A Lesson in Violence

Exodus (USA)

Bonded by Blood

April 25, 1985

What if there was an album that had the recklessly driven enthusiasm of Kill 'em All, the gang mentality attitude of Fistful of Metal, the ambition and workingman class of Killing is My Business..., and the razor sharp murderous insanity of Haunting the Chapel? Well you get all that and more from Exodus' debut Bonded by Blood. Kirk Hammett-style (and -written) riffs chug out midrange pits of bloody slaughter-mosh, solos wailing back and forth, conversing with the screeching tongues of satanic demons. You know what you're getting with this, it's furious, it's youthful, violent as fuck and often overlooked. Highly influential Bay Area 80's thrash metal, over the top subject matter and stage presence contributed to style slowly emerging as death metal. Besides, get a load of that amazing cover artwork (which apparently may be what delayed the release for this for many months)! Now get on your knees and bow, or learn a lesson in violence!

My Blood, a Swirling Vortex of Space

Stargazer (Australia)

A Great Work of Ages

August, 2010

Like a crustacean from prehistoric times slowly being weathered away, slowly formed and carved out through time, and through the ages, refined with the delicate touch of mystical healing men and various divinatory mediums between the cosmos and the earth and imbued with the power of storytellers and mythmakers of old, whose tales and truths have come to identify cultures and identities of mankind all over the world. This is fractal thrash from Australia, sharing members with the mind fucking Impetuous Ritual and Portal. There's a distinct scope of grandness contained and refracted into digestible slices of jazzy deathy entropy. See, for example, the multidimensional fractal bloom of "Chase for the Serpentsong". The intent seems prehistoric, and reptillian in execution, as riffs slither and twist to form with a primal sheen of when today's crude were actually multi-ton pre-aviary lizard behemoths. Technical and very jazzy (especially with drums and bass), but still able to dish out some hard driven thrash mania, as exemplified in "Pypes of Psychosomatis". One of the best releases of 2010 for sure. Take a listen below.

You Can't Resist It's Thrashing Rage

Voivod (Canada)

Rrröööaaarrr

March 14, 1986

1986 was arguably the biggest year in heavy metal history. Today I'm shining a light on Voivod's underrated maelstrom of frantic thrash madness. It's easy to see why attention was directed elsewhere at the time, and you don't need me to point anything in particular out. Voivod were ugly French Canadian pimply faced juveniles that followed in the footsteps of Celtic Frost and at this point had more in common with the German scene (Destruction, Sodom, Kreator) than the American scene (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer) before they ever busted out the proggy Floydisms. Their methods of mayhem were more blunt and less abstract, it was all about the hunt, the fight, the kill. Mundane brutality that can only be captured and represented through pissed off and piss drunk youth. Hiding behind Satan was for wimps, and tackling real world disorders and politics was for posers. Anyone can tap into this primal force, but it can only be portrayed through uncompromising conviction, which is where Voivod excelled and is renowned for. Mosh, fight, fuck, thrash, destroy, kill, hate, rage, burn, break, speed, get it all out of your system. Listen below. Fuck off and die.

We are Just Cut-Throat, Worshipping Sin

Bulldozer (Italy)

The Day of Wrath

March 13, 1985

Bulldozer's roots stretch way back to 1980, but for various reasons and circumstances, took 4 years to stabilize the lineup and release their debut material, resulting in 1985's infamous The Day of Wrath. For all intents and purposes, this is primitive proto black metal, in its gloriously neanderthal infancy. Imagine a dirtier uglier more obnoxious Venom, but unlike the Brits, have only grown in credibility with their influences on the extreme metal underground. Besides, how can you not expect anything but pure raw sick and twisted excellence with a cover like that? The tunes are backed with whiskey-breath over-the-top attitude ("Cut-Throat", "Whisky Time"), motör powered hellspeed ("Fallen Angel", "The Great Deceiver") and straight up black mass rock and roll ("Insurrection of the Living Damned", "Welcome Death"). Grab a beer and celebrate the birthday of a mildly significant, yet thoroughly fucking awesome piece of obscure metal history. Read more for an album stream.

