Pretty Little Flower is not exactly straight thrash, but sick and fast nonetheless. There's lots of variation on here which is great because of the large track selection. Full length albums, especially in genres that easily become monotonous, tend to get boring and need to be mixed properly to insure repeated listens so that you don't miss the real gems.This is a basically a discography of the band up to the CDs release which explains the long track list.
Having ex-members of Insect Warfare is no small feat, so these dudes really up their game. Think "Endless Execution..." era IW with that heavy thrashy Razor influence. Add some DRI, Discharge and Napalm Death as well as the bands covered, and you have an easy foundation of thrash grind. Speaking of covers, do enough bands really do sick Repulsion covers? The answer is no. These guys, ND and Nashgul. I digress. Circle pitting thrash is what we're talking about, no proto gore/grind/death. Most all the songs are fast and very hardcore influenced grinding thrash and I like it. Dig in.

Utter and complete, grindcore annihilation.

Fairytale Beginning Ending

 So after much delay(not a complaint) today I received my Magnicide "Rise to the Annihilation" cassette. This is the fifth or sixth time I've ordered something from a foreign country. I've ordered from TVG (Germany) and an independant t-shirt company in England. But my favourite packages always come from south east Asia. I ordered my Wormrot LP straight from the band and I'm still pumped to look at it. Starting last month and culminating today I've received two packages from Magnicide. My first package was their split LP with Toxic Revolution that had some show flyers and stickers in it. On a flyer was a note from Jali that he mailed the cassette separately to insure integrity of all product. I for one fucking appreciate that. A band that cares. Imagine. I bring this up because it's interesting to me the lengths at which people go to receive products. It takes over a decade to obtain a car if you live on Hawaii. It usually takes upwards of two months to receive blast beats in the mail from Malaysia. The waiting, pining, anticipating for that square shaped, thin cardboard box or small bubble wrap packages. The processes the product goes through. Writing international addresses, putting on correct postage. There are even Customs Declaration stamps that the proper authorities must see.

StrainEyes No. 6

 And then finally you open your package to find its contents. In this instance it was a rad yellow pro cassette with a lyrics booklet rubber-banded on.  This is another example of the essence of DIY. I know how hard it is to track down specific parts. The plastic case is an example. Where the fuck do you just go buy a bunch of empty cassette cases? And for records it's even harder. How do I make this 5" record fit into this 7" bag? How do I package this 3" CD? For most bands it's using ingenuity and their own hands to put things together. They will print 100 5" cases, fold every one and bag them. They will screen print their own patches or 7" cases then glue every case together one by one.All this labor goes into a tiny little package only a few select people will seek out to hear. This tape will bring me much joy to listen to in my bakery, and everyone else is left saying "Hello Misery".

straineyes@gmail.com
www.myspace.com/straineyes

 For me when I sent the band money I was worried I fucked up the address. I'd never sent a letter to the other side of world in a physical sense. Let alone money I worked for. Things are different in the digital world. Wi-fi banking, ATMs, credit, debit. I can't do any of these things because I have no bank account so it's the old school DIY way for me of contacting bands directly and waiting.

Old computer gets a speed upgrade.

Every Woman A Mistress of Pain

Another classic thrash album from the late 80's in San Fransisco, CA. Even today amazing bands flow out of the Bay Area. Here's an old standard to ape from. Death Angel.
I have to start with the awesome album title on here. It's so fucking metal. "The Ultra Violence". Tell me that's not one of the best of the era. Sound wise they play standard fast thrash. The standard line up had four Philippine cousins. Big fucking surprise, right? A great band made up of Asians. And from California? Never saw that one coming. But I digress. These guys incite so many hair whips and so much head banging. Honed thrash with yelled then fucking screamed vocals. Nut wrenching but awesome. Death Angel has obviously taken pages from the Priest/Maiden book but made them contemporary for their time.Fast drum beats and shredding, wailing guitars. Of the eight songs, three are instrumentals, or instrumentals with easy to figure our lyrics but each is obviously crafted with care and isn't super sloppy like a lot of bands. Or maybe that part gets lost in the screams, shrieks, wails and feedback. True punk rock style right there.
I found this cassette a few years ago and I've been enthralled since then. I found it sitting in a game store for like two dollars. That loser had no idea what he had. I also found a copy of the Misfits "Earth. A.D" that day. It was a good one. Ice Cube had nothing on me.



KILL AS ONE!

