Toranaga - God's Gift (1990)

UK thrash never got its due - and yet the scene was a lively one back in the late '80s and early '90s, the country produced some quality bands such as Sabbat, Slammer, and Toranaga. 'God's Gift' was one of a handful of records the band released, enabling them to gain a decent reputation, even if their sound, although solid, wasn't anything out of the ordinary, and maybe that was the problem. For me, it was only Sabbat who had their own sound, Toranaga and the likes of Slammer paled in comparison to the mighty US bands, particularly those bay Area chuggers, but that's not to say that albums like 'God's Gift' were poor, far from it. One only has to hear the plodding intro of 'The Shrine' to understand the potential here, the cut then reaches a fair pace, reminding one of early Overkill. Mind you, the band are more than comfortable to rattle out a few doom-laden riffs too, check out the graven slab of 'Hammer To The Skull' which then picks up pace, providing great melody, especially in those vocals and the heavy bass. Nine tracks on offer here, my personal favourite being the chugging 'Execution'and the epic sounding 'Execution.' Toranaga's 'God's Gift' may not be the best produced album in the world, and it may lack identity, but if one gives this sort of UK thrash a few spins, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how good it is. 'God's Gift' most certainly equals some of the early Overkill and Exodus efforts and a lot of this UK thrash is often found going cheap onthe internet. 7.5/10