Copyright (c) 2007-2024 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
S.A.D. (GERMANY)
Punk-ish thrash/crossover ranging from brutal outbursts ("Straight Ahead") with a pinch of Cryptic Slaughter, to merry slackers ("New Day"). The vocals are of the semi-declamatory variety, quite comprehensive and even interesting at times the singer obviously doing the best job of the lot.
Behind the Fence Demo, 1988 S.A.SLAYER (USA)
At this early stage of the genre's development one shouldn't expect very forceful thrash, and this is not the case here. This is the band where Ron Jarzombek (Watchtower, Spastic Ink) showed his great skills for the first time although here he barely hints at his much bigger potential (well, the style doesn't give him many opportunities to do that). The music is mostly traditional power metal with sparse thrashy elements, catchy and entertaining, an obvious influence on the future thrash metal scene.
Pree To Die EP, 1983 Vibrations of Doom S.B.I. (USA)
This is modern post-thrash with with heavy grooves and a couple of more lively, dynamic moments ("Dead"). "Clocktower" is an excellent more technical shredder, the highlight here, with the forceful semi-clean/semi-shouty vocalist trying to find his place on the front row as well with his authoritative, emotional antics.
It Is What It Is Full-length, 2017 Official Site S.C.E.P.T.R.E. (FINLAND)
This band has ties to the early speed metal heroes Agent Metal. This 3-song EP shows the guys pulling out classic thrash/crossover with brutal death-ish vocals. The tracks are short mixing fast and slow sections, only once going out with all the guns blazing: the short brisk speedster "S.C.E.P.T.R.E.".
Retaliation EP, 2001 Official Site S.D.I. (GERMANY)
S.D.I.'s self-titled (the SDI abbreviation stand for "Satans Defloration Incorporated") debut was an instant thrash/crossover classic, the best achievement in this sub-genre to ever come out of Germany. Light-hearted, very catchy, and quite fast and intense all at the same time, this album has lost nothing of its initial magic all these years. This trio differed from their American counterts (Nuclear Assault, D.R.I., Prong, etc.) mostly based on the stronger speed metal aesthetics coming straight from the early efforts of Destruction, Vectom and Warrant, plus the very memorable shouted choruses, a staple mark for the band, and pretty much one of a kind at those times. Along definitive thrash/crossover hymns ("Quasimodo", "Absolute Banger", "I Don't Care", "Take Off Your Hands") stand the pure hardcore outbursts ("Wanker", "Chainsaw Massacre") and, of course, the so popular at that period "I Wanna Fuck Ya"; at the time when most acts were shying away from using directly this frank direct request/invitation/promise/expression disguising and veiling it under various preposterous euphemisms, these guys shouted it out loud and clear without any fears, and kudos should be paid for them for this "chivalry". Speed metal is also covered with the more melodic, but very memorable "Panic in Wehrmacht", but watch out for "You're Wrong": a marvellous ballad with a furious crossover finish and one of the best choruses ever heard on a thrash metal album; and for the closer "Bloodsucker": a curious moody doom/thrasher. Rainhard Kruse acquits himself with a cool mid-ranged semi-clean timbre which nicely fits both the harder and the softer songs.
Satans Defloration Incorporated Full-length, 1986 Official Site S.E.D. (GERMANY)
This not very well known formation pull out intense varied thrash which suffers quite a bit from the sloppy production which
makes the guitars sound too noisy for most of the time. The guys (and a girl behind the mike) change the pace trying to follow the
stylish canons of Holy Moses, but the musicianship isn't on a very high level although on "Electric Love" the symbiosis between
hard-thrashing and tender balladic sections has been well achieved. Elsewhere the folks just bash with reckless abandon (the brutal deathy diversions on "Alive" and "Angel" at the end) without thinking too much about the actual song structure. The girl ensues a manly hash voice which acquires cleaner and more female qualities on the frequent balladic passages (check out "Angel" again for the best example of the latter).
Starvation Full-Length, 1991 S.E.K. (GERMANY)
This act is actually only one person: Necron, who's also a member of quite a few German metal acts. The style is old school black/thrash metal in the early Bathory vein, but not as fast and violent as the very early works of the Swedish hero (R.I.P.); it has a more playful, crossover edge, and Necron feels comfortable enough singing in a minimalistic, raspy terrifying tone recalling the sounds emitted by the Orcs from "Lord of the Rings".