Still Cyco...After All These Beers

Preface: I've not had any beer today yet. 
Highly regarded, and well deserving of it, Suicidal Tendencies are one of the eptiomes of crossover/thrash. Blending perfectly between metal and hardcore punk they spawned too many bands to name, but here are some big/and or good ones:  Metallica, Anthrax, Thrashin' In the Streets, DRI, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pantera, Cryptic Slaughter. Fuck, the list goes on. Scott Ian once said Anthrax was always trying to sound like ST because if they did then he knew they were an amazing band doing something right. What else is there to say?
This gem was mostly a re-recording of their self titled album released ten years earlier. It has three additional tracks, all of which rule. The songs on almost the whole album are standard length, 2-3.5 minutes, and somehow it's usually fast and enthralling. I pretty don't get bored with any song on here except "I Saw Your Mommy", fuck that song. It's funny or whatever, but too slow and hair metal. Anyway, Rob Trujillo is on here and he fucking rips up the bass riffs. Once again, I point this out because it's crucial. But repeated listens will reveal why he's in the "biggest" metal band around right now. Makes sense though as Muir seems to be the only one invested in the band now. But Trujillo and everyone else shreds on here. Mike Muir and co. invoke cholos stage diving, elbow dropping everywhere, just like the pictures inside my cassette.
 This is for sure one of those bands you wish you could have grown up around, going to their shows. Legend and lore weave tales of insanity in small LA suburbs much like that of Black Flag. Suicidal Tendencies got much more popular however, having two videos made from this album. One for the aforementioned shit song, and one for "Institutionalized". Both the video and song rule. Some other favourites are "War Inside My Head" with it's sick opening and superior singabillity. "Memories of Tomorrow" for....well I'm not going to list these off because I honestly like all but like 1.5 songs on here. Shotgun some beers, smoke a joint and start thrashing to the oldies!


Two Sided Politics!

Policia! Un. Do. Un, do, tre, qua!

 I really should not have to write an introduction for Sepultura. Everyone should be familiar with their name if not the sick proto-death thrashed out metal they produced in the mid and late 80's. 
 Obviously because of the nature of thrash these songs can get long, but Sepultura was good at creating a groove to get into. Everyone is good at what they do and they attempt to keep things interesting. There are lots of speed breaks or just heavy as fuck breakdowns. Andreas Kisser does some little dittling around for instrumental interludes much like his predecessor Tony Iommi.
My favourites should be quite obvious, but there is more than enough riffs and rage to last a long time for you to pick your own. 
 Now as much as I like talking about Sepultura, I also must admit that if you aren't already familiar with them then you fucking be. There really should be no need for me to explain them but here I am because some people never got around to it. Do it now. Thrash or die.

Beneath the Remains

Arise

Skullet and Hammer-Communism Crushing Metal

Here's my first exposure to Strapping Young Lad. I saw this video when I was 19 sitting around my moms living room because I had just broken my collarbone at show. With no way to go to shows use or the internet, I had to rely on Headbanger's Ball for any form of music beyond what I owned. Back then though I wasn't a cannabis user to these guys appealed to me on a different level. My affinity for them only grew with the introduction of the sweet leaf.
What I loved musically was the downbeat, pounding drums and circular riffs between fits of blasting. This thrash tune is for head banging and circle pitting.
I love the video for two very simple reasons. Devin Townsend has an Iron Chef shirt and there are fucking robots with hammer arms crushing skulls. Truly metal.

Industrial Stoner Thrash Metal of Yesteryear

I've already posted one of their songs before, but since it's Thrash Madness Month I'm giving a link to the whole album. Before anything else though big, uber shout outs to Angrychairs for posting the SYL discog. They have tons and tons of other great stuff there. Check them out if you haven't.
"The New Black" is the last Strapping Young Lad studio album. Devin Townsend has been releasing cycles of his own solo stuff that I haven't heard yet but am interested in at some point. The songs really run the gambit here with all kinds of different tempos, themes and atmospherics not only between songs, but in every song itself. It's all totally industrial stoner thrash, but these guys took it up a notch on this album. Everything is really top level from production to songwriting and onward. I have to comment on Gene Hoglan's sick drumming here. Devin Townsend told him what to play, but man he executes it well. As well as Devin sings and slays on the axe.  There are so many stand out tracks for me, but I know different people will like other songs more and I can say this with absolute authority because of the massive variations. Use "Anti Product" as an example, with it's mid 90's ska GWAR/Le Scrawl ska/jazz break. And the clean singing of "Almost Again". I don't usually like this however. I like a cohesive straight runthrough album that blasts, pummels, drills and beats me. "The New Black" really hits all the highs, lows, valleys, skies, nether plains and most aspects of reality in music. Or maybe that's the cannabis you have to consume to rock the fuck out. Either way I recommend this highly emotive and fucking thrashed out album. You should check out the 3/4s grind "The Long Pig" if for nothing else the sick bass riff. Don't hear those enough!Other personal repeat listen tracks are the duo "Polyphony/The New Black", "Decimator", "Far Beyond Metal" and "Monument". One features a manish thing with a dick that has teeth and mandibles. You know the one. If you don't, "You Suck". See what I did there?



