Minotaur - Power Of Darkness (1988)

Teenage thrash metallers would have given their right arm to have found a record like this back in the day. When I first ever visited Shades Records in London this was the sort of obscure thrash record I was after, but I never got it. Don't expect any type of nice Bay Area crunch here, the brilliantly named Minotaur play a rasping, hellish brand of black thrash that will leave your throat dry and your flesh torn. Great to hear these guys have come back into the fold and still sound as scary, but 'Power...' has that aura so many thrash bands could only dream of. From the mystical cover to the dense production, and then those obscure guitar noises and caustic vocals. There's something so ominous about this doom-laden thrash, maybe it was recorded in the ruins of a castle but the feel leaves you cold and terrified, as the weird atmospheres abound and dark pleasures cavort with the soul. From the intense riffage of 'Savage Aggression' to the peculiar nightmare of 'Apocalyptic Trials', Minotaur are one of those bands who hit the nail on the head, yet never got their rewards. Even so, this has the lasting effect of a night in a foggy graveyard with a demonic witch.

8/10

Silent Rage - Don't Touch Me There (1989)

I don't think many macho metalheads would've purchased this album back in the '80s because they wouldn't have been seen dead with this album cover floating around their bedroom! Even so, Silent Angel's second opus is a gutsy power rock effort that combines the saunter and sway of Whitesnake with so many familar mane-haired wannabe's. Could be worse of course, but the band are bolstered by the rich vocal delivery and their ability to write half decent albeit rather dull rock tunes. These sort of bands were certainly all the rage back in the day but the waters were polluted with this sort of stuff so when metal got its alterno wake up call thousands of bands of this ilk became extinct. Thankfully, due to the power of websites such as You Tube we can revisit these melodic rockers and finally realise that they were good whilst they lasted and we're happy even to have some of these bands back. With so many cool and innovative heavy metal bands around I wouldn't recommend you spend your last few pennies on this, but pick it up cheap by all means or do what everyone else seems to do nowadays and download it. Personally, I'd prefer it on vinyl...if the cover wasn't so bad!

5.5/10

Metallica - And Justice For All (1988)

I must admit I wasn't looking forward to reviewing this but I knew it had to be done. For me, 'And Justice...' is the first nail in the Metallica coffin - a sombre, plodding record that seems to exist as nothing more than Cliff Burton's funeral dirge. The band enlists the talents of former Flotsam & Jetsam bassist Jason Newsted, and we get the four horseman of the apocalypse dressed in black, bleeding black, and completely unable to breath any life into a dying monster. Suddenly, Metallica, whilst still very heavy, are no longer a thrash band - their demise confirmed on their next effort, the self-titled black record. 'And Justice...' reeks of the banal, saved by the epic and haunting yet somehow painful 'One' complete with David Lynch-inspired surreal video. Even so, the acoustic segments the band choose to use to separate their chugs are now of a duller variety, the band somehow losing the will to thrash, instead laying the Sabbath juggernaut riffs on thick, but only to create a bland elephantine dud of a record. A double album sees the band clear out their closet of three-minute thrash classics only to replace them with blackened, derivative chores. Everything about 'And Justice...' is wrong, even when they get it right - but even the minor classics, 'Harvester Of Sorrow', the uptempo 'Blackened' and the quagmire of a title cut, just ooze across the floor like some melancholic whale eager for the breath of nearby water. As musicians they can rarely be faulted, but this record sees them running in treacle and the masterful 'Master Of Puppets' seems a world away, as if the band, in their alleged maturity and professionalism, have become so bloated that to lash out a thrash riff would be considered blasphemous. No longer are Metallica part of the big four of thrash,  because 'And Justice...' sees them become a rock band on the verge of commercial suicide...which they were happy to commit time and time again over the next decade. Metallica fans may disagree but put alongside the raw energy of 'Kill Em All', or the genial depths of 'ride The Lightning', 'And Justice...' is nothing more than silt. There's nothing bad about any track, but there's nothing great either - the flatline is for all to see and hear, the band searching for a new identity perhaps after the passing of the mighty Burton, but their journey into the levels of plod merely sends me off to the land of nod.

