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 OBEISANCE (USA)
Based on "Lucifer Master": this band is a kind of a side project for the members of the Mexican death metal maestros The Chasm. The music, however, bears no resemblances to death metal, opting for classic thrash metal mixing some heavy, stomping riffing ala Celtic Frost with some faster, energetic numbers in the tradition of early Bathory and the Swedes Bewitched. This is straight stuff, you won't find any twisted, technical riffs typical for the The Chasm-style, but is very enjoyable and a very good reminder of the heydays of thrash.
Lucifer Master Full-length, 2002 Official Site OBLITERATION (UK)
One of the less known bands from the British metal scene. It's hard to define their style with a few simple words, though: there are fast, aggressive numbers; there are slower, doomy parts; there are mid-paced, semi-technical tracks, too. It might sound impressive to some, but as a matter of fact this is just an average thrash metal album.
Obscured Within Full-length, 1990 OBLITERATOR (USA)
This band was formed by Ski- the man who sang for Deadly Blessing previously, and the same man who was very close to becoming the Rob Halford replacement in Judas Priest (outrun in the last stage by Tim "Ripper" Owens). This could have been the beginning of a stellar career, if released 5-6 years earlier; the style is characterized by the typical for Deadly Blessing speed/thrash anthems, but the music is more technical and heavier (check out "Bloodred Sin"), and Ski screams his lungs out to the very extreme, seldom achieved before, even by Halford himself (check out "Bloodred Sin" again). Hey, there are other songs here, too, like the brilliant opener "Windows To Your Soul": another great brutal technical thrasher, as well as the Ski's tribute to Judas Priest- the cover version of "Beyond The Realms Of Death" with the vocal performance, of course, being the highlight.
Demo Demo, 1992 OBLIVEON (CANADA)
This great band never got the recognition they deserved. They play a unique brand of technical/progressive thrash with a certain industrial flavour on later works, heavy and mid-paced most of the time, with meaty, crushing riffs. Their debut fits this description almost completely, but it lacks the industrial decorations of the other albums, but is a first class slab of technical thrash. It opens with the excellent speedy, lead-driven instrumental "Access To The Acropolis", after which things take a heavier, and more technical turn, with "Chronocraze", which still enjoys a great faster-paced section. "Droidomized" increases the heavines, but without losing the speed, and the result is a fine intense thrasher, with a technical twist. The technicality remains for the great 9-min progressive thrash opus "Fiction Of Veracity"- one of the band's finest hours, a smashing combination of moods and tempo changes. "From This Day Forward" is a dark brooding mid-paced thrasher, with creepy, sinister guitars. "Imminent Regenerator" is technical speed/thrash at its smashing best, whereas the closing "It Should Have Stayed Unreal" slows down again, acquiring a dark, gothis edge.
From This Day Forward Full-length, 1990 My Space OBLIVION (ITALY)
A very obscure release, Oblivion's only mini-album is an enjoyable mixture of power and melodic thrash, with a nice finishing touch ("Pipes And Drums", which somekind of reminds me of ABBA's "Arrival"). Before this finishing touch, however, one will come across a very good fusion of power, speed and thrash metal: "Screaming Hearts", partially ruined by the emotionless, semi-clean vocals; one full-blooded intense thrasher: "Guilty Youth", with a great bass-bottom (which is very strong on the whole album, by the way); one feelgood crossover piece: "Let Leave Me Be Myself", and more.
Oblivion Full-length, 1990 OBLIVION (USA)
A very obscure band. Their only album mixes classic heavy metal ala Accept with some power/thrash in the Heretic-vein, or the later Ultimatum works. There are some punk-ish moments, too- "Get A Life", and as a whole the album doesn't have a very big headbanging potential, except for the live track "Cross The Line", which is a cool nod to the 80's American scene, and the galloping power/thrasher "Euthanasia", which loses in the process from the buzzy guitars.
