad; there are still faster thrashers included, but most of the time the music doesn't leave the mid-paced range, also featuring heavy-handed attempts at a more varied play: stoner/doom borrowings, funky sections, overlong atmospheric moments, etc. The band disappeared soon after that.

Let Us Not Talk Falsely Full-length, 1991
Spirits & Souls Full-length, 1992

LAZARUS (USA)

Very good classic thrash, with an "updated" modern production, close to the works of Exodus from the new millennium, the last Onslaught album and especially Nasty Savage's "Psycho, Psycho" in the heavier parts, as well as in the vocal department. More melodic, power metal guitar lines could be caught ("Last Breath"), as well as the majority of the leads (which are great, by the way, with a Shrapnel flavour), but they offer a nice deviation from the otherwise hard-hitting pattern. This is a major headbanging stuff, although the band never speed too much, with the sole exception of a few blast-beats on "Forged in Blood"; an impressive debut which will definitely grace a few top tens for 2007.

The Onslaught Full-length, 2007

LEADER (HOLLAND)

One of the pioneers, but not leaders (one album only doesn't make you a leader, does it?), of the speed/thrash movement in Holland, along with Mandator and Pestilence. The album begins in a more controlled fashion, with the mid to up-tempo "The Hunters", but the short "Fire" opens the "Pandora's box" of speed, although some of it has been taken a bit, on the galloping "Eye Of Tomorrow" and "Wastelands". "Out Of Control" is mighty speed/thrash ala Angel Dust with clever semi-technical guitar hooks, followed by the less intense "Killer", which nicely continues the technical moments. "Ride On The Wind" races with the wind, being very good speed metal ala early Helloween; check out the Oriental motive in the middle. Despite the "steely" title "Wings Of Steel" is the ballad here, quite a good one, cancelled by the shorter, but much faster speed/thrashing instrumental "Neckbreaker". "Shoot To Kill" is a worthy closer, quite fast and energetic, with nice leads (which are on a high level the whole time) and a good chorus. Yes, indeed, the guys looked really well-equiped to become leaders... but that was all we heard from them.

Out In The Wasteland Full-length, 1988

LEATHER CHARM (TURKEY)

Based on the "The Midnight Comedy" demo: this band offer a diverse mix of classic thrash (the short intro "Killing Charm" and the intense headbanger at the end "To Oppose"), the groovy modern 90's sound ("Razor Of God"), and one very tender acoustic ballad ("Emerald").

The Midnight Comedy Demo, 2007
Creeping Death Demo, 2007
Garden of Evil EP, 2008

LED ASTRAY (HOLLAND)

This is first-rate technical thrash/death metal; the singer uses a very deep death metal growl, but the music is top-notch sounding like a cross between later period Death and the Swedes Agretator (and also their more famous continuation Darkane). At times the band adhere to a more brutal playing ala Suffocation ("Exceed The Feeling Of Nothing"), but these moments are not that frequent. Traditionally Holland has always been a hot place for technical metal acts, and Led Astray seem perfectly acceptable to lead the scene through the new millennium.
It was high time for something new, since surely the majority of those who were pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the music on the demo, must have forgotten about them. Fortunately, in "ways unforeseen", the full-length is finally a fact. The style is a faithful continuation of the one already heard on the demo, but the concentration is clearly on death metal. Still the musicianship is top-notch, so noone will be left indifferent, although the constant super fast sections might get on the nerves a bit. The songs are technical, mostly up-tempo, with the aforementioned very fast moments present on every one of them. The shorter tracks seem to work better, being tightly performed technical affairs, with a wide gamut of riffs and changes covered within a short time ("Re-Connect", "Moral Perception"). The overall approach here is even closer to Suffocation, with the same brutal low-tuned vocal delivery. Near the end the guys cut themselves some slack, switching onto more direct melodic Swedish death metal ("Earth Tones"), but make themselves sure that the closer is a less ordinary affair: "Time For All To See", a technical melodic death metal feast at its best. The thrash metal fans may feel betrayed here, considering that the demo was more thrash-fixated, but the swirling complex nature of the songs will keep them hooked, or at least those who prefer to deepen in their music.

Denying The Inevitable Demo, 2005
In Ways Unforeseen Full-Length, 2009

LEECHES OF LORE (USA)

Based on a few songs (from the debut) this could be considered speed/thrash of the old school, which is played by just two people; there is a touch of crossover in the approach, but at the same time some compositions are quite interesting, offering stylish balladic decorations ("I Am The Raptor"); the problem is that the rest of the music comes too simplistic and straight for such attempts. "Cenozoic Death Waltz" is a nice ballad, influenced by the preceding song, but the speed/thrash assault returns with full force with "Pig Scrapings". Unfortunately later the guys completely drop the ball, experimenting to the bone, with light crossover tracks, and very long boring ballads, with no traces of thrash at all (the 10-min frustration "Leeches Of Lore", which very undeservedly carries the band name (or maybe deservedly?). Near the end things get much worse, with some country involved, too, among the other crap. As a whole this is a big mish-mash, which will mislead you in the beginning that this would be a full-on thrash affair, but the illusion doesn't last for long. Skip it if you can...

Leeches of Lore EP, 2008
Leeches Of Lore Full-length, 2009

LEEWAY (USA)

This is the only Leeway album which is of interest to the thrash metal fans. The band play heads-down classic thrash here, with very few crossover/hardcore elements. The singer has a very clean style, which distinguishes Leeway from the pack of shouted hardcore vocals typical for the NYHC (New York Hard Core) scene, where the band come from. The opener "Rise and Fall" comes with a great energetic pace, which remains for the rest of the time. Shades of crossover spring up, of course, in the form of shorter tracks near the end ("Marathon", "Self-defense"), and a really cool moment is the smashing galloping speed/thrasher in the Attacker, Helstar vein "Tools of War", which at some stage goes straight for the throat with direct headbanging riffs for a while. This is a very good album, compared to their later ventures which flirt with many different styles away from the thrash metal spectre.

Born to Expire Full-length, 1987

LEGACY (COLOMBIA)

This is indeed a "metallic assault", a pure speed metal attack in the best tradition of early Angel Dust, Warrant (Germany), and Pile Driver's "Stay Ugly", often going beyond those acts in terms of speed. The guys mosh on full-throttle from the get-go, mixing sharp and melodic riffs topped up by shrieky, but suitable, melodic vocals. This is an impressive dedication to speed also bringing them closer to other veterans from the German scene: Not Fragile, as well as the Finns Solitaire. The fast pace reaches its climax on the raging thrashing madness "Witchhammer" which also has a shade of black, and the speed/thrashing fury "Seek, Destroy" which has very little to do with the Metallica hit of the same title. Finally something slower mid-tempo comes on the nod to the 90's power/speed metal scene "Sentence of Death", before the final "Thrashing Fast and Loud" smashes everything with its steel fast riffage, "thrashing fast and loud". This is a promising debut of classic metal which will bang a lot of heads in the days to come, and puts them a head and shoulders before their compatriots Revenge who operate in the same field music-wise, maybe more power/speed metal-based.

Metallic Assault Full-length, 2009

LEGEN BELTZA (SPAIN)

Along with Killem and Angelus Apatrida, Legen Beltza put Spanish thrash metal back on the metal map with a full force. The debut is not bad, but the thin production chokes the guitar work considerably. It offers mid to up-tempo thrash of the more melodic type, with ballads and power/speed metal numbers present, sounding very close to some Argentinian acts- Hermetica, Horcas. A mixed bag as a whole, showing the band not certain which path to follow.
"Insanity" is a much better effort, providing good technical thrash, with all the previous influences swept away, leaving room for great sharp riffs. More speed metal-based tracks are still around ("Insanity"), but they sound much more convincing than before. "Dying" is another non-thrashy number, being slower, with a shade of gothic. The rest is non-stop thrash fest, with some striking technical thrash pieces (Klaustrofobia", "Only Human") present.
"Dimension Of Pain" is somewhat disappointing, abandoning the short technical aggressive song-structures, going into the other direction with long, elaborate numbers bordering on progressive metal. Fortunately, several tracks of the old style are still present to save the day ("Cannibalistic Revolution, "Fucking Dawn of the Dead"). Some very awkward, heavy-handed attempts at mixing melodic heavy/power metal passages with brutal death metal blast-beats, make things even worse ("Calling the Black Storm", "When the Moon Falls"). Their ambition goes over the top with the two part "War Of Wars"- one 7.5, the other 9.5 min., which are an even bigger mish-mash. Apparently the guys have wanted to impress the fans with this wild mixture of many contrasting styles, but when sticking to a more simplistic musical approach they have done a much, much better job.

Istorio Triste Bat Full-length, 2001
Insanity Full-length, 2003
Dimension Of Pain Full-length, 2006

LEGION (ROMANIA)

Based on "Black Underground", this band pulls out an uneven blend of classic and modern thrash, which has its moments, but often is a hit-and-miss affair with the modern elements suddenly interrupting a cool classic one. At one point the classic ones stop trying to take the upper hand, and towards the middle the sound becomes firmly modern mixing more aggressive sections ala Pantera with more jumpy softer ones in the vein of Helmet and Biohazard.

Legion Live Live album, 1997
Marfa Full-length, 1999
Black Underground Full-length, 2009

LEGION (SPAIN)

Often viewed as the finest Spanish thrash metal band, Legion enjoyed a short, but impressive career. Their first two works are fine pieces of semi-technical thrash close to the Germans Accuser, touching even Toxik's "World Circus" on the faster, and better material (mostly the debut), including a funny cover of Queen's "We Will Rock You". The guys had the penchant for inserting some jolly, punk-ish joke songs ("Mili KK" from the debut), but this was a popular trend among the thrash metal bands from those times. "Labyrinth Of Problems" is a bit more melodic, with a slightly modernized sound, but is another commendable release.

Lethal Liberty Full-length, 1989
Por la Cara EP, 1990
Mind Training Full-length, 1990
Labyrinth of Problems Full-length, 1992

Vibrations of Doom

LEGION (USA)

A good demo of speed/thrash metal which surprisingly sounds very close to early Destruction, especially in the guitar department. The music is fast with good semi-technical catchy riffs, and slightly undeveloped, hardcore-ish vocals which at times try to scream the way Tom Araya used to do it in the beginning (remember "Black Magic"). The bad sound quality can not conceal the fact that these guys definitely possessed the necessary talent to compete with the biggest names on the scene, if fate had given them a chance.