Mehr NSgel fnr das Schwein Demo, 2004 Official Site S.F.D. (AUSTRALIA)
Based on the "Destruction of the Youth" demo, these guys offer diverse stuff of the classic type which on the most extreme moments comes close even to the Cryptic Slaughter debut (check out the first two tracks which are furious exercises in thrash/death/grindcore of the comprehensive listenable variety). The two songs in the middle take a nice turn towards more stylish semi-technical thrash still pretty classic-sounding with the speed decreasing almost to the point of disappearance. The latter returns, however, for the last two numbers which are fast, but more restrained, takes on thrash/crossover. The singer doesn't change throughout, though, singing in a gruff semi-death metal manner the whole time.
Dematerialize Demo, 1992 S.F.U. (USA)
This is simplistic thrash/crossover delivered in a raw unpolished manner, the band moshing with gusto, clinging towards the proto-death realm ("Schizophrenia") on occasion, including on the lengthy lasher "Internal Bleeding", an aggressive cut with a few stylish screamy lead sections, the grindcore outbreak on "Self-Destruction" the most brutal occurrence here, "Firing Squad" being the slower pounding deviation with an accentuated bass-bottom. The vocals are intense spatout semi-recitals, fitting the relentless no-bars-held musical approach. Later on the musicians moved on with Onceover, a more controlled thrashcore unit (one demo released in 1990).
Six Feet Under Demo, 1988 Official Site S.G.M. (USA)
Melodic thrash/crossover with a jolly punk-ish attitude, mostly mid-paced, without any fast aggressive parts.
Aggression Full-length, 1988 S.H.I.T. (BELGIUM)
In this band's case S.H.I.T. stands for "Something Horrible in Town"; the demo title is, certainly, another story, but based on the "Fart Power!" one these folks specialize in pretty intense, sometimes overtly aggressive, thrash/crossover which is marred by the really awful sound quality which gives a pronounced buzz to the guitars. Expect no restraint under any form, this is bashing pristine stuff which breezes by also carried by the leveled semi-declamatory vocals and the sparse but effective lead sections. Tracks like "Army Childrengarden" and "Polluted World" some actual thrashing power, but for most of the time the guys just lash with reckless abandon, coming close to the eye-gouging brutality of Cryptic Slaughter's first even.
New-Beat Nightmares Demo, 1989 S.I.C. (AUSTRALIA)
A cool entry in the thrash/crossover sub-genre of the faster more brutal type crossing early The Accused with Wehrmacht; the tracks are short seldom going over the 2-min limit except for "Brown Paper Bag Man" which tries its hands on purer thrash and is less intense. The rest is very fast extreme stuff without any gimmicks.
Screaming In Churches EP, 1988 S.I.D.E. (RUSSIA)
Classic power/speed/thrash metal with several modern leanings; the guitar work is good, but the sound is a bit buzzy and the singer is a not very suitable death metal growler. The guys know when to slow down although the faster passages are better despite their clinging towards the Swedish school at times. Some of the musicians have done a better job in the mid-90's under the name Horror releasing two demos of stylish progressive thrash.
Voronviking Demo, 2000 S.I.K. (USA)
Based on the "Practice Tape 5/5/90" demo, this band play raucous old school thrash which has its rawer hardcore side ("Chronic Suicide"), the dramatic stomps on "Individualism Feared" stirring some semi-intrigue accompanied by the steady but indifferent semi-declamatory vocals, the muddy sound quality hampering then musicians' efforts on occasion.
Practice Tape 5/5/90 Demo, 1990 Youtube S.L.U.T. (GERMANY)
Heavy groovy post-thrash with ultra-angry quarrelsome vocals; a painfully familiar picture, isn't it? And indeed these guys never try anything outside the box just grooving onward with repetitive seismic galvanizing riffs all the way acquitted by the very good sound quality which boosts the bass and gives the guitars a really heavy crushing edge.
Mindfuck EP, 1996 S.N.F. (CHILE)
A good demo with awesome Alex Skolnick -like guitar work courtesy of Ilvaro Soms (who later moved to another Chilean metal band, Dorso). The music is Testament-influenced and something else which is hard to define (perhaps it's the joke punk-ish moments like "Mr. Harry").