Oblivion Full-Length,1989 OBSCENE GESTURE (USA)
A band formed by two ex-members of the mighty Agent Steel (Chuck Profus and George Robb). The style is not splashing speed/thrash along the lines of that legendary band, but (based on the demo) is quite a worthy slab of 80's thrash metal spiced with some crossover, reminiscent of Nuclear Assault and Sonick Plague. The full-length is an improvement in every department, not a very distant departure from the music displayed on the demo, but much more aggressive. The songs are short explosions of rage and fury, this time closer to Slayer's "Reign in Blood", or Sick Of It All, on the more hardcore-ish sections. Some more laidback, jolly numbers are certainly added (the album is 21 songs long): "Crumbs", "Lovely", but songs like "Warning" compensate for them with their brutal, grind-core approach.
Demo 2005 Demo, 2005 My Space OBSCURE (SPAIN)
Based on the "Curse the Course" demo, this is great thrash/death of the dark, but intense type reminiscent of Pestilence's "Testimony of the Ancients" and Infernal Majesty's "None Shall Defy". The tempo is frequently fast, but never too brutal, and the riffs are technical, but not as overtly technical as the ones on the Pestilence album, for example. The guitar hooks are very catchy and memorable, and are contrasting to the drastic, brutal death metal vocals. The only flaw is the unnecessarily long orchestral intro "Yellow Brick Road to the Void", which lasts for more than 3-min, and might stretch your nerves a bit.
Disgusting Reality Demo, 1990 My Space OBSCURITY (SWEDEN)
One of the first bands in Sweden who explored the more extreme and "darker" corners of metal. Their style is a furious mix of black and thrash (some proto-death moments, too) metal akin to Possessed, Bathory and early Slayer.
Ovations to Death Demo, 1986 My Space OBSESSOS (BRAZIL)
A 4-song demo of really brutal thrash/proto-death, sounding well more vicious than their more renowned compatriots. Some tracks are pure death metal: "Satans Procreation", one of the earliest attempts at the style. The sound quality is very bad, with buzzy guitars, and low, gruff vocals, which do their best to sound as brutal and vicious as possible. This is the reason, I guess, why this demo sank without a trace, although from a poineering point of view it definitely deserves a mention when talking about the spawning stages of the death metal genre.
666 - The Ultimate Demo, 1987 OBSKUR (CANADA)
Quite good classic, mid-paced heavy thrash infused with some more melodic guitar lines, more typical for traditional heavy metal, but they don't sound awkward, and give the music a more catchy edge. There are some up-tempo moments ("Season of Witch", "Intru-mental", both great stomping thrashers with great leads and riffs), but they are compensated by pure hard'h heavy numbers ("Negligence").
Obskur Full-length, 1994 OCCULT (HOLLAND)
A black/thrash metal band. Their debut is mostly furious black metal with some slight hints of thrash. On "The Enemy Within" the transition is more than obvious: this is heads-down thrash with a strong presence of black metal. The next effort introduced death metal in the proceedings, but the black metal influences by then have been almost completely gone; this is a great album from where the band's best period begins. The following two albums are old school thrash at its finest, placing the band on the top of the thrash metal wave in Holland and worldwide. A change of name followed - from Occult to Legion Of The Damned, but the style pretty much remains the same, with a slight return of some of the black metal tendencies of old.
Prepare To Meet Thy Doom Full-length, 1994 My Space OCCULT (USA)
Based on the demo: two songs of raw early speed/thrash ala Hallows Eve and Razor, with a certain shade of hardcore on the short "Slaughterhouse", which also boasts the better guitar work, with a nice melodic main theme.
Bloodthirsty Demo, 1985 ODDECH BUNTOWNIKA (POLAND)
A 2-song demo of heavy, black-ish thrash obviously influenced by early Venom. The music is not very intense, and the vocals are a bit of an acquired taste, being shouted black-ish ones.