Jump Into The Slampit Demo, 1985

LEGION OF DEATH (USA)

A fast, aggressive mixture of thrash metal and hardcore not too far from Wehrmacht, with some occasional slower numbers ala Celtic Frost ("Malicious Hatred").

Legion Of Death Full-length, 1988

LEGION OF THE DAMNED (HOLLAND)

This band is actually the black/thrash metal legends Occult who for some reason decided to change their name. The style is a direct follow-up to Occult's last album "Elegy For The Weak"- very good retro thrash metal mixing influences from many sides, but managing to sound convincing and even a bit original.
Really eager to confirm their reputation as a prime thrash metal act on the modern metal scene, the guys strike some 7 months after their sophomore album has been released, but "Feel the Blade" offers only 3 new tracks; the rest is Occult's last work "Elegy of the Weak" reissued.
A 2nd album for one year should be no surprise nowadays, especially when in this case the 1st one was a re-release of an old work. One can not possibly go wrong with these guys who have already proven their worth under the name Occult. "Cult of the Dead" is heads-down retro thrash which will literally split your skull; there's no mercy here, pure aggressive attack, with the obligatory for the band's style mid-paced Slayer-esque breaks. Some of the finest headbangers roam around: "Black Templar", "House Of Possession", "Black Wings Of Yog-Sothoth". The casual mid-paced hammer is also present: "Cult Of The Dead", "Enslaver Of Souls", the excellent dark sinister closer "The Final Godsend". Although barely offering anything new compared to the band's more recent output, this album is a refreshing addition to both their catalogue and the very strong for thrash metal 2008.

Malevolent Rapture Full-length, 2006
Sons Of The Jackal Full-length, 2007
Feel the Blade Full-length, 2008
Cult of the Dead Full-length, 2008

LEGION SACRA (PERU)

Based on the debut: very cool thrash metal with some shades of melodic Swedish death metal; the music is quite dynamic with more frequent nods to the classic school, with the great speed/thrasher "Dark Is The Shade" clearly being the highlight of the album; on the other hand we have some slower, atmospheric numbers: "The Sword Of Anagathon". This is truly an impressive debut, worth checking out.

Odes of Sanity Full-length, 2003
Tears In Darkness Full-length, 2007

LEGIONS OF WAR (SWEDEN)

Modern black/thrash metal which is constantly fast in the 1st half, but not annoying spiced with a couple of much slower epic moments. The 2nd half starts with much more melodic gothic number "Proclamation of War", a nice peaceful touch. More edge comes on the following "Reflections From the Past - A Soldier's Departure Pt. 1" although this one is still for the gothic lovers. They have to run away, though, on the raging "Dead Man Walking - A Soldier's Departure Pt. 2", and the speed remains until the end without reaching any extremes "decorated" with a few atmospheric keyboard arrangements recalling Bal-Sagoth.

Towards Death Full-length, 2009

LEKTOR (UKRAINE)

Based on "Food for Powder", this band offers a diverse mix of all-out classic headbanging thrash, stomping meaty riffs ala early Celtic Frost, a couple of blasting death metal passages, balladic moments, and more. There are occasional shades from the 90's groovy scene, and generally there are no two songs which sound alike, which is worth giving credit for, considering that the album is whole 15 tracks long, although the last four are experimentations on both more melodic heavy/power metal play and a very brutal grinding one.
"The Wheel of History offers cool classic thrash which starts in a bright Bay-Area fashion with the intense "Stalingrad" and "Besieged Leningrad". But things only get more aggressive from there, with the raging thrash/deathfest "Submarine", and it's good that the quiet ballaidc interlude "Memory (Price of Victory)" comes right after. Heavy mid-tempo thrash arrives with "The Fear", but the agression from the beginning returns with "Red Terror", another merciless thrash/death affair with a stylish atmospheric doomy mid-section. The album loses steam a bit later on with the remaining songs being slower "flirting" with doom and ballad also adding a certain modern flavour here and there (the exception is the intense thrashing fury "Borodino"). Still, those numbers can not ruin the positive impression left by the early ones, and one may be itnrigued to track down the rest of the guys' catalogue who on this effort have used legendary battles taken place on Russian ground (concentrating mostly on the ones from World War II) though different stages of history as a base for the lyrics.

Plastivoina Full-length, 2005
Food for Powder Full-length, 2007
The Wheel of History Full-length, 2009

LEO BIOLLO (CANADA)

Leo Biollo is the name of this multi-instrumentalist who acquits himself here with cool modern/classic thrash with semi-progressive tendencies. The album begins with the mid-tempo hammer "Demonic Abduction" which sets the dominant tone, although the next "Desire to Rise" nicely breaks the formula adding short acoustic guitar sections and a few faster ones; it goes up the technicality scale as well with several spiral-like riffs in the 2nd half. "Killing the Demon" will blow you away: aggressive thrash shred breaking the "idyll" also scoring high in the lead department. "Return of Will" starts in a calm balladic tone, but later on transforms into a much more intense mid-paced thrash with again excellent lead guitar work. "The Depths of Hell" is a nice technical speedster which tries to reak the speed of light with a couple of blasting sections. The final "The Gates of Heaven" justifies the progressive pretensions of the album lasting for more than 12-min although one will hardly be left very impressed by it since it contains standard thrashing in mid-pace with a fine, albeit overlong, balladic lead-driven interlude in the middle. The man has gotten carried away at the end, but having in mind that he has composed and performed all the music on the album, one can only give him the thumbs up for the good job and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours.

From the Depths of Hell to the Gates of Heaven Full-length, 2009

LEPROCY (CANADA)

Based on the first demo, this band deserve to be as well known as Annihilator and Razor; awesome thrash with technical tendencies sounding like a mixture between Toxik and a more aggressive Agent Steel.

Brutal Occupation Demo, 1988
Leprocy Demo, 1988
Phase II Demo, 1991

LEPROSY (MEXICO)

Based on the debut, Leprosy play first-rate classic thrash metal reminiscent of Sepultura's "Arise' and Slayer's late 80's period in the heavier parts. The vocals are not too far from Max Cavalera's, perhaps a bit lower-pitched and more throaty. "Nocturnal Tormentor" is a nice heavy stomping number which will also remind you of Celtic Frost in the beginning. This is great music with heavy, meaty riffs which speeds up a bit at times, but never really goes into death metal territory, like the other very good Mexican thrash metal act from the same time: Mortuary.
Three years after the debut "Reino Maldito" shows that the band haven't lost their magical touch to produce standout (Slayer meets Sepultura) thrash metal untouched by the modern 90's tendencies (this inevitably puts forward the question "Until when?"). The fast songs have disappeared, replaced by mid to up-tempo ones and, maybe, to improve things, some steam-roller riffs in the Bolt Thrower-vein have been added. With its more controlled and improved musicianship, this album sounds even better than the debut.
"Llora Chíapas" comes after another long, this time 4-year break, and brings the winds of change with it. The sound has acquired some modern tendencies, and has become more melodic, featuring a couple of atmospheric gothic parts (including the use of female vocals on "Cuba Libre") and an overall guitar tone similar to mid-90's Sodom. There are a few songs which carry the spirit of their early works ("Monumento a los Caidos": a great aggressive thrasher) , and this is by no means a minor achievement; it just clearly shows that the band have moved on.

Wicked Reich Full-length, 1991
Reino Maldito Full-length, 1994
Llora Chíapas Full-length, 1998
Rey de las Bestias EP, 1999
Devorando Sueños Full-length, 2002
La Maldicion Full-length, 2003
Tambores de Fuego! Full-length, 2006

LEPROSY (SWEDEN)

Based on the "Trapped in Rage" 3-song demo, these guys pull out quite good energetic classic thrash in the vein of early Slayer and early Metallica, with very cool melodic clean vocals. Later they changed their name to Caustic Strike, but retained their potent style.

Trapped in Rage Demo, 2005
Straight Down the Drain Demo, 2005

LEPROSY TERROR (SPAIN)

This band are one of the first extreme acts in Spain, having been formed in the distant 1986, but it was 10 long years later, when they were able to record something. Based on the live album, which comes served with a very bad sound quality, these guys offer aggressive Slayer-esque thrash, bordering on death metal, with brutal, death-ish vocals which shout to the point of sounding husky and hoarse most of the time. There are a lot of covers made, but neither being really good: Kreator's "Phobia" (from "Outcast"), Motorhead's "Orgasmatron"; the band's idols Slayer are "honoured" with two covers: "Skeletons of Society" and "Angel of Death".

The Faces Of Terror EP, 1996
Pestilence - Live in Palafolls Live album, 2004

LES DESTROPOUILLAVES (FRANCE)

Jolly, uplifting thrash/crossover with some speed metal tendencies, which puts it right beside the early works of their compatriots ADX and Killers. You will get 23 tracks of some of the most entertaining retro stuff to come out of the 90's, energetic and catchy.

Same Full-Length, 1994

LESE MAJESTY (USA)

Raw, undeveloped thrash metal along the lines of early Razor with a surprisingly good melodic instrumental ("Dead Sea") thrown in the middle.

Surviving Full-length, 1988

Vibrations of Doom

LESS THAN HUMAN (GREECE)

Another one, offering standard 90's thrash; these guys here mix all the trends, very often into one song: the angry thrash of Pantera, the laid-back post-thrash of the Metallica Black Album, the playful attitude of the Anthrax 90's style, the pounding riffage of Flotsam & Jetsam's "Quatro", etc. The singer is probably the best asset, with his gruff, but effective voice, coming as a mix of Chris Holmes (Paradise Lost) and James Hetfield. Surely the band find time for some straight headbangers ("Mega Fool", the thrashing delight "More or Less Human"), but they are not too many to make this album a less ordinary product of the 90's scene.

To Breed True Full-length, 1999
More Than Evil EP, 2001

LESSNESS (BELGIUM)

Based on the 4-song EP, this band offers groovy post-thrash with good deep clean vocals, and good consistent riffs of the melodic type. The pace is mid, with a more lively thrash/crossover attitude on the closing "Brainbomb".

Whenever The Rain EP, 1999
Cows, Pitbulls and Spacecake Full-length, 2000

LESTREGUS NOSFERATUS (USA)

This band is a side-project for the Hallows Eve guys, who here even manage to surpass the father band quite a bit. Based on the first demo, the guys have concentrated on aggressive thrash similar to Slayer and Possessed, but often spiced up with more brutal death metal moments, as well as heavier, Celtic Frost-like ones. The guitar work is simply brilliant, and one might start to wonder why these guys didn't play with the same intensity and level of musicianship on the Hallows Eve albums. The highlight of the demo is the monstrous 12-min epic "When There is no Room in Heaven" which is a great and varied track, despite the lack of any more intricate play. It could have been great if the musicians had focused on this formation more than on the other one.

