Viking - Do Or Die (1988)

This reduced the speakers to ash when I first heard the title track many years ago. Epic Slayer style rantings from 1988, searing solos and cutting riffs, hyper thrash with screamed vocals and an album cover that reeks of those mystical times. This is a manic record that although lacking weight, is extremely violent, aggressive from start to finish and rarely letting up with its speed. Some metalheads may state this is all too close to Slayer, for a start the mid tempo intro to 'Burning From Within' is pure Slayer, circa 'Reign In Blood' but hell, give it a go and prepare to have every bone extracted from your body until you're reduced to a pile of festering flesh and gore. 7/10