...Acting Like A Fool Demo, 1989 My Space S.N.O (UK)
First-class prog/tech, largely old school thrash that is full of intriguing quirks like the trippy Voivod-ish digressions on the title-track, or the dark pounding urgency of "Siege of the Power Plant" which suddenly turns to near-dissonant crossover at some stage. The latter runs rampant on "Moral Panic" which is also a fairly twisted technicaller with time and tempo-changes galore, with "SB-129" adding a fascinating dystopian flavour to the already entangled setting. "Clash of Titans" tries to play it more linearly, but before you know it, the environment becomes pretty crooked with clever Voivod-ian rhythms peppering the landscape, with "Ununited Nations" giving a nice fast-paced boost to the contrived riff-patterns which turn to a fountain of gorgeous melodies near the end. "Quantum Mind" is futuristic technical thrash at its most spell-binding, an unparalleled riff-fest chokeful of intelligent guitarisms and original decisions, including a relevant quiet interlude. The grand closure is called "Assimilation, labyrinthine progressive thrash, a seamless conglomerate of impetuous speedy excursions, spacey walkabouts, dissonant hallucinations, and more… much more. The husky semi-declamatory death metal vocals don't mean that much business under the lofty musical circumstances, but hold their own in a strangely subversive, authoritative fashion.
The Mutated Lifeform Full-length, 2020 Official Site S.N.P. (ITALY)
Based on "Scarface", this act offers a bland relaxed version of the 90's post-thrash. This is a mild semi-grungy effort with strong balladic/doom overtones which flows in the same sleepy fashion from beginning to end which many of you won't even bother to reach.
All Is an Endless Nothing... Empty Words Empty Promises EP, 1992 Official Site S.O.H. (USA)
This obscure outfit pull out retro power/thrash with gruff deathly vocals. The music is more on the stomping variety with echoes of the Nasty Savage debut and Manilla Road's late-80's period. "Envy The Dead" is a more energetic headbanger with heavier, more aggressive riffage
Demo Demo, 1991
Official Site S.O.S. (BOLIVIA)
This Bolivian trio indulge in rough badly produced classic thrash/crossover with bad shouty drunken vocals which are barely audible at times. This is just a bit more than plain noise the guys bashing with reckless abandon the screamy thin leads being either (depending on the taste) a major highlight, or a major annoyance, still preferable to the dominant semi-amateurish barrage.
First Blood Demo, 2010 Official Site S.O.S.! (POLAND)
Based on the "Kto jest the Best?" demo, this band play your average 90's post-thrash which is so ultimately trite and unimaginative that one may not believe that behind it are ex-members of the thrashers Necrophobic. This is playful unpretentious music which, when it livens up, goes directly into hardcore ("Hipopotam"). "Kapuce" is a joke based on Judas Priest's lame hit "United" sung in Polish and... that's it. The rest may make you dance around on the more jumpy moments.
Nie Rzucim Ziemi... Demo, 1997 S.O.S.A. (USA)
A very well produced demo done by members of some renowned acts: Blind Illusion, Defiance, Hell's Kitchen, etc. The music has a few stylish throw-ins, but doesn't have the necessary dynamics to pull it through all the way. The choppy rhythms haves their reference to Defiance, but they wear thin after a few tracks and the actual highlight would be the raging thrasher "Demonic Attack", with the short proto-deathy exploder "Faulty Knees" a close second. The singer is a rough hardcore semi-reciter who is the major pullback here.
