Bitter End - Harsh Reality (1990)

Signed to Metal Blade Records, the little known Bitter End are a Washington thrash band who sound more like a bunch of UK thrashers. Maybe it's the production, maybe it's the fact that the vocals of Matt Fox are relatively weak, but despite being tight as a band, there's not enough here to make an impact. Thankfully a track like 'Harsh Realities' is more guitar than vocal, whereas 'Save Us' is straight thrash, lacking weight despite a twin guitar attack, but the major downfall of this record is the terrible 'funk metal' track 'Just Say Yes' where Fox attempts some style of choppy rap. Lyrically it is embarrassing, a complete mess of a track, goodness why so many thrash bands succumbed to such sickness, and it's no wonder Bitter End faded away, although it's fair to say that this record is mild at best and receives a very lukewarm reception from me. 4/10