D.A.M. - Human Wreckage (1989)

Solid, UK thrash signed to the Noise Records roster, but unable to contend with the big boys at the time. Suffered the same fate as Slammer and Deathwish, sadly. McCloughlin's Bay Area style of vocal a nice touch as the band rush headlong into a vibrant mix of Testament, Laaz Rockit, and even Mordred in some of those more jerky compositions. Noise Records had some amazing bands at the time and maybe D.A.M. had a lot of expectancy round them, but when bands are pushed too hard they crumble, and tragically so many bands of this time suffered when they should have been left to their own devices. When tracks such as 'Death warmed Up' and 'Killing Time' march from the speakers you realise how good these bands were, especially as countless counterfeit acts in the modern day have sprung from holes in the ground in attempts to re-create what bands like D.A.M. were doing. There may not have been anything original about D.A.M. but this type of thrash existed for one reason only, to get the thrashers frothing, and 'Human...' is a fine example of how it was done this side of the Atlantic.

7/10