Oh, you ironic pop-rock fuck! Don't you fuck with metal!

March Thrash Madness!

 With lots of thrashing happening here, I might as well keep it up. I'm exclaiming this to be March Thrash Madness! I'll try to do only thrash and crossover all of March. I even had this INSANE inclination to wait until March Madness hits and taking the final (x) teams and posting bands from their corresponding states. We'll see how lazy I get and how many drugs I can do first. Haha. But onto the music!
 Here's a sweet split from Municipal Waste and Crucial Unit. Municipal Waste you should be quite familiar with since Dave Witte has played drums with them for a few years and Municipal Waste were fore bearers of that "modern thrash revival" we had. Thrash never died, it just went back underground. Regardless, they're a super D.R.I. influenced crossover style thrash band. That's a good pick up reference, but I hear a lot of hardcore influences on here. A couple of breakdowns even. Not slams, this isn't death metal.  Fast, sloppy drum fills. Fast talk/yelled lyrics. Fast punx guitar parts. These guys are the line between fastcore and crossover. A few more BPMs and they cross that line. The newer material is longer and much more thrash-tastic. I prefer the shorter crossover songs on their early material a la this split 7". I really love the samples they use as well. Some people aren't too keen on them, and they're missing out. Really adds to the atmosphere for this band.  "Born To Party" also appears on the "Art of Partying" LP in a varied form with lots and lots of gang vocals. I also want to note the sweet band Poser Disposer got their name from MW. Cheers.
 Crucial Unit play short, fast thrash. Straight up. Their singer should maybe be in a power violence band, but it's interesting over the thrash. One thing making them interesting is the Macabre influence. It's much more prevalent here then on the "Moshzilla" 7". I just don't hear enough Macabre in sweet bands. The other non-Macabre aspects of their music are fucking fast and chaotic hardcore punk thrash. Crucial Unit like Municipal Waste have fun lyrics but some of their tongue-in-cheekery is done with political motivations. I love this lyrical style because it doesn't get boring. It's like those lines you quote in movies over and over before your band samples them.


"It's circular. Round. Circular. Circle. With the music. The flow."

CD to Get Stoned To

Stygian themed thrash made by power-violence playing coke fiends. But this is akin to stoner thrash, half baked being a good descriptor. There are lots and lots of Conan clips and other SWEET sound bytes. Sometimes it slows the flow of the album down a little too much, but that's a difficult thing to not do when you have a concept album like this.
This album is full of parts musically(and in song titles) that have overt and obvious influences to classic songs/bands. Bad Brains are my favourite reference,  but there are so many that I'm sure that even my trained ears missed a few. Nevertheless, there's lots of headbanging thrash. And curse words. I thoroughly enjoyed the use of the word "Fuck", especially in the track "Zamora".
I've been trying to make this a sweet write up for three days, but I get so high while listening to it I can't type. So load some bongs and get ripping.


Shoot Arrows
Eat Pussy

Thrash metal. It comes in many forms from many places. California being the most common, and often has above average bands. But Japan is the last place you would expect to hear straight up speed metal. Iron Maiden, NWBHM style thrashy, speed metal nonetheless. But somehow Jon Chang and Matsuraba put together a sick band of fun lyrics ala 80's hair metal with blasts and riffs only true shredders can play. There's solos, harmonizing just fucking fast music. Did you read that correctly? SOLOS! Like the first Gridlink album, this is all basically Chang doing high vocals that shred your ears like the guitars. There is a little bit of talking/whispering on the second album but that's about all the vocal variation you get. The low end on here is tight and rad. Syncopated drums with awesome fills. They stand out like most of Chang/Matsuraba's other projects. Oh, and the blasting, did I mention that? These guys really take epic songs that are meant to be Iced Earth epics, but play them retarded fast and cut the time in half. Imagine Maiden playing "Wicker Man" all the way through double speed in two and a half minutes. Unthinkable? No dude, this is it. Dig it.

Not relevant to anything really, but Invincible Gate... came out on my birthday. Suck it thrashers.

Headbanger's Club Dangerous Fire
Invincible Gate Mind of the Infernal Hell Fire...Or Did You Mean Hawaii Daisuki?