Już Tu Nie Wrócisz Szatanie Demo, 1987 ODDMONGERS (FRANCE)
Based on "The New Prometheus", this is modern 90's thrash metal, but these guys don't fall too often into the groovy "traps" set by Pantera, Machine Head and the likes; they opt for a more original, alternative sound reminiscent of Tool perhaps at times, but more aggressive and less adventurous. The clean vocals used on this album are quite good, but they would probably be more suitable for a doom or gothic metal act. This is cool, but melodic stuff, and might not satisfy the more hard-boiled fans.
Qualms... Full-length, 1995 ODIOUS (GERMANY)
Modern groovy 90's thrash, with a pinch of death and gothic; this is not headbanging stuff, as the music is mid-paced at best, with several quiet atmospheric moments.
Fallen Apart EP, 1995 OF RYTES (GERMANY)
The band where Mem Von Stein (Exumer) stopped for a while before his departure for the USA. "Without..." is by far one of the undisputable masterpieces of the whole German metal scene. Don't expect to hear any speed anthems like the ones featured on the Exumer's debut; this is very moody, mid-paced technical/progressive thrash which has no precedent on the scene. Von Stein lowers his vocals down to suit the music, and does a marvellous job as such. The style bears resemblances to the surreal atmosphere of Voivod's "Killing Technology", but surpasses it in musicianship on the best moments. It's hard to accurately describe such a great album. This is probably the first work to start the wave of progressive/technical thrash metal acts which appeared on the German metal scene in the early to mid-90's.
Without... Full-length, 1991 OFFENSIVE (JAPAN)
This is modern, groovy thrash/death metal which will remind you of the last two Massacra albums. The music doesn't sound stale, though, as the guys vary things from heavy, almost doom-laden numbers to some cool faster thrashers.
Existence Full-length, 2002 OIL (USA)
This band was formed by the ex-Dark Angel singer Ron Rinehart and the guitarist Blake Nelson. The style very slightly reminds of Dark Angel (some of the songs possess the heaviness of "Time Does Not Heal") being more modern, groovy with a certain doze of power metal, and Rinehart's vocals taking a more pleasant, melodic turn.
Oil EP, 1997 OLD (GERMANY)
One more band who are fascinated by Celric Frost and Hellhammer. The music is raw, slightly unpolished old school black/thrash along the lines of the aforementioned bands, with some more up-tempo sections ala Beherit and Barathrum.
Nocturnal Ritual EP, 2005 My Space OMEN (HUNGARY)
One cannot help, but notice that many of the Hungarian metal bands: Akela, Moby Dick, Fekete Sereg, Pokolgep, are a symbol of longevity and endurance. This band fit perfectly into this list, too. Omen were formed by two members of Pokolgep with the intention to play harder and heavier music than the other band. Well, they partially succeeded, especially on the first three albums where one could hear some nice thrashing along the more standard speed/power metal sections. The band's music has apparently missed its age, being clear classic power/speed/thrash, and although their later works adopt a more modern sound, they never completely betray their 80's roots.
Feketében Full-length, 1991 Official Site OMEN (USA)
This legendary American power metal band's sole flirtation with thrash has the typical modern sound for its time, with groove and angry vocals, but is not that bad, with catchy songs and heavy riffs, universally denounced by the Omen fans. It begins quite well, with the heavy, aggressive opener in the Pantera-vein "Chained", but the rest is slower, less angry, and openly groovy, clinging towards Metallica's Black Album on the better moments.
Reopening the Gates Full-length, 1997 My Space OMENOMEJODAS (SPAIN)
Cool retro thrash sounding like many other bands from the 80's. The tempo is energetic, and the guitar work is quite good, albeit simplistic and direct. The singer is not really an asset, with his hoarse, hardcore-ish voice. There are some cool touches present, like the short folk-ish instrumental ala Skyclad "Imber", or the also short hardcore outburst "R.I.P.". There is some shade of hardcore on other tracks as well ("Enajenación Mental"). "Thrash Metal" is a truly aggressive piece of thrash, richly deserving its title. Its aggression is partially compensated by the jolly, light-spirited closer "Omenomejodas".