Go For The Throat Full-length, 1984
Despite the catchy and appealing material offered on the debut, one couldn't help but see this band as a bit more than the occasional "antidote" to the more serious and more technically-proficient music which the German scene was offering aplenty at the time, but this "antidote" threatened to become a constant presence on the thrash metal fan's "menu" with "Sign of the Wicked". One of the 10 best speed/thrash metal efforts to ever come out of Germany, this album is a bit more than half hour of sheer metal brilliance: diverse, melodic, technical, catchy, you name it. Once the acoustic intro to the opening "Comin' Again" starts, one instantly knows that this will not be the carefree unpretentious music heard on the debut, and indeed this number is a standout speed/thrash tour de force with progressive overtones, and it seemed as though this band looked well-equipped to join the increasing group of technical acts which was becoming particularly big in Germany (Deathrow, Sieges Even, Living Death, Destruction, etc.). Well, not really, as the title-track carries little of the technical charge and energy of the first one, but is an utterly compelling piece of sinister doom thrash with an addictive main riff. "Megamosh" (the guys shout their name here as well) is the only reminder of the more simplistic debut being a straight bashing thrash hymn closing on a little more than 2-min. "Alcohol" slows down again, but the chunky riffage and the memorable chorus make it another keeper. "Quick Shot" is the analogue to "I Wanna Fuck Ya" with explicit sexual lyrics and mighty speedy guitars. The attack continues on "Always Youth" which scores high in the chorus department again. "Long Way From Home" switches onto a more melodic speed metal-based approach quite reminiscent of the first two Blind Guardian albums, but the diverse thrashing mid-break will totally delight you with the ever-changing rhythms and the fine melodic sing-along chorus insertion. "Killer's Confession" is more aggressive speed/thrash, but another brilliant melodic deviation awaits you in the middle which touches the ballad with marvellous lead guitars and simply amazing bass performance which is very strong on the whole album making Kruse one of the best bass players of the 80's. "Fight" begins somewhat tastelessly with a guy reciting something in Turkish, but rest assured that later on there will be no one disappointed with this sincere slab of speed/thrash with a pinch of crossover which doesn't forget about the more melodic experimentations which here come as a nice "duel" between the bass and the lead guitar followed by another, this time not as exciting, balladic section which at least shows Kruse in a fine vocal form; he does a good job behind the mike trying to scream high at times, and succeeds, at times offering cool melodic lines, but still his bass pyrotechnics by far overshadow his vocal abilities.
Having found the right way to thrash with the best, the band looked well set to join the very upper echelons of world thrash metal, and one more album of the same stuff could have placed them there. Well, "Mistreated" is hardly this album; it had hardly come as a pleasant surprise to the fans being more melodic clinging towards power/speed metal with very little thrash present, decidedly more complex, and far less catchy. The longer numbers in the beginning are unnecessarily interrupted by spoken or balladic passages which serve to no purpose but kill the inertia and confuse the listener. Still, if you adjust your senses to this mellower offering, and manage to overcome your initial surprise, you may enjoy the jolly speedster "Night of Tears"; the energetic "leftovers" from the debut "Violence" and "Kiss Ass"; and possibly the mid-tempo steam-roller "Mother". The rest will be by all means a letdown, especially the clumsy heavy-handed metal anthem "We Want More" and the AC/DC worship at the end shamefully carrying the band name ("S.D.I."). The guys exited the scene in a not very impressive manner, with only the guitarist Rainer Rage later seen in the power metallers Enola Gay.
To my utter surprise I found out that this band had another full-length, released in 1991; but to my utter disappointment, it contained very bland heavy metal with no traces of thrash and speed metal whatsoever. A few more dynamic songs still pack a punch, but they would make one even more upset, reminding him of the much better past: "Ruling The World", "Mad World". "Mistreated" already suggested at the changes, but wisely stopped on the edge without crossing the border towards undesirable music fields; with this obscure release the guys have done it. Classic heavy metal was falling from grace, along with thrash at those times, and S.D.I. had done a cool job keeping it alive, but their hard-core fans had hardly been fascinated having heard this, to put it mildly.
Sign of the
Wicked Full-length, 1988
Mistreated Full-length, 1989
Unreleased Full-Length, 1991
The debut demo is a much more controlled offering serving cool merry thrash/crossover with jolly good rhythms, but with a cool biting guitar edge as well as very nice bass support. The band shred with speed and most of the tracks will stick in the fan's mind thanks to the memorable riff-patterns (check out the perennial crossover hit "Boundary Of Will" which overflows with catchy tunes) and the cool short melodic leads. The singer semi-recites here, but in an attached forceful fashion and further adds to the positive impression this short effort leaves not without the help of the good sound quality which only "stumbles" on a few opening riffs.
Putrid Decay/Legion Demo, 1992
Destruction of the Youth Demo, 1993
Fart Power ! Demo, 1989
Demo Demo, 1990
Excess Full-length, 1996
Scarface Full-length, 2003
Valthellina Full-length, 2008
Kto Jest the Best? Demo, 1998