Demo Demo, 1988
In the Realms of Evil Thrive Demo, 1992
Blood Feast of the Damned Demo, 1994
Oh Come All Ye Faithful... Tonight We Feast Demo, 1995

LETHAL (ARGENTINA)

The best Argentinian thrash metal band whose first two works are some of the peaks of the whole South American thrash metal scene. The debut is the heaviest and most thrashy work- a very good example of hard-hitting, intense thrash. "Warriors" is another worthy effort, but the sharp guitar sound has been retouched a bit, and some songs are not as immediate (the 7-min long "Warriors in the Night"). Some tracks are clearly more speed metal-based, although they are the more appealing side of this album: the mighty, Agent Steel-like "Fight" and "Transylvania". The vocals have always been the weakest side of the band, being levelled, semi-hardcore-ish. Later the band adopted a more modern sound, and despite the undeniable qualities of their 90's albums, they don't sound too different from the majority of the other modern thrash metal acts.

Bienvenidos ami Reino Full-length, 1990
Warriors Full-length, 1992
Maza Full-length, 1993
Efecto Tequila Full-length, 1996
Lethal 5.0 Full-length, 1999

LETHAL (SWEDEN)

On the demo, the band play very decent classic thrash metal with a wide variety of influences: Kreator, Destruction, Slayer, etc. The sound on the EP changes into a more aggressive, death-tinged one, but remains an enjoyable listen.
"Annihilation Agenda" is a cool full-length debut, in a fast headbanging tempo for most of the time, again "courting" the German heroes, staying quite close to early Destruction, and the Brazilians By War. The guitar work is razor-sharp, with the only complaint coming from the vocal department, where the singer's delivery strictly belongs to the death metal field. Mentioning this genre, there is almost nothing to connect this album to it music-wise, if we exclude some scatered blast-beating parts ("Ceremonial Death") here and there. As a whole this work is a fine addition to the growing Euro retro thrash scene.

Demolition Demo, 2004
Deliverance EP, 2006
Annihilation Agenda Full-length, 2007

LETHAL AGGRESSION (USA)

Based on "Ad Nauseum", these guys, who started their career in the distant 1985, and thus are one of the very 1st thrash/crossover bands, pull out cool intense fast thrash/crossover, which is often pure speedy thrash served in a direct stripped-down manner. The speed tumbles towards hard/grindcore at times ("Corproganda", "Free Is A 4 Letter Word"), but the joy and satisfaction remain. The album is not "deprived" of nice more melodic hooks ("Blindmen") which work quite well combined with the hard-hitting guitars. "Spiders" is probably the highlight, providing both really aggressive thrash/proto-death and stylish more technical decisions; and "Crossover Crossdresser" is as jolly and speedy as crossover can get. The music takes a harder course after it for a while, thrashing far & wide on "Project X", but the final "Drunk With Murder" is melodic laid-back crossover, although numbers of the kind are very few here.
The debut is more hardcore-oriented and way more brutal, with not many ties to thrash; this is fast merciless stuff, with more than a few grinding bursts this time, with the more laid-back material placed safely near the end where the music takes a turn towards more listenable less intense thrash/crossover.

We Just Killed Rock 'N' Roll EP, 1987
Life Is Hard-But That's No Excuse Full-length, 1989
Subliminal Erosion EP, 1990
Ad Nauseum Full-length, 2009

LETHAL ATTACK

Not much is known about this band, but the music is heads-down retro thrash. The tempo is energetic, quite fast at times: "Kamikaze", but "Black Earth" works almost as well with its heavy, stomping riffage. "War Inside" features a really impressive lead performance, finished with a nice take on a famous opera, which I have problems recalling; a great, albeit a more melodic track. The vocals are snarly, black-ish, but quite cool.

War Inside Demo, 2007

LETHAL CONCEPTION (USA)

This project involves two ex-members of Possessed. The demo contains only two tracks: both are of the fast, aggressive type, with some surprisingly good guitar lines, and awful, undeveloped vocals of the hardcore variety, which will make you run head-over-heals when they try to scream a bit higher.

Demo Demo, 1988

LETHAL CREED (USA)

Based on the "Deathfest" demo, this band pulls out raw amateurish early Razor-esque speed/thrash, mixing very fast sections with clumsy slower ones. The lead guitarist makes some sense, but his screaming pyrotechnics are too stark a contrast to the pretty pedestrian below average rest. The guys had reportedly started playing better in their other formation Forced Psychosis, with which they released one more demo in 1989.

The Demo Demo, 1985
Deathfeast Demo, 1987

LETHAL DOSE (USA)

Melodic power/thrash reminding of early Laaz Rockit and Hexx's "Under The Spell"; it's good, but some of you out there might find it too soft and probably cheesy at times. The vocals are quite cool, though, being of the clean, high-pitched type, and the leads have this unique Kai Hansen-touch, arguably the best moments from this album.

Lethal Dose Full-length, 1988

Vibrations of Doom

LETHAL DOSSAGE (USA)

Based on the self-titled demo, these guys pull out classic speed/thrash metal in the vein of early Whiplash, Destructor, Blessed Death, and other 80's American heroes. The tempo is constantly fast, reaching out for Slayer-esque intensity at times (think Slayer's first two albums): "Hadephobia". "Prisoner Of War" is an intriguing combination of heavy late 80's Slayer sound and faster, even semi-technical moments. "Ravage" is the other highlight, thrashing aggressively, again reminiscent of Slayer, with a pinch of 80's American speed metal. The singer sounds very close to Cronos, maybe more aggressive.
The 2007 demo is 3 tracks of early Slayer-esque thrash, in fast tempo, with screaming leads, a slightly fuzzy guitar sound, and the staple Cronos-like vocals, which here take a more aggressive blend, also "courting" Tom Araya.

Lethal Dossage Demo, 2006
Demo Demo, 2007

LETHAL FIRE (COLOMBIA)

Based on the full-length debut, these guys play good semi-technical classic thrash, with slightly buzzy guitars, which may have been applied intentionally, because it gives the music a distinctive edge, and very strong bass performance. "Rain Of Fire" is a cool, ambitious opener: pounding, but energetic semi-technical instrumental, accompanying by a speech sample, probably taken from some film. The energy remains for the rest of the album, as well as the technicality, which at times gets lost for a while. Still, the final result is not bad at all, with intense speed/thrashers scattered around: the furious "Time To Kill", the longer more complex "Suicidal Acts", which is actually a fine exercise on a more technical, elaborate play. "Ghost Song" offers more intriguing moments, changing tempos and moods throughout, also coming with some of the finest guitar hooks on the album. "Children Of The War" is shorter and faster, and only a bit more immediate, still scoring high in the more technical department, without forgetting completely about the more aggressive riffage. "Existencia Prohibida" thrashes with full force from the get-go, with mighty galloping riffs; later on the guitars bend for more technical performance, but the intensity remains. "Invadidos" follows the same more aggressive thrashy model, and is the least technical composition of the lot. The same can be said about the cover of the Skid Row's "Slave To The Grind", which is very faithfully done, ruined by the low-tuned death metal growls, which are the main flaw, and one could hardly think of a more unsuitable choice on this cool debut.

Vengeance is Mine! EP, 2005
Rain Of Fire Full-length, 2007

LETHAL FURY (USA)

Based on the "Crionic State" demo, this is melodic speed/thrash which reminds me of the Brits Blood Money, but less memorable, and Motorhead.

Crionic State Demo, 1990
The Right to Remain Violent Demo, 1992

LETHAL GUEST (RUSSIA)

The singer with his brutal, growling delivery might scare you, but the music is more on the thrash side with the obligatory for such singing death metal parts. There are some clean vocals used, too, but they sound so bad that it's a good thing that the band don't use them too often. The music hesitates between the classic and the modern school, and ends up sounding cool most of the time. On top of the cake... guess what? There is a cover version of Deep Purple's "Highway Star": this is how the British would sound if they decide to play some death/thrash metal for a change.

Suicide By The Other Side Full-length, 2006

LETHAL IMPACT (BELGIUM)

It seems as though the modern 90's trends have conquered Belgium last, since the early 90's bore hordes of acts like this one from there, who tried to keep the flame of 80's thrash still burning. This band are surely one of the better ones, playing good aggressive thrash akin to Slayer, Vio-lence, and the most famous band from the Belgian horde: Channel Zero. The sound quality is crystal clear and the riffs are razor-sharp; a sheer lesson in classic thrashing rage.

Introducing The Madness Demo, 1992

LETHAL MILITIA (USA)

Based on the "Recreational Violence" demo, this band play brutal thrash metal strongly influenced by Dark Angel's "Darkness Descends". This is relentless attack which at times goes beyond the realms of thrash and takes a distinctive proto-death character ("Sexual Slaughter"). The guys play fast without any slower and quiet breaks, or technical "decorations". Despite quite well conformed with the tastes of the time, and well more vicious than 90% of their contemporaries, this band undeservedly remained only an underground phenomenon.

Recreational Violence Demo, 1987
Hyper Aggression Demo, 1989

LETHAL PRESENCE (CANADA)

Another band who were unjustly left buried in the underground; around 1987 few were the bands who were playing as brutal thrash as these guys. The music recalls Torture's "Storm Alert" or Devastation's "Idolatry" (this band could have been an influence on both bands?). This is really agressive, but also quite technical at times, music.

Raging Death Split album, 1987
Unholy Alliance Demo, 1987

LETHAL VICE (SPAIN)

The sound is so old school that one may find it hard to believe that it was released just recently. What we have here is a blend of power, speed and thrash, boasting some fine sharp and heavy riffage ("Pull The Trigger"), speed metal joys ("Lethal Vice", "Kill'Em All!!" (which is not a Metallica cover)) with an echo from the 90's, a power/thrash number ala Liege Lord and early Helstar ("Evil Inside"), and two covers: Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law" and... well, can an album exist without it- Motorhead's "Ace of Spades", this time done quite well and edgy.

Here Comes The Reaper Demo, 2008

LETHARGY (FINLAND)

The black metal vocals shouldn't mislead you: this is thrash metal all the way through. The music is sharp, but not very fast, and is similar to Raise Hell with the difference that Lethargy are more technical. Another band who have a similar sound, are Criminal Justice from Germany who might have been an influence on the Finns. In other words, we have another worthy addition to the legions of Finnish thrash metal.