Mundo de Locos Full-length, 2006 Official Site OMISSION (SPAIN)
"Day Of Your Death Arrives" is black-ish thrash with 80's spirit similar to Alastor from Portugal. "Yells That Destroys": after the imposing intro taken from "Star Wars", we are met with another slab of black/thrash, not a very distant departure from the debut demo, but with a better musicianship, leading to some really cool intense speed/black/thrashers: "Legions of Youth". The only pullback would perhaps be the brutal blast beat-based, black-ish track "The Light in My Dark". "Shadow on the Wall" is a nice heavy/power metal hymn.
Day Of Your Death Arrives Demo, 2005 My Space OMNITRON (SWEDEN)
This is the band known as The Krixhjälters previously. Unfortunately, with the band's old name a certain part of these guys' talent must have gone, too, because the music is not even half as good. It retains some of the crossover elements, but it mixes it with some heavy-handed semi-technical thrash which leads nowhere. At times the sound acquires a very eclectic nature, aiming at the progressive metal realm, and these moments would be to the liking of those who enjoy albums like Voivod's "Dimension Hatross" and "Nothingface", but this is inferior. The album opener: "The Power Line", starts with some good riffs, but soon introduces the offbeat elements which take over the few more aggressive guitars scattered throughout. The only other place where you can find yourself headbanging, is "Torque Limit", but again for a while, where there is even an attempt at singing in Russian. Of course, there are songs where thrash metal is nowhere to be heard: "I Am He", "Five in Four". It's no wonder that the band disappeared without a trace soon after this only effort.
Masterpeace Full-length, 1990 ONE MAN ARMY AND THE UNDEAD QUARTET (SWEDEN)
Apart from the long and pompous title, this band have something more to offer. This is actually Johan Lindstrand's (The Crown) new band. The style is also modern thrash, but unlike The Crown, it's mostly mid-paced with good, heavy riffs; one of the better bands from this over-saturated sub-genre.
21st Century Killing Machine Full-length, 2006 My Space ONSLAUGHT (UK)
An essential British thrash metal band. "Power from Hell" is a cool, raw debut, sounding like a more aggressive version of early Venom; apart from the up-tempo thrashy tracks, the band try something more melodic, in the form of the long mid-paced power/thrasher "Lord of Evil". The song "Death Metal" is far from the early attempts in the death metal genre, despite its title: it's actually a light speed metal number ala Motorhead; the next one is a much better effort: "Angel of Death": an intense speed/thrasher, almost touching the Slayer track of the same title. Later on there is at least one more energetic piece: "Steel Meets Steel", but the majority is not really striking, showing a band, still a long way from the better examples of the genre.
Power from Hell Full-length, 1985 Official Site OPEN FIRE (POLAND)
Apart from Turbo and Wolf Spider there was another band who played some great thrash metal in Poland. How these guys remained so obscure, is a mystery... The band owe more to the speed metal heritage of Helloween and Warrant than to their compatriots. The album is full with great lead guitar work ala Kai Hansen and speedy melodies, topped by nice melodic soaring high vocals.
Lwy Ognia Full-length, 1988 OPHYDIAN (ITALY)
Modern power/thrash of the more melodic type, with slight alternative elements. The vocals are good, but are too melodic for the style, and the more peaceful moments are a bit overused, and consequently the ballad "Snake Eyes" appears to be the best song here.
The Perfect Symbiosis Full-length, 2007 Official Site OPPORTUNITY (THAILAND)
Modern thrash of the more melodic type, still having its edge ("Throne", "Fire") whenever necessary, but often relying on the groovy patterns as well ("Grudge", "Unleashed"). "Dog Nation" is quite a good combination of the two, and on top of that we have nice melodic lead guitars.