Ascend, Oh Beast of Fire

Portrait (Sweden)

Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae

May 9, 2011

Here's how to keep the spirit of true satanic heavy metal burning strong in a world plagued with enslavement, plight and false light. Throw that raggedy leather jacket back on, and don your occult paraphernalia for this one, because hellfire this magnificent is a luxury best served fatally skull thrashed in all manner of blackened damnation. Right out of the gates, "Beast of Fire" rips to shreds anyone within burning distance, setting aflame Mercyful Fate's midnight storytelling with the corrosive venom of Satan's hounds. "Infinite Descension" is the most like King Diamond's material, torn from the flesh of the 80's with murderous intentions. Darkness reigns over these sounds, the blues have been effectively annihilated as acoustic flares stand out in "The Wilderness Beyond" and "Darkness Forever". Landscapes of sorrow and shores of hopelessness are the eternal horizons showcased on the epic prophetic Dissection-channeling finale, "Der Todesking". Fucking tasty. Hail Satan and all that other cool shit. Read more to listen...

I Lose, You Win

D.R.I. (USA)

Crossover

March 9, 1987

Let me break it to you. I don't listen to much hardcore. I never liked how politically engaged punk was, I couldn't see through the dress code, and could never grasp the individualities (or lack thereof) of the songs themselves. They all kind of blended together to me. Not to mention that the skids and burnouts who endorsed the genre where I grew up were the most worthless, whiny, dirty, rotten imbeciles I came across. Well, some things change. No, I still don't listen to much hardcore, but when I do, it's got to be dark, it's got to be bold, and it's got to have some kind of crossover appeal with metal. Personal taste. So DRI is one of my go-to bands for a good skate thrash beatdown. These guys thrash hard. Their metal cred is substantial, they literally (supposedly) coined the term 'Crossover', inevitably leading to the -core suffix thrown about all over the place in today's metal world, they were signed to Metal Blade, Slayer were fans, etc. The message is positive, the tunes are gnarly, fuck the system, fuck religion, and fuck the man. Listen to D.R.I.

Triumph of Death

Hellhammer (Switzerland)

Apocalyptic Raids

March 7, 1984

Apocalyptic Raids is one of the most important releases as far as the evolution of extreme metal is concerned. Despite being but a minor blip on the radar at the time of its release, this demo EP provided a schockwave that, along with Venom, Bathory and Bulldozer collectively became the first wave of black metal. This was released only a couple months before the partnership between Martin Eric Ain and Tom G. Warrior overflowed the confines of Hellhammer and began the next chapter as Celtic Frost. Despite Warrior's supposedly unfavourable hindsight towards his early work, this was some of the most extreme music ever heard at the time. Early use of the gothic black metal font, hideous depiction of a hyperphallic demon drawn by Warrior himself, the demented sonic madness, overtones of psychopathy, etc. Euronymous, of Mayhem, was inspired to name himself from the disturbingly masochistic centrepiece "Triumph of Death". 28 years later, the reek of death permeating through today's lo-fi, death metal, chunky crust, black metal, filthy doom and other morbid combinations continues to owe their existence to this gloriously foul collective. Read more for a history lesson...

Guided Through Visionary Flames

The Chasm (Mexico)

Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm

September 19, 2009

Here's one of my favorite releases of all time. The Chasm originated in Mexico, but since 1997 have been operating out of Chicago, yet I still consider them as Mexican. Mostly instrumental, predominantly mid paced death/thrash that is progressively composed and arranged, epic in scope, and spiritually visionary. Unbelievably tasty riffs are conjured forth from the constellations through the embodiment of ancient Mayan and Aztec civilizations in an stunningly effortless display of absolutely flawless, intricately serpentine mastercraft. Unspeakably overlooked, yet its appreciation cannot be overstated. This mesmerizing molten miasma of monolithic music takes you somewhere else, on a voyage through superior dimensions upon shoreless tides to rest so far from home, where the sun and the moon are corroding, the final time to liberate and to unveil the code to open the final gate. Also, this happens to be a great album to go for a run to, oddly enough. Read more and indulge in a fiery rebirth.