Decapitation Method Demo, 2004
Immoral Justice Demo, 2006

LETHARGY (HOLLAND)

This is the band who later went into bigger glories under the name Dead Head. The unholy, shrieky vocals are already here, a bit more restrained though, but the music is a mix of aggressive thrash, quite close to the early works of Kreator ("Pleasure to Kill", "Terrible Certainty") and some doomy riffs, courtesy of Ronnie Van der Wey who had also taken part in heavier, doomy acts like Asphyx and Beyond Belief.

Anaestetic Sleep Demo, 1988

LEVIATHAN (ARGENTINA)

Based on "Del Lado Del Rock": these guys offer heavy/power metal, with only two more aggressive thrashy tracks present. Often considered the substitutes for Hermetica on the Argentinian metal scene (they have no ties to that band member-wise), these guys have a long way to go to reach at least close to them, from a thrash metal aspect, because the music they make will definitely find more of its fans from the classic heavy metal crowd.

Leviathan Full-length, 1996
Rito bicefalo Full-length, 1999
Del lado del rock Full-length, 2001

LEVIAETHAN (BRAZIL)

One of the more original thrash metal bands from Brazil; instead of following the trends established by Sepultura and Sarcofago, the band go into a more non-standard, technical direction not doo dissimilar from Acid Storm. "Smile" is a commendable debut, and at least the beginning promises energetic, fast headbanging fun ("The Last Supper"). "Live Free Or Die" already sounds more non-conventional, with a more jumpy tempo, and cool melodic hooks. "AIDS" and "Bred To Die" sound like sheer Bay-Area thrash pieces, before "Echoes From The Past" introduces more laid-back, calmer riffage. "Pilgrimage To Insanity" is an awesome more aggressive thrasher, followed by the 1-min hardcore joke "Pimponetta". "Spanish Blood" is a brilliant closer, with great smashing riffs and nice acoustic, flamenco-styled passages.
"Disturbed Mind" is a more satisfying listen, with tighter and harder guitar sound, and an overall style closer to the Bay-Area scene (early Testament, in particular), spiced by sparce crossover tracks ("Drinking' Death", "My Cat"). Half of the songs are mostly mid to up-tempo, interrupted by cool switches onto more energetic thrash ("Visions of a Distorted Path", and especially the speedy, aggressive killers "Disturbed Mind" and " Endless Lie"). "The Evil Within" is the only song which reminds of the time of release with its stomping, semi-groovy approach; whether this was just a casual nod to the scene, or a small testing of the soil for a future metamorphosis, remained unclear.

Smile Full-length, 1989
Disturbed Mind Full-length, 1992

LEVIATHEN (USA)

80's Anthrax-worship in the first part, quite well done; the second half, however, starts to drag quite a bit, with two ballads and a more modern sound; a very uneven affair.

Onward Thru The Fog Full-length, 1993

LEXICAN WELTS (GERMANY)

Based on the EP, this band pulls out laid-back bluesy modern power/post-thrash, with the Black Album an obvious influence.

Organized Chaos EP, 1994
Massive Full-length, 1996

LEY DEL CAOS (CHILE)

Modern thrash/death of the Swedish type: expect fast and melodic, even occasionally brutal ("Gore Orgasmo") music.

Beffect EP, 2008

LEZION (USA)

Based on the demo, these guys pull out excellent classic thrash showing obvious fascination with the early stages of thrash (the debuts of Dark Angel, Whiplash, Slayer, Metallica), and the music will be a delight to the ears of the thrash fans who at this stage have started to gradually lose hope that the glorious days of the genre would return. The compositions are longer, and some of them nicely mix sharp speedy riffs with slower pounding sections: "Under A Fallen Sky". "Iceman Cometh" is a fine power/thrasher, also recalling the works of Laaz Rockit, Omen, Liege Lord, Helstar; the balladic interlude is a bit overlong probably. "Beneath The Boards" is a marvellous speed/thrasher, which keeps the tempo up for the whole 9-min; there are no technical variations or any unnecessary gimmicks, just 9-min of classic heads-down speed/thrash. "A Living Grey" slows down at times, to produce another high-octane piece of thrash, which picks up some technicality not far from early Megadeth ("Peace Sells, ..."); even some blast-beats reign supreme for a moment, accompanied by fabulous bass performance (the bassplayer is probably the best musician from the lot). "Maximum Capacity" is raging speed/thrash in the best tradition of the Forbidden debut, and again scores low in the technical sector. The singer unleashes his melodic, mid-levelled emotional voice, and gives the desirable dramatic decoration to the music. This impressive demo has apparently served as the basis for the full-length, as is evident from the album title.

Crippling Elements Demo Demo, 1991
Crippling Elements Full-length, 1992

LIAR (GERMANY)

A decent power/speed/thrash metal band; their music is not very heavy, more on the melodic side, with cool catchy tracks with a hit-potential (now, are we talking thrash?). The debut is the better effort, with more powerful and faster songs (the excellent opener "D.C.W.", "It Hurts"); still it's a mixed bag with naive hard'n heavy numbers ("Lonely Boy") present, which would inevitably make you smile for their silly cheesiness.
"Cheatin' Games" will try hard to cheat you that this is thrash you're listening to, at least with the first two more energetic songs, but the illusion won't last long; the increased presence of keyboards (which were only slightly hinted at on the debut), the retouched guitars, the more radio-friendly approach, and the sweet choruses ala Quiet Riot and Ratt, might make the more hard-boiled thrash metal fans turn the player off long before the end, and they will make a mistake, as the best track comes at the end: the cool up-tempo instrumental "B.4.R.". Well, you shouldn't be angry at anyone; the band name is already a warning...

It Hurts EP, 1989
Nothing but the Truth Full-length, 1989
Cheatin' Games Full-length, 1991

LIBERATED STAIN (JAPAN)

Based on the "Heart Shape" EP, these Japanese offer a modern, energetic blend of thrash and death metal which follows closely the patterns established by The Haunted and the likes. The music is more aggressive, at times acquiring blast-beat tendencies ("Don't Kill Mind to Strikes"), but at the same time slides down to groove ("Undermined Satisfaction", "Pride"), and these parts are "graced" with mean, clean vocals. The last track is a very faithful cover version of At The Gates' most famous song: "Blinded by Fear".

Liberated Stain Demo, 2000
Bloody Life Demo, 2001
Demo #3 Demo, 2002
Heart Shape EP, 2005

LICH KING (USA)

A cool debut of classic Bay-Area thrash; fans of Exodus, Forbidden, Vio-lence will be delighted. The singer is kind of annoying, with his shouted hardcore-ish voice, but the music delivers on all counts, fast-paced most of the time, with a big head-banging potential. "Bleeding and Screaming" is probably the highlight here: a magnificent 2.5-min instrumental which will make you listen to it over and over again. At the end the guys have prepared for you two cover versions of two of their major influences: Exodus' "Lesson in Violence", and Vio-lence's "Bodies on Bodies".
"Toxic Zombie Onslaught" serves another portion of classic Bay-Area thrash, starting with the Forbidden debut-worshipper with the extremely long senseless title "Attack Of The Wrath Of The War Of The Death Of The Strike Of The Sword Of The Blood Of The Beast". "Toxic Zombie Onslaught" follows, increasing the speed close to the lightning parameters, smashing everything in its way. "Black Metal Sucks" is a more controlled, slower thrasher, making itself clear about its feelings towards a rival sub-genre. "Thrash Resurgence" continues the onslaught, followed by the equally as intense instrumental "I Destroy", whereas "Predator" is a nice combination of speed and thrash, even finding time for some slower sections. "Cold Steel Machine" is the only song which develops in mid-tempo, and is a good pounding number. "Office Politics" quickly makes up for the lost inertia, being a blitzkrieg crusher, the last one of the kind, since the closer "Lich King" is considerably slower, making claims at the epic thrash field. With two strong consecutive efforts, the band is apparently quite willing to take an active part in the thrash metal resurgence of the past few years, which the song of the same title here so well sums up.

Necromantic Maelstrom Full-length, 2007
Toxic Zombie Onslaught Full-length, 2008

LIEGE LORD (USA)

This great band were a major force on the American power metal field, with their debut being a milestone in the genre. "Burn To My Touch" introduced some thrash in the proceedings, resulting in a more potent, and an overall better sound. Still most of the time the album develops in a speed/power metal manner, but the intense opener "Transgressor" will make your day. "Birds Of Prey" is another sure-handed pick, with its heavy galloping riffs. "Cast Out" is a more light-hearted speedster, whereas "Portrait Of Despair" is a steam-roller of power/thrash, with a punishing rhythm section. "Black Lit Knights" switches onto intense speed/thrash ala Helstar from around the same time, a tendency continued on the fine up-tempo number "The Manic's Mask", and the excellent energetic semi-technical instrumental "Walking Fire", where the leads also make a claim at greatness. The closing "Speed Of Sound" doesn't quite reach the speed of sound, but is a worthy finishing touch, with its power/speed metal approach, sounding like a leftover from the band's debut.
"Master Control" is another worthy, albeit not a better effort, despite the presence of a couple of fillers. "Fear Itself" is the link with the band's previous output: a cool up-tempo power/speed metal opener. "Eye Of The Storm" is a nice combination of the 3 styles, but it's "Master Control" which comes with the more aggressive riffage, the excellent short leads, and the infectious chorus. "Kill The King" is a good, albeit an unecessary cover of Rainbow, after which the album carries on in the same speed metal pace, with "Soldiers Of Fortune" (which, fortunately, is not a Deep Purple cover). "Feel The Blade" is a toothless heavy metal anthem, which influences the following "Broken Wastedland", which in its turn tries hard to sound edgy, but the melodic chorus and the even more melodic leads are a major hindrance. "Rapture" finally gets rid of the spell adding more intensity, but "Suspicion" returns to the softer models, before the last "Fallout" offers heavy pounding riffage from the power/thrash metal realm. Having obviously reached the summit of their career, and having no more to offer, the band left the metal scene.