Plewpatapi (Fire) Full-length, 2007 My Space OPPOSITION PARTY (SINGAPORE)
Based on "Zombified", these Singaporeans come up with a very enjoyable blend of energetic classic thrash metal and punk. Yes, punk-that's right! It will probably not appeal to punk fans too much, though, because the sharp, thrashy riffs dominate, but the inimitable punk spirit of the late 70's-early 80's is all over the album.
EP Ver. 1.0 EP, 2000 Official Site OPPRESSION (SWEDEN)
A great unsigned band. I hope this mistake will be soon corrected! All their efforts are of consistent high quality as the style is more of the fast, intense classic thrash variety, along the lines of Vio-Lence's "Eternal Nightmare".
Violence Will Dominate Demo, 2003 Official Site OPTIMUS PRIME (USA)
This band were formed after the split-up of Deadly Blessing by some members of that band. The music is not as speedy, and has already managed to acquire some modern elements, not miles away from Metallica's Black Album ("Stand in Line"). Still the classic sound dominates, and what we have here is quite good power/thrash with excellent powerful vocals, and heavy riffs.
Demo Demo, 1991 OPUS DEAD (SPAIN)
Thrash/crossover, quite fast and aggressive at times, but with cool melodic leads; style-wise close to early D.R.I., maybe more simplistic and with worse vocals.
Perros De Presa Full-length, 2002 Official Site ORACLE (USA)
This band's short career crosses paths with Iced Earth as two of their members have played in the more renowned band. This is a very strong progressive power/thrash metal album which draws comparisons to Nevermore and Eidolon. The songs are long (some of them go over the 9-min range), but never sound boring even for a single second, with dark, almost gothic atmosphere and nice, crunchy, heavy riffs. The tempo is mid-paced, with a very few exceptions. The softer moments ("Paradise (on the edge of the world)"), which are not too many, will bring you back to the time of the Queensryche's debut mini-album. The man who steals the show here, is Kent Smedley- the guitarist, who is truly one of the finest to ever grace the metal scene, and one of the least known. His performance is simply amazing: melodic, fast, but at the same time very technical leads decorate every track, and although on the longer ones he's been given quite a room to display his talent, you will hardly complain, since his pyrotechnics are just breathtaking. It's too bad this man never recorded anything else; could have been a very valuable addition to the Shrapnel catalogue, and certainly one of its most prominent representatives. The other person worth mentioning, is William Wren- a great singer whose passionate powerful clean vocals will haunt you long after this album is over; he later joined the progressive power metallers Mystic Force.
As Darkness Reigns Full-length, 1993 ORCHRISTE (SWEDEN)
This band was founded by members of Seance who wanted to keep themselves busier, one of them Patrick Jensen: the guitarist who has also taken part in Witchery, The Haunted, Brujeria, and other acts. What we have here is 2 songs which stylistically are not too far from the Seance output, with a more thrashy edge. Maybe the guitar work is more technical, especially on the long dark thrasher "Blessing of Death". "Open Grave" is an aggressive, bashing thrash/death piece.
Unholy, Unwholesome and Evil Full-length, 2006
"Nemesis" is the band's magnum opus, the finest example of their unique style, which also manages to stay away from the modern/industrial influences for most of the time. It starts in a fabulous way, with the technical masterpiece "Dynamo", with superb guitar performance. "Estranging Abduction" follows the same pattern, but "Factory Of Delusions" speeds up, and gets more aggressive, creating some headbanging atmosphere, which gets lost for the complex whirlwind of technical riffage "Frosted Avowals", which fans of progressive/technical thrash might find the highlight here. "Nemesis" relies more on heavy, crushing guitars, and is a nice pause, before another technical gem overwhelms you: "Obscure Mindways", this time faster, combining the best from Helstar and Despair in their prime. "Strays Of The Soul" shows the more lyrical, semi-balladic side of the band for a while, before the smashing technical riffs take over. "The Thinker's Lair" closes this incredible album with a mid-paced, more standard approach.