6.5/10

Darkness - Death Squad (1987)

No, this has nothing to do with the godawful Brit Glam rock imitators, instead this is a destructive slice of German thrash that will leave you foaming at the mouth. Hyper in its attack, Darkness leap for the throat as soon as they come out of the blocks - only the seven-minute epic 'Burial At Sea' offers tranquillity, especially with that acoustic intro, but as in every case Darkness quickly become a battering ram of intensity, cutting through to the bone with those raw riffs and edgy, rasping vocals. Think early Kreator, early Sodom, and and early Destruction - classy German mayhem that occasionally hints of old Slayer too with the thrashy breaks and scathing structures. A collection of spiteful tracks that will please any real thrasher. Forget production values - get the bullet belts out and get your mum to sew the metal patches back on the denim and thrash out to cult classics such as 'Phantasmagoria' and the breakneck title cut, and beware the darkness...

7/10

D.A.M. - Inside Out (1991)

A nifty little thrash workout here from the underrated D.A.M. Combining the fast and furious elements of Laaz Rockit, Exodus and Overkill. This is bone-sawing thrash, played at a high speed as one would except from bands of this era back in the day, but it still sounds refreshing today. The solo entrance of 'No Escape' twiddles through the brain as the track leaps into a full thrash throttler and the slamming gallop of 'Man Of Violence' has burning riffage, whilst personal favourite 'Twisted Mind' has all the hallmarks of classic Exodus and Overkill, especially in the vocal department. Pure thrash magic from the days of mosh-ridden yore.

7/10

Grinder - Nothing Is Sacred (1991)

Okay, so this one passed me by back in the day - maybe it was the banal band name or the stereotypical cover, but boy am I glad that I finally managed to lend an ear, because Grinder are quite a shock - in a good way - to the system. I guess I was expecting some type of dull death metal or maybe a mundane thrash fest, and whilst Grinder regularly act out a no thrills thrashy policy there's more to this opus than meets the third eye. At first the vocals seem slightly out of place, and maybe out of a tune in their Gothic abandonment but then suddenly we are hit with a track like 'Pavement Tango'. This is struttin' with the bass and funky with the groove, bringing to mind Mordred and another of my favourite experimental thrashers, Napalm. This is pretty cool metal with a thrash attitude and look, but the band have an uncanny ability of slipping in subtle grooves. 'None Of The Brighter Days' has a mystical edge, giving this such a refreshing angel. There's a smoothness about proceedings that I've not heard in a long time, and I'm wondering how in '91 this slipped under the radar, but it's way cooler than so many bands at the time, and with it's loose, thrashy look this deserves to be a cult winner. Also brings to mind the struttin' thrash of Midas Touch and Paradox. Good stuff. Do not be mislead by that sleeve!

7.5/10

Harter Attack - Human Hell (1989)

Cult US thrashers with plenty of social comment - spouted by those choppy hardcore raps and angst-ridden guitars. Harter Attack range from id-paced thrashcore (the title cut) to bursts of thrash energy ('Culture Decay') and always with something to say. Imagine a furious mix of DRI and Nuclear Assault, only less convincing. Worth owning if your a thrash head, but I think this one passed a lot of people buy, but still great to listen to many years later which I'm sure will make you appreciate it even more.

7/10

Artch - Another Return (1988)

I recall being bedazzled by the artwork as a teenage metalhead. This is white hot power metal, released on Active Records. There appears to be a mild thrash influence too, mainly in those buzzing, chugging guitar riffs. Hawk's effortless tones placed these Norwegian metal masters high up the league but their career floundered after two impressive records. A kick-ass (as they say in the US!) Gothically-laced power metal slab full of crashing drums and searing guitars, the title cut a doom-laden affair, but the band refuse to take themselves too seriously, 'Metal Life' a perfect example of the loose cannon Artch were. Olsen and Nilssen's guitar attack is the album highlight, but like similar acts - i.e. Kick Axe, this has so much atmosphere and hell bent for leather attitude, that if you give it a spin today it'll fel like you've slipped into a time machine and been transported back to metal's heyday. 'Power To The Man' symbolizes such macho yet masterly grace. Part Maiden part chilly winter's evening, Artch deserved better than a two album career, but haven't we heard this so many times before.

8/10