Freedom's Rise Full-length, 1985
Burn To My Touch Full-length, 1987
Master Control Full-length, 1988

LIGHTMARE (GERMANY)

This band boasts the presence of Andreas "Andi" Gutjahr- the guitarist who is also a member of the German thrashers Tankard, and the drummer Gerd Lucking, who takes part in the fine progressive power/thrashers Courageous. Gutjahr is in fine form here, and on "Certain Death" he pulls out outstanding performance, which has very little to do with his much more ordinary play on the Tankard albums. The guys' debut is quite good power/thrash of the up-tempo variety, not miles away from their compatriots Mystic Prophecy, and early Iced Earth. The guitar work, again, is particularly good: check out the opening "Despair", although something more could be desired from the singer, whose levelled performance, seldom livened by the occasional high-pitched scream, falls behind the better music. "Black Mess" is a great number, starting as a ballad, later turned into a blistering speed/thrasher, with sharp riffs and fine leads. "Grave" begins in a similar fashion, but the heavy, up-tempo riffage takes over, and this song has a nice dark atmosphere. "Certain Death" is a more melodic power/speed metal track, graced by a cool keyboard background. After clinging towards the ballad a few times, here comes a full-fledged one: "Fade Away", before the closing "Fearless Soldiers" enters the arena with mighty thrashy tempos and galloping rhythms. This is a promising debut, but on "The Fool" the band have surrendered to the modern, much less impressive power metal trends, and that effort sounds much less edgy and uninspired.

Certain Death Full-length, 1993
Vampires EP, 1995
The Fool Full-length, 1997

LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH (USA)

A more modern-sounding mixture of black and thrash metal which at times gets quite aggressive, going into Dimmu Borgir-territory. On the other hand, songs like "Let This Knife Lead You to Us" and "Shores of Twilight" will take you back to the days of Bathory (R.I.P.)'s "Blood, Fire, Death" and his more thrashy efforts of the mid 90's.

The Golden Plague Full-length, 2007

LIPID (DENMARK)

Based on "Deliver Us From Evil", Lipid play cool thrash metal ala The Haunted, but with a more classic edge. This is a work from the better, more attractive side of modern thrash, boasting really fine fast-paced thrashers ("He Who Hates All", "He Who Hates All", and most of the songs). Inevitably will one encounter heavy, groovy tracks ("Silence Of Death"), but only rarely. Some cool Bay-Area riffs can be heard near the end ("Desecrator Of God", "A Trail of Death"), but the very end is preserved for the atmospheric "Beauty Dies": a cool slower, gothic number, with a shade of the Germans Crematory.

Lipid EP, 1998
God We Have Slain EP, 1999
Hagridden EP, 2001
Hagridden Full-length, 2003
Deliver Us From Evil Full-length, 2006

LIQUID NATION (USA)

Modern power/thrash, which clings between the more angry sound of Pantera and Machine Head, and the more moderate one heard on the 90's Chastain albums; actually Chastain wanted to sign these guys on their label Leviathan Records, but the "brotherhood" fell apart shortly after the contract offer was made. This is nothing you could lose your sleep over: there are a couple of cool groovy riffs, but the approach is quite samey, livened up by the epic power/thrash number "Warrior" near the end, and the even better crushing sharp riff-fest on the closing "Omegaland"; it's a pity that the guys started pulling their aces too late.

Liquid Nation Full-length, 1996

LISA GIVES HEAD (SWEDEN)

Based on "A Closer Look At The Ground", this band offer your average 90's groovy thrash. This is mostly mid-paced stuff, which borrows from both the Metallica Black Album and 90's Flotsam & Jetsam, by also adding some doomy numbers ("Hypocrazy", "Blind Disease"), where the album totally loses the little pace it has.

Give the Iron Full-length, 1993
A Closer Look At The Ground Full-length, 1995

LITANIA ATER (BRAZIL)

A furious, brutal mix of thrash and black metal, which is much truer to the latter, including in the vocal department, although these unholy raspy shrieks one should really have a very vivid imagination to call singing. Raw, primitive and far from mandatory for the thrash metal fan.

Sementes do Eterno Ódio Demo, 2006

LIVING CORPSE (ITALY)

Modern thrash of the dynamic variety with fast lashing riffs and annoying shouty hardcore vocals; nothing groundbreaking although it will keep the headbangers happy.

Metaphysical Collapse Full-length, 2009

LIVING DEATH (GERMANY)

This great band, founded by two brothers (Dieter and Reiner Kelch), began in a very humble manner with their debut, being energetic, but quite undeveloped heavy/speed metal. Just a year later the band sounded much tighter and more proficient on "Metal Revolution": superb speed/thrash of a more straight nature considering the band's future works, aided by the highly distinctive, banshee-like vocals of Torsten Bergmann. They took a more ambitious, technical approach on the 4-track EP "Back to the Weapons", which coincided with the band being picked up by the Aargg label, which owner Ralph Hubert was the sponsor and guardian of the technical metal acts in Europe in the 80's, and also used the services of the two Living Death guitar players for his own band Mekong Delta. "Protected From Reality" was quite good progressive thrash, where the guys sounded like an almost entirely new band, compared with their previous output. "World Neurosis" was still a fairly cool technical affair, but the songs have become simpler and more catchy, and Bergmann's vocals have changed into more ordinary, less screechy, but far less impressive ones. The band members, who were taking part in Mekong Delta, preferred to concentrate on that band, as it was growing in popularity, which led to the band's demise. Bergmann was determined to carry on the Living Death flame further on, along with the drummer Atomic Steif, but since he had no rights over the band name, which belonged to the Kelch brothers, had to think of another name, and took it from a song from the "World Neuroses" album: Sacred Chao; the music on that band's only EP would not be the Living Death fan's paradise, though, offering a soft calm, slightly progressive, brand of power and just a bit of thrash metal. Musical differences led to the two guitarists being sacked from Mekong Delta, and they returned to the scene in 1991 for one more temptation: "Killing in Action", which was a fine combination between the more direct speedy style of "Metal Revolution" and the more technical one of "World Neuroses". Unlike other veterans from the 80's (Deathrow, Mekong Delta) who fitted very well into the progressive/technical thrash wave which appeared in Germany at about the same time, the band got lost once again, this time for good.

Vengeance of Hell Full-length, 1984
Watch Out EP, 1985
Metal Revolution Full-length, 1985
Back to the Weapons EP, 1986
Protected from Reality Full-length, 1987
Live EP, 1988
Worlds Neuroses Full-length, 1989
Killing In Action Full-length, 1991

LIVING IMPAIRED (USA)

Based on "World Keeps Spinning", this act is not very easy to categorize: half of the album is a direct classic mixture of thrash and death metal akin to the Floridian school, the other half is weird avantgarde progressive stuff with twisted meandering guitars sounding like deathy Voivod, not also too far from the quirkiness of Gorguts' "Obscura", plus the addition of a few frantic post-core moments ala Blood from the Soul. The singer doesn't change, though, singing in a gruff semi-death/semi-hardcore tember the whole time. The mixture doesn't quite work, since both sides are not very aptly mixed, alternating throughout, the preferences probably going to the more complex side of things with its abstract surreal atmosphere.

No Future/ Perpetual Motion Man EP, 1995
World Keeps Spinning Full-length, 1996
Blossom And Decay Full-length, 1998

LIVING SACRIFICE (USA)

This Christian metal band have changed their style quite a few times through the years, with their debut remaining their most thrashy affair. It will definitely delight fans of old school thrash, which at that time didn't have a very big choice. This effort comes as a nice, albeit less intense, companion piece to same year's Devastation's "Idolatry", and the 1st song "Violence" will throw you directly into Slayer territory with its fast sharp riffs. "Internal Unrest" is on the opposite side of the pole, being heavy and mid-paced, with Slayer again being the closest soundalike. "Second Death" continues the fast intense thrashing from the opener, whereas "Obstruction" serves the next poriton of slower pounding rhythms. The alternation, however, is broken on the following 2 songs, which are heads-down headbangers, but "No Grave Concern" compensates with the heaviest and slowest riffs on the album, a moody doomy thrasher. No speed lost then, on the 5-min thrash monster "Dealing With Ignorance", the more laid-back but memorable "The Prodigal", and on the final speedster "Anorexia Spiritual", which puts an end to this excellent Slayer-worship seldom surpassed before or after.
"Nonexistent" was the band's movement to death metal, and from a thrash-metal-point-of-view it has not much to offer. Still, it is a fairly satisfying listen, moshing hard with a sense of technicality, this time sounding quite close to mid-period Death and Pestilence. The high speed throughout is again "broken" nicely, by a couple of more thrash-fixated numbers ("Haven Of Blasphemy"), and more quiet stylish sections are thrown in, recalling Pestilence's "Testimony of the Ancients ("...To Nothing"). "Void Expression" is a great progressive composition, with nice lead guitar work and a haunting balladic passage. "Atonement" offers another balladic intro, but very little mercy is shown later on, this track being the fastest one on the album. "Distorted" is the odd slow slightly pointless number with doomy spacey riffs, but all is corrected on "Chemical Straightjacket", a fast-paced technical deathster.
Then the guys literally wrote the rules of metalcore with "Inhabit", adding more and more aggression until "Conceived in Fire" entered the deathcore circuit where the band can easily be viewed as one of the finest practitiotners, with their music remaining interesting and entertaining. The guys also have another project: the melodic death metal act Soul Embraced with whom they have one EP and 4 full-lengths released.
The guys are still alive, as "The Infinite Order" indicates although they kept a really low profile for more than 8 years. Death still metal predominates, but is of the dark gothic-tinged variety, and thrash can be heard more than now and then ("Nietzsche's Madness", "Organized Lie") on the more headbanging parts, as well brilliant doom Bolt Thrower-like melodies (the excellent "Unfit to Live"), a resemblnace with the Brits further strenghtened by the nice forceful Karl Willets-influenced vocals. The core leanings have almost completely disappeared, and most of the time the album develops in a straight modern death/thrash offering in mid to up-tempo sitting somewhere between more recent Arch Enemy and Final Breath.