"Cybervoid" is a much more modern, and more immediate effort. There is groove, there is also industrial, but the interesting arrangements and the original musical decisions are still present, to a certain extent: "Perihelion", "Sequels". Still they are not enough to make this album sound even half as good as the first two ones; the apporach is too samey, making the whole album sound like one big track. The EP and "Carnivore Mothermouth" concentrate on the industrial and modern tendencies, leaving the technical flair far behind.
Nemesis Full-length, 1993
Cybervoid Full-length, 1995
Planet Claire EP, 1998
Carnivore Mothermouth Full-length, 1999
Living in Profanity Full-length, 2007
Curse the Course Demo, 1991
Non Existendi Cultus Demo, 1992
Damnations Pride Demo, 1987
Damnations Pride EP, 1997
Ovations to Death EP, 1997
Damnations Pride Best of/Compilation, 1998
The Enemy Within Full-length, 1996
Of Flesh and Blood Full-length, 1999
Violence and Hatred EP, 2000
Rage to Revenge Full-length, 2001
Elegy For The Weak Full-length, 2004
Agathocles/Occult Split, 2007
The New Prometheus Full-length, 1997
Refine Full-length, 2000
Down with the Nails Full-length, 2006
Brutális Tangó Full-length, 1992
Anarchia Full-length, 1993
Jelek Full-length, 1994
Idegen Anyag Full-length, 1997
Tiszta Szívvel Full-length, 2003
A Hetedik Nap Full-length, 2006
Agymosás Full-length, 2006
Yells That Destroys Demo, 2007
Error in Evolution Full-length, 2007
"The Force" saw the guys full equipped to compete with the best: with tighter and better musicianship each of the 7 songs is a heavy, thrashy tour de force, great combinations of heavy, pounding riffs and smashing faster ones. Shades of their more melodic debut album could be found in a heavy/power metal hymn like "Metal Forces", but the rest is uncompromising thrash with a unique dark atmosphere, recalling another very good act from the UK: Deathwish. The tracks are long-ish, within the 6-8min sector, but to talk about something more technical would be too far-fetched.
The band took a very premature decision to adopt a more commercial, accessible sound on "In Search Of Sanity" after which their fans abandoned them in draws. It wasn't completely bad, as a matter of fact; there were quite a few energetic thrashers present, and if we exclude the annoying overlong noisy intro, and the not very convincing cover of AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock", the rest was pretty decent, surrounded by the melodic, but cool soaring vocals of Steve Grimmett (Grim Reaper). "Welcome To Dying" is one of the band's best songs, albeit a bit long. Not happy with the acceptance, the band folded soon after this release.
On their comeback album the guys took a step similar to Exodus: they added a more modern sound to their basic old school approach, and it was the right thing to do, because "Killing Peace" is a real winner. The album starts with no mercy, with the great headbanger "Burn", but later on the groovy, modern trends spring up on several songs, occupying the middle; they might stretch your nerves a bit, but if you have a bit more patience, you'll reach the best, which comes in the form of another couple of nice retro thrashers ("Twisted Jesus", and especially the furious closer "Shock & Awe").
The Force Full-length, 1986
Let There Be Rock EP, 1987
Shellshock EP, 1988
In Search of Sanity Full-length, 1989
Power From Hell / Angels of Death EP, 2006
Killing Peace Full-length, 2007
Chaotic Years 1989-1995 Best of/Compilation, 2005
Zombified Full-length, 2005
Left To Perish Demo, 2004
Deep Vein/Bloody Sign/Oppression Split, 2004
Extinction Agenda / Oppression Split, 2005
T.P.A.S Demo, 2005
State of War Demo, 2006
Control Full-length, 2003