Living Sacrifice Full-length, 1991
Nonexistent Full-length, 1992
Inhabit Full-length, 1994
Reborn Full-length, 1997
The Hammering Process Full-length, 2000
Conceived in Fire Full-length, 2002
The Infinite Order Full-length, 2010

LLUVIA FUNEBRE (CHILE)

Excellent dark gothic classic thrash with gruff death metal vocals; the guys play with conviction and competence, and never lose the dynamics. "Under The Fallen Sun" starts the album in an energetic galloping fashion, before "Fear" offers both a doomy and an Oriental twist which in the 2nd half leave the fast thrashy guitars to do the final damage. "Dying Alive" is intense thrash with spiral-like riffs, great leads and a nice technical twist; without speeding up this track sounds scarily aggressive with a touch of proto-death. "Despertar Sin Salida" is a mid-paced crusher with the leads being the highlight, saving this song from being a filler with its ordinary not very eventful riffage. But the guys hit the top with the fine diverse shredder "To Other Side The Walls Of Death" which provides great both direct and more technical riffs. "Colapso y te Aborresco" is a speedy thrash/crossover joy which gets wonderfully serious (and also faster) in the 2nd half with nice melodic more thought-out hooks. "Dark Reflections" is a very pleasant surprise: a faithful take on the Candlemass heavy thrasher from "Tales of Creation" sustained in the same galloping up-tempo; certainly the singer is nowhere near the operatic flamboyance of Messiah Marcolin, but his rough tone suits the dark brooding music just fine. "Buried Time" is a marvellous tribute to Coroner as the guys were wise enough to concentrate on the more straight-forward side of the Swiss' music, starting with the superb opening machine-gun riffs from "Semtex Revolution" from "Mental Vortex" before moving onto the abstract dry tone of "Grin" with a few nuances from several tracks from there, which in its turn gives way to the nice headbanging section from "Divine Step" from "Mental Vortex" again and vice versa, back to the way it started. And that's all from the cover department: "Touch of Evil" is not a Judas Priest cover, but is a less impressive mid-tempo power/thrasher which influences the even mellower closing heavy metal anthem "El Ultimo Lamento". Despite the underwhelming ending this effort is a fairly original slab of retro thrash metal which comes with its own face being a more than just a promising beginning for these Chileans for whom hopefully the best is yet to come.

La Opción Final Full-length, 2009

LLUVIA NEGRA (COLOMBIA)

A 2-song demo of cool heavy thrash, with a very good bass bottom, change of tempos (the predominant one is mid-paced), but never very fast or aggressive, and an overall dark sound characteristic of the Infernal Majesty debut.

Lluvia Negra Single, 1991

LOB OF LEMMINGS (DENMARK)

Good minimalistic industrial semi-technical post-thrash, combining the best from Coroner's "Grin" and early Treponem Pal, kind of predating the style Voivod took up in the mid-90's. So don't expect headbanging stuff here: this is mid-paced to slow industrialized music, jumpy and abstract, with cold listless vocals quite close to the ones of Treponem Pal. But on the other hand one shouldn't expect a big variety, since apart from some saxophone inclusions and Oriental motives, there is not much happening: the heavy robotic riffage is all over the place. "Rage" tries to justify its title coming in the middle, and is a good creepy modern thrasher. After it the sound gets quite doomy and depressive, with not much happening in the thrash sector. This is a fairly weird listen, and may have found quite a few fans back during the industrial mid-90's.

Just Human Full-length, 1993

LOBOTOMIA (BRAZIL)

Lobotomia share members with another Brazilian band: Ratos De Porao. The style is similar to Ratos: crossover/thrash, well done. Lobotomia stick to the mixture, unlike Ratos who released some straight thrash metal albums in the late 80's and early 90's.

Lobotomia Full-length, 1986
Nada É Como Parece Full-length, 1989

LOCKFIST 669 (BRAZIL)

Industrialized modern thrash/death metal with Fear Factory an obvious influence although the Brazilians are able to come up with vigorous semi-classical riffs at times, and the music as a whole is quite dynamic and speedy seldom reaching for the deathy blasts ("End of an Era"). The vocals are vintage Phil Anselmo, and certain sections carry this staple Pantera-sque aggro-sound (F.U.D.").

Death in a Second Full-Length, 2009

LOCO (GERMANY)

A modern mixture of thrash and hardcore, mid-paced, with a playful attitude, recalling Machine Head's mid-period; "Spiel Mit Mir" is not a cover of Rammstein. This is not aggressive music, although "Si Hombre" livens up a bit with more intense riffage, and "Auf Messers Schneide" is a cool, heavy number, which will remind you of the German industrial wizards Ooomph.
"Seelenreiter" takes the hard course, and is much more satisfying, thrashing hard with a strong modern edge, letting go of the groove most of the time, managing to stay in a good dynamic pace on most tracks. The guitars are quite sharp, recalling this time their colleagues from Rammstein on the more playful passages, but in a heavier, more aggressive way.

Clown EP, 2005
Seelenreiter Full-length, 2008

LOCOMOTIVE (CZECH)

Modern mid-paced death/thrash metal; "Nejsme Nic" is a not very impressive take on later-period Massacra, adding some more obvious grooves ala early Machine Head. By all means the more interesting moments are those coming with faster guitars ("Homo Sapiens", "Stres"), but their number is far from enough, especially when stoner/doom numbers, like "Iluze", or the semi-balladic "Vnitrni Bolest", roam around as well. There are heavy riffs aplenty, but at that time there were many other acts offering the same kind of music.
"Malleus Carnalis": the music is pretty much the same, this time offering some more dynamic deviations ala Pro-Pain ("Pali Se Knot", "Sedum"), and generally the sound is faster (check out the cool moshers "Outsider" and "Zabij Strach"), but once the guys step the pedal on the groove, they forget to let it go, and consequently the music loses its appeal and spontaneity.

Locomotive I. Full-length, 1997
Homo Sapiens EP, 1998
Nejsme Nic Full-length, 2000
Ornament z pijavic Full-length, 2003
Malleus Carnalis Full-Length, 2008

LOGICAL NONSENSE (USA)

This band started in the late 80's as a punk band (reportedly their debut is still pretty much a punk release), but during the late 90's decided to add a considerable doze of metal, and on "Expand The Hive" they unleash hell with their furious brutal mixture of thrash, grind and, of course, a still present shade of punk. The music is not all-out aggression, though, as there are slower, mid-paced parts where the guitars will crush your skull; very intense and enjoyable stuff, which would also appeal to hardcore and death metal fans.

Deadtime Full-length, 1993
Expand The Hive Full-length, 1997
Soul Pollution Full-length, 1998

LONGOBARDEATH (ITALY)

This band were formed by two members of the black/thrashers Vexed. Based on the debut, this is good fast, aggressive thrash reminiscent of 80's Sodom and Kreator (the later, better works) which comes close to death metal at times, and overall sounds more appealing than the Vexed music. You will hear interesting covers of Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" (again!), Kreator's "Pleasure to Kill", and W.A.S.P.'s "I Wanna Be Somebody" sung in Italian, as well as some live versions of tracks from that same album.

Ki l'è dür Full-length, 2005
Polenta Violenta Full-length, 2007

LORD CRUCIFIER (ITALY)

The style displayed on the band's only album is hectic, ambitious thrash with numerous tempo-changes, which hits the mark quite a few times, but there are also moments where the music sounds slightly unfocused, without certain direction. "Earthquake" starts the album in a very hectic, even chaotic, but intriguing manner, and manages to find the right way to thrash with force and conviction later. It was interesting to see whether the guys would choose the more technical, or the more standard way for the remaining material, but the mixture carries on, although gives more preference to the more direct delivery (the aggressive "Dope (Off the Ground", which still contains a fairly unconventional, quirky break). "The Focus Of Life" doesn't really go anywhere, being slow and ordinary, quite misplaced, but that's one of the few awkward moments here. "Skullfucked" brings back the chaotic mix, and the rest follows the pattern pretty close, reaching surprising technical heights on the fine frenetic, jumpy instrumental "A Weird Guest". "Mind of Child Murderer" is a more uncontrolled chaos, blending almost mindless proto-death bashing with truly chaotic, but listenable sections. The band's approach to song-writing is by all means out of the ordinary, and might take several listens before one learns to enjoy this stuff, but the pluses in the long run are more than the minuses.

The Focus Of Life Full-length, 1988

Vibrations of Doom

LORDES WERRE (USA)

A band founded by members of Nasty Savage during that band's long dormant period; the style is not as technical as "Penetration Point" or "Indulgence"; it's more aggressive thrash bordering on death metal sometimes, with some nice hooks and good guitar work.
"Canticles of Armageddon" is clearly the better achievement, with a more technical guitar work, still quite aggressive, bringing to mind mid-period Sadus ("Swallowed in Black", "Visions of Misery"), with vicious, high snarls vocals ala Fred "Death" Duval (R.I.P.) from Massacra. "Stellar Gateway" tones down the aggression (except on a small part in the middle) and introduces some heavy, doomy riffs creating a haunting, surreal atmosphere.

Canticles of Armageddon EP, 1996
Demon Crusades Full-length, 1999

LOS LOS

These guys offer cover versions of popular latino hits throughout the years ("Macarena", "The Ketchup Song", "Vamos a La Playa", "Hasta La Vista", etc.). Some of the versions are impossible to recognize, since the band take a very minimalistic approach, based on groovy industrial post-thrash, in slow to mid-tempo; quite intriguing, by the way, if you manage to adjust your senses to this off-beat, but at times hard-hitting delivery, which owes a lot to acts like Die Krupps, Front Line Assembly, and late period Skrew.

Viva Los Los Full-Length, 2005

LOS PEOS DEL DIABLO (CHILE)

Classic thrash/crossover, but badly produced, and with amateurish musicianship; the tempo is quite energetic, but the fuzzy guitar sound leaves a lot to be desired. "La Idea (Entera)" tries to jump on the grind-core arena at some point, and almost succeeds. Near the end there is a not very convincing cover version of Metallica's "Metal Milita".

Ensayo al Peo! Demo, 2006

LOS SIN NOMBRE (SWEDEN)

Look no further than the typical for Sweden modern thrash/death metal with early In Flames being the prime influence; this is energetic stuff despite the frequent slower atmospheric breaks where semi-clean vocals interrupt the very common shouty ones. Those breaks stretch into whole tracks in the middle, providing a few balladic sections. Near the end the album loses steam, with the guys abandoning the hard thrashing for the sake of more moderate melodic compositions.

Blind Leading Blind Full-length, 2009

LOSER'S LAIR (HUNGARY)

Based on the "Lélekfagy" demo: these guys come up with heavy semi-technical thrash, clearly old school, recalling Metallica's late 80's period and Heathen's "Victims of Deception". The guitar work is quite good, with stomping sharp riffage and a couple of bolder ventures into full-blooded technical thrash ("Ikerlelkek"), which could have been more.

...Good Day to Die Demo, 1994
11. Parancsolat Split, 1996
Lélekfagy Demo, 1997

LOSING SUN (UK)

Modern, somewhat progressive power/thrash which clings between a more aggressive version of Tool and late period Psychotic Waltz. The music is heavy and mid-paced, and there are some interesting twists and turns, but there is also a strong alternative vibe going through the album, and some insipid groovy, non-thrash tracks, like "Closure", pull this album towards the really dull side. "Shimmer" is pure industrial which would put even acts like Front Line Assembly to shame, but this is not the point here. The impassionate, robotic clean vocals which show no emotion at all, are just another flaw. Apparently the guys still look for their real face, but they are too far from the patterns which they try to follow.

Inertia Full-length, 2005
Losing Sun EP, 2005

LOSNA (BRAZIL)

Two girls (remember Volkana, although they have no relations to this band) assisted by a male drummer are responsible for this cool slab of intense retro thrash/crossover. The music is fast and aggressive ("Grotesque Life") at times, at times is crushing and mid-paced ("To Be A Vulture"), even with technical tendencies. "Cloacina" is an intriguing technical number, quite a complex affair by the crossover standards, reaching early Coroner heights easily, seamlessly blending straight moshing moments with twisted jumpy riffs. Certainly, the technical lovers will expect something similar to follow, but "Subliming Of Hatred" is straight-in-your-face thrash: a good dynamic song, but nothing technical here. "Slowness" is not exactly slow, but is quite an intricate smashing take on the slower, mid-tempo side of the genre. "Never Told Me" follows the same pattern: a nice crushing instrumental, with great bass support. "Black Precipice" speeds up, stepping the pedal on the technicality as well, but it's "Venomous Rain" which goes away with all the points for moshing; it also reminds of the crossover tag, attached to the band, something for which the listener would not find many reasons on the last couple of tracks. "The Evil Eye" is a very cool dark brooding thrasher, reminding me of Holy Moses; a constant reminder of the Germans, by the way, is the singer, who closely follows the gruff low-tuned delivery of Sabina Classen most of the time.

Wild Hallucinations Full-length, 2007

LOSS FOR WORDS (USA)

Fast/intense thrash metal with touches of hardcore and short tracks, influenced by Slayer's "Reign In Blood" and Wehrmacht.

Prey Full-length, 1989

LOST CAUSE (USA)

Fast, aggressive thrash/crossover, with some surprisingly good leads for the style and awful, rending vocals.

Demo Demo

LOST CENTURY (GERMANY)

Just by reading the titles of their official releases, one would easily guess the name of the game here. This is a progressive thrash metal band, one of those who appeared in the early-mid 90's and gave an enormous breath of fresh air to the dying metal scene in Germany and worldwide. "Complex Microcosm" is a fine debut, mixing furious technical riffs with beautiful acoustic passages. The good, deep, emotional vocals are another fine addition, and further aggravate the great atmosphere this labum has aplenty. The music stays quite close to the Depressive Age debut, especially on the first couple of tracks. The guitar work of this band is heavier, with less adherence to fast sections, and the quiet moments are more, sometimes stretching into a whole song: the marvellous acoustic ballad "Fallen Star", the album closer "Complex Microcosm" which is supported by some heavier riffs as well. Still, some quite intense thrashers could be found: "Second Coming", as well as a few fine exercises in technical thrash: "Traverse the Veil".
"Poetic Atmosphere Of Seasons" will definitely surprise you with the opener "Sea of Thorns", which is a gothic, atmospheric number, more fitting for mid-period Paradise Lost, for example. After it things get back on track, but the compositions are more melodic, slower, with a certain romantic shade (after all, it's the "Poetic Atmosphere Of Seasons" we are talking about (pun intended). The guitars have acquired a more modern, even industrial at times edge, and the acoustic, peaceful sections have been increased, which was hardly necessary, as the rest is not really aggressive to create a contrast to them, the way it was on the debut. Some tracks might annoy you with their undisguised, open alternative, grungy edge. Apparently the guys have tried to bid farewell to the thrash metal genre in a manner similar to Depressive Age's "Symbols for the Blue Times", but here thrash metal is more strongly present, for better, and worse. Good technical thrashers like "Summer's Dishonest Apologies" and "Search" are not too many; most of the time the songs are mixtures of this alternative style, and thrash, but this combination lacks a punch and appeal. If there ever was an album to deserve the definition "alternative thrash", this is the one.

Natural Process Of Progression EP, 1993
Complex Microcosm Full-length, 1994
Poetic Atmosphere Of Seasons Full-length, 1995

LOST GENERATION (USA)

This band's line-up includes former members of Dresden who released one album 4 years ago. The style here is more hardcore-based, not miles away from early Prong, but slower and less energetic.

Midnight Meat Train Full-length, 1990

LOST IN OBLIVION (ITALY)

A 3-track demo of power/speed/thrash sounding like an edgier version of the 90's power/speed metal movement; the singer is a girl, and her mid-levelled tember kind of misses the passion and dramatism of some of her colleagues (Elisa C. Martín (Dark Moor), Johanna DePierre (Amaran), Magali Luyten (Over Us Eden) who sing in a similar manner. The music is the traditional for the style mixture of fast-paced and slower heavy moments, with more emphasis on melody.

Demo Demo, 2009

LOST LEGION (UK)

These Brits offer power/thrash with epic elements, coming as a more aggressive Falconer; other bands the music may remind you of, are Core Device and the Swedes Damnatory. The music is not very edgy, but the singer compensates for that with his very cool emotional semi-high pitched voice. For the thrashers of interest would be the short melodic speed/thrasher "Blademaster", the longer Manticora-sque "Gellan’s Lament", and a couple of more intense moments from the long numbers. Those long numbers (4 altogether) are sprawling progressive/epic compositions, with frequently changing tempos, balladic breaks, heavy doomy riffs, etc. Some tracks are pure heavy metal, but the guys' target is hardly the average thrash metal fan, so they shouldn't be a surprise, and this effort will easily please the regular metal fan without problems.

Glory or Death Full-length, 2008

LOST SOULS (SWEDEN)

Based on "Fracture": this band, who feature the same mucicians also operating at the same time in Misey Loves Co., and a few years back in Midas Touch, play run-of-the-mill modern groovy thrash, not miles away from the later Misery Loves Co. releases, but this one here is much more boring and uneventful, with just one "spark in the dark" (but this one carries no hope): the short aggressive bomb "2 Piece". Don't waste your time to track this down: this review here gives you the very essence... Later the guys manage to somehow pull themselves together, and produced one more, much better effort, under the name Inrage.

Never Promised You A Rosegarden Full-length, 1994
Closeyoureyesanditwonthurt Full-length, 1996
Fracture Full-length, 1998

LOST WORLD ORDER (SWEDEN)

These guys were formerly known as Spectre Dragon. "Marauder" is a direct continuation of the death-tinged thrash of the other band, with lesser participation of death metal maybe, providing dynamic mostly fast-paced thrash of the classic school ala No Return and Deathchain (if we exclude those two's last more technical albums). The aggression stops for the last two songs which are nice laid-back variations on balladic themes, "Vulture Society" being a vocal semi-ballad, the final "Killing Spree" being purely instrumental with excellent melodic leads. The guys also have another project: the misanthropic black metal outfir Geist.

This Apparatus Must Be Earthed! Full-length, 2008
Marauder Full-length, 2009

LOSTBONE (POLAND)

Modern thrash mixed with hardcore; energetic and dynamic, with gruff death metal vocals ala Karl Willets (Bolt Thrower). If you are a fan of the mixture, and acts like Sick of It All and Pro-Pain, there's no way you won't like this.

Lostbone Full-length, 2008

LOUDBLAST (FRANCE)

This band appeared along with a few other bands (Massacra, No Return, Agressor; they shared musicians with this band) and occupy the same niche, crossing old school thrash with the coming-of-age death metal. Their debut is the only album where thrash metal slightly dominates being of the furious, aggressive variety close to Agressor. Their approach is perhaps a bit more aggressive than the one of Agressor, and often is pure aggressive, albeit meaningful bashing, accompanied by forceful death metal vocals. Some more stylish riffage can be heard on the longer material ("Agony"), and after a more careful listen one may recognize that those were the same guys who 4 years later came up with the technical death metal gem "Sublime Dementia" (check also the short blasting Hellwitch-esque "Trepanning"), although the high-speed stifles the more interesting riffs. "Rebirth" is pure death metal, sounding quite close to Death. On future works the band shied further away from thrash, producing death metal of varying qualities, with one undisputable masterpiece: the aforementioned "Sublime Dementia".

Sensorial Treatment Full-length, 1989
Disincarnate Full-length, 1991
Cross the Threshold EP, 1993
Sublime Dementia Full-length, 1993
Fragments Full-length, 1998
Planet Pandemonium Full-length, 2004

LOW LIFE (BRAZIL)

Fast, aggressive thrash/hardcore, similar to Wehrmacht which, when it slows down, sounds quite appealing, producing the nice little thrashing fury "Killed With Fire".

Deadly Corrosive Crossover Demo, 2007

LUCIDO (FRANCE)

Based on the first demo, these guys offer a mix of black and thrash, at times catchy and thrashy, at times vicious and brutal. Early Bathory is an obvious influence, as well as Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost ("Evil Has Landed") on the heavier material.

Demo Demo, 2005
Demo 2 Demo, 2007

LUDICHRIST (USA)

Crossover/thrash legends who on "Powertrip" made some claims at thrash metal greatness; the opener "Powetrip" welcomes you with some intense riffage, still crossover "decorated", but a lot more aggressive. The fast-paced tempo carries on for another couple of songs, among which "The Tip Of My Mind" is a particularly stylish piece, with some nice technical hooks. The technicality remains for the following "Damage Done", which is of a more furious nature. What comes next is really wirth hearing: a great classical instrumental ("T.B.O.S.") with magnificent guitar performance, not often heard even on the works of the finest guitar virtuosos. Still enchanted by this piece, be careful not to miss another technical track: "Johnypump", softer than the rest. After it the album takes a more direct, even brutal ("And So It Goes") direction, until the closing number: "The Well Dressed Man Disguise", which nicely reminds of the band's crossover past.

Immaculate Deception Full-length, 1986
Powertrip Full-length, 1988

LUNACY (HOLLAND)

"Admission" is quite good speed/thrash resembling Paradox and later period Necronomicon, spiced with some crossover elements and some genuine technical riffs. The lead guitar is a bit chaotic, but quite fast. "Killing Giants" is not a very distant departure from the first effort, but the sound is somewhat darker, and the technical tendencies are increased for the sake of the speed, staying this time closer to late 80's Metallica. The guys have a penchant for longer, 6-7min tracks, which they manage to make sound interesting, with various tempos and melodies taking turns within them.

Admission Demo, 1988
Killing Giants Demo, 1991

LUNACY (SWITZERLAND)

An unknown, but excellent band who play thrash/crossover of a less conventional, technical nature; the debut has a more straight-forward sound, but is an enjoyable, energetic listen, with genuine more stylish touches in the guitar department already thrown in ("Play Your Game", the original Voivod-ish "Inexcusable Misdeed"). Some hardcore pieces are present (" P.M.R.C.", "Up in Smoke"), but the concentration is clearly on thrash, and most of the songs are major headbanging entertainments: the aggressive smasher "Front Page News", the fine instrumental "Brontofröhn", the awesome technical thrasher with the "shitty" title "Shithead".
"Believe?" is a masterpiece of technically-minded thrash/crossover, never overdone, with short songs, and sharp, but also melodic guitars. The abstract, Voivod-ish flair, which was noticed on the debut, here finds a fuller realisation, in the form of great pieces, like the almost surreal "Shame", the more aggressive exercise in technicality "Scum", etc. Certainly more straight-forward tracks are also here, but even there the guitar work is less ordinary. The guys make fun of Michael Jackson (R.I.P.), parodying his hit "Black or White", referring to his colour transformations; the track is pure thrash/crossover, occasionally switching onto the main theme from that song.
Their debut EP, which is whole 6 tracks long, is an auspicious start: pure classic thrash, energetic and fast-paced for most of the time, with a slightly thin guitar sound, but enjoyable all the way. "Control" is the only song which carries the crossover spirit, which would later become the dominant one in the band's sound.
"Fairytales of a New Breed" will be quite a shock to the band's old fans with its industrialized, modern, Rammstein-like sound, and numerous jolly, rock-ish tunes. Thrash would be a very loose description, except based on a very few heavier moments ("Once"), but on the other hand it is full with quite a few interesting melodic guitars, which go close to progressive metal ("Once" once again, and the excellent Rush-influenced "A New Breed"). "Fairytales From Roswell" is a nice technical post-thrasher, with fine atmospheric elements (the use of a piano, etc.), and cool jumpy riffs. This little offering set the scene for the coming of the guys' third full-length, which has little to do with their old style, being dark, progressive power/thrash, quite modernized and groovy at times, but also of a good quality.
"Grey Silence" comes after a lengthy, 4-year break, and shows the guys still on a high technical level, mixing more melodic crossover tracks ("Virtually Yours") with impressive intense headbangers ("Tough Guys"). The band's technical flair is displayed on the excellent thrashing "Occupied", and on the multi-layered, more laid-back "Don't Worry".
"N.I.N.E." is an animal of a different breed, showing the band taking on a more progressive, thought-out style. Thrash metal has stepped back, and what we have here is a cool blend of progressive power and modern post-thrash, which starts interestingly with the long very diverse "Walk", which will keep you guessing what direction the music might take. "Injuries" follows the same model, being a more complex heavy stomper. With "Bat Country" the sound starts staggering towards the heavy, not very impressive ballad, but picks up speed on the industrial, Die Krupps-like "Virulent Virtuality". Sadly, another ballad follows suit: "Darkness", and it's good that the best track comes after it to repair things: "N.I.N.E."- dark brooding stomping progressive power/thrash, again with a more industrial edge, recalling Zoon. The keyboards take over on some songs near the end, and create a nice orchestral atmosphere: "Scream", "Looter Of Corpses", which are not too far from the works of The Project Hate even. There is little here which will remind you of the old band's style, but there are not too many albums released in the new millennium to offer such a listenable cross over several modern genres.

Sickness EP, 1990
Face No More Full-length, 1992
Believe? Full-length, 1993
Grey Silence EP, 1997
Fairytales of a New Breed EP, 2000
N.I.N.E. Full-length, 2004

LUNATICS WITHOUT SKATEBOARDS INC (HOLLAND)

Apart from the interesting name, this band offer something else to be remembered with: this is excellent speedy thrash, without too many variations, but very enjoyable, on the debut. The intense delivery might remind you of Rigor Mortis, but the vocals here are more melodic. The album loses no time to thrash with aggression, and "Crystal Lake" is a relentless, fast-paced oopener. "L.W.S. Inc." thrashes in the same merciless spirit, followed by the intense speed/thrashing madness "Die A Violent Death". At this point the headbanger will have gotten his dosage of great riffs, but the guys are obviously not tired with this non-stop moshing, and "1428 Elmstreet" is equally as fast and energetic, albeit longer with more intriguing guitar implements. The remaining songs are also long-ish, compared to the first ones, with a more proficient, even semi-technical at times, guitar work, recalling Mike Scaccia (Rigor Mortis again). The last two tracks return to the more direct, shorter approach, although the marvellous little closer "Chop 'Till Death" still sounds quite intriguing. The band apparently share interest in horror films, judging by the song-titles, which would be easily recognized by the horror afficionados.
"Reality" stays clear for most of the time from the modern groovy tendencies of the 90's, but the speed and intensity of the debut are sacrificed for the sake of longer, slower, even progressively-sounding tracks, with a more mellow sound. There are some hard-hitting thrashers (one song in the middle with the appropriate title "Aggression" comes to mind, and the brisk closer "Crossroads"), of course, but the concentration is definitely on more thought-out music which hits the mark on a few times ("For Nature", "Livin' With The System", which might remind you of Heathen's "Victims of Deception" with their heavy, semi-technical riffs).

Welcome to the Asylum Full-length, 1989
Reality Full-length, 1996

LURCH KILLZ (USA)

Based on the "Lashing Out" demo, this is excellent speed/thrash metal which surprisingly sounds closer to the German school- think Angel Dust and Iron Angel. This band are more technical, with vocals sounding like Paul Speckman (Abomination, Deathstrike). "Lashing Out" is an exemplary speed/thrash number which will make you headbang for days. How ironic: with this great music these guys should have been mentioned right along all the big names of the scene; the sad fact is that there is barely a handful of fans out there who have heard about them.

Lurch Killz Demo, 1988
Lashing Out Demo, 1989

LUST (MEXICO)

Good classic thrash, quite speedy, along the lines of early Whiplash, Paradox and early Angel Dust; there are some heavier sections where the sound moves close to Slayer's late 80's period for a while ("Twisted Obsession"), but they are not that many, and the rest is energetic thrashing with very good, albeit slightly thin guitars. The other complaint comes from the distorted, synthesized vocals which might annoy you quite a bit.
The EP is another worthy effort which boasts some very vicious black-ish snarls, "accompanied" by brutal death growls at times, as well as some very cool speedy riffs; the music is generally faster than the one on the full-length, and more hard-hitting, but there is only one number which crosses the border towards death metal: the excellent At The Gates-influenced "Mortal Disguise". The rest is well executed speed/thrash.

In the Name of Pleasure...In the Name of Lust EP, 2001
Possessed Full-Length, 2007

LUTHOR (COLOMBIA)

Intense fast-paced retro thrash with very screamy vocals, which deafen the instruments when they try to scream high; the sound quality is not good at all, and often do the guitars merge into a bee-like buzz. The energy can definitely be felt, and references to albums like Devastation's "Idolatry" or Attomica's "Disturbing the Noise" will not be ungrounded, and if it wasn't for the vocalist's constant quarreling with the mike the listener could have gotten more enjoyment from this one-dimensional, but sincerely aggressive effort.

Epidemia de Moral Demo, 2009

LYCANTROPHY (FINLAND)

This band was formed by ex-members of the Finnish thrashers A.R.G. Based on the "Sickness Revealed" demo, these guys play Germanic thrash not miles away from the other band, maybe more towards Destruction, rather than Kreator. This is actually well executed music, fast and even technical, with great both sharp and technical riffs, the latter brilliantly displayed on the highlight "Dismemberment of Sanity": a speedy technical riff-fest at its best.

No Sorrow, No Pain Demo, 1988
Sickness Revealed Demo, 1989
Sleepwalker Demo, 1990
Thrashing Relics Volume 1 Split, 2006

LYING TRUTH (CANADA)

This sounds so much old school that you might find it hard to believe that this is a recording made in the new millennium. Since this is a live performance, don't expect a very high sound quality; it's actually quite bad which is a pity because the music is worth hearing being classic power/thrash/speed reminiscent of Blessed Death, Sentinel Beast, Anvil Bitch, among others. The vocals are the downpoint being from the screaming type, to the point of hysteria sometimes. There is a faithful cover of Motorhead's immortal hit "Ace Of Spades" which is not hard to recognize.

Live Insanity Demo, 2002

LYZANXIA (SWEDEN)

Lyzanxia's debut is first-class technical thrash metal ala Megadeth, with a striking similarity with the aforementioned band in the vocal department where you might start thinking that Dave Mustaine has guested on this album during one of his breaks from the recordings with Megadeth. The album starts thrashing from the get-go, with the opening "Trepan", which is a nice up-tempo number, followed by the more moderate "Hurricane", which despite its title, doesn't offer hurricane-like riffage, but is a very cool semi-technical thrasher, with a great melodic theme, and this is where actually the references to Megadeth begin, since this song is vintage early 90's Megadeth, and could be on any of the band's first 3 efforts from the decade. "You Don't Deserve A Name" follows very closely the Megadeth patterns: a standout piece, which could have been a highlight even on "Rust in Piece". "Loving Fear" slows down, but remains quite good and edgy. "Manhunt" is an energetic speed/thrasher, with great melodic hooks and technical riffs. "Rip My Skin" is a creepy dark mid-tempo piece, which thrashes its soul out near the end. "Totem" is a marvellous heavy semi-ballad, with a haunting chorus and standout vocal performance: one of the highest achievements in the field, and arguably the best composition the band ever produced. "The Slave Cross" is fast to pour more aggression into the proceedings, thrashing both with force and technicality. "My Prisoner" is fine straight-ahead speed/thrash, which doesn't completely forget about the technical side of things. "Lucrece Borgia" is excellent heavy doomy thrash, but watch out for the intense shredding which starts some time near the end. "Resurrection" finishes this great work in the best possible way, offering mighty stomping riffage with brutal low-tuned death growls, and the heaviest guitars around. Every song here stands out, differing from the rest, and the whole album will stay in your head for a long time. This is a really pleasant, and utterly unexpected underground surprise from the French metal scene.
After such an impressive debut one could ask "where to next?", and the answer comes in the form of very ordinary modern thrash/death metal on the other three albums. What made these guys take such a turn, is beyond me. A big letdown after such a promising debut...

Lullaby Full-length, 1998
Eden Full-length, 2001
Mindcrimes Full-length, 2003
UNSU Full-length, 2006

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