I’ve listened to some wild and intentionally headache-inducing and nauseating stuff in my life. This is up there as some of the most abrasive and headachy. Listened twice. First time was hard to get through and legit gave me a headache. However I was grumpy and hungry and so I was sort of setting myself up with that one. The second listen was ALSO hard to get through. However, this time I caught a lot more details that impressed me.
This is an impressively BOLD record. The screaming vocals, the utter chaos of the harsh noise that seems to be trying to cut your eardrums for 90% of the run time. The occasional moments when things settle down and the percussion kicks ass. The very rare beautiful parts usually toward the end of the 10-19 minute noise/power electronic assaults. It’s impressively unabashedly brutal and hard to hear and inaccessible.
I think I prefer the noisy industrial of Ramleh and their ilk more. There is more emotion in what I’ve heard in the Death Industrial records I’ve given a chance to. Whereas this album doesn’t really express much human anger or humanity at all. It seems like an attack on all things human.
This was more fascinating than enjoyable. More of a nice test for myself, a way of branching out FAR as I can to see where the limits are. Turns out Noisecore and noise-drenched-Grind and Death Industrial is perhaps (as of now) the outer limit of my taste for the extreme, the inhuman, the brutal and abrasive.
I’ll keep it short with this one I think. This is a noise punk band and album. The band this most reminded me of was Minutemen, just a bit heavier and less authoritative version of them. The Spoken word delivery, the funky bass, the clattering and disheveled guitar riffs, all consistently brought Minutemen to mind.
The atmosphere is sort of dark and end-of-days-y. The lyrics seem to chronical the utter collapse of civilization, which is well done and interesting. The mix of Hardcore and Punk and Noise Rock is done consistently well. However this album didn’t strike me as a great or fully fleshed out statement. Wasn’t particularly focused at any time. Maybe I need to let this be a grower. But I think it more has to do with the production here. Everything feels indistinct or muddy and soupy and nothing really sticks out. That style can work, but didn’t fully connect here.
Robert Griffin is one of the guitarists here and he lives here in St. Louis. Which is cool. I didn’t connect that he was the one running Scat records when they signed Guided By Voices half a decade after this album. What a cool little footnote! And now that I connect two and two, I can see why some of the bands that Griffin signed to Scat caught his attention based off what he was doing with this band. A certain uncontainable creative boiling that features here is also on early Guided by Voices.
Anyway, this album and band had talent and a lot of cool riff ideas, song ideas, good drumming and bass and a cool mix of punk and noise rock which I love. Didn’t quite connect or congeal into a great album. It’s a pretty good one though and I would be lying if I said there weren’t a few times during this album when I was blown away.
Really cool traditional/straight-up heavy metal band and album I had never previously heard. The guitar work and solos are flawless here and at times are truly mind-blowing. Akira Takasaki's solos are next level! The riffs are top notch and relatively original too – I didn’t spend the entire album thinking “wait, that sounds like ____(Maiden, Priest, etc)”.
Right from the jump with that cool instrumental intro, I was a fan of the way this bands goes to work building atmosphere. The bass and drum work are HEAVY and solid. The riffs and solos over top are kickass and the vocalist is even pretty damn good while not being my fave style.
“Esper” is an incredibly cool opening song. The closer “Ares Lament” is gorgeous and somber and gave me almost “Cemetery Gates” vibes. “Revelation” and “Butterfly” are cool as well. There are lots of really good moments here. The band is assertive and vibrant. The only thing I think holding this back from being top tier metal alongside Powerslave or Defenders of the Faith of this same year is the production. The production isn’t even glaringly bad or wonky. It just doesn’t have that special sauce that a lot of the real great metal albums have – oomph I guess. Idk. You know how when you hear a sharp riff in a Maiden album and it seems to be gnawing away at your ear? Or when a Downing/Tipton guitar battle goes down in a Priest track your head feels like it’s a sonic battle field? Yeah, I don’t have that experience here is what I mean.
Apparently these Japanese Metallurgists broke big in the states a year after this album. I am totally out of the loop, but I can say I have seen the album cover for their 1985 album a lot so I guess it makes sense. And scrolling through comments on youtube and RYM it seems that the guitarist became a legend within the virtuosic metal guitar world. That also checks out as that was what blew me away the most while listening to this bad mamba jamba.
Anyway, great addition that Gowi recommended. I didn’t have this on my initial loooong ’84 queue. Much appreciated.
Looking over what I am planning on re-listening to or in some cases listening to for the first time while exploring punk/metal/weird releases of ’84, there were maybe a dozen ABSOLUTELY stone cold CLASSIC and legendary albums that are sort of the first things you think of when you think of 1984. I’m talking about Ride The Lightning, Powerslave, Double Nickels On The Dime, Zen Arcade, Don’t Break The Oath, and, finally, this album – Defenders of the Faith. Arguably stuff like The Smiths and Let It Be should be here as well but those are not heavy or weird or hardcore enough to be included despite being under the umbrella of “punk”. And arguably stuff like Metal Church’s debut LP and Haunting the Chapel and Bathory and Morbid Tales should be here, but I think those just are not as widely acclaimed as iconic albums – of course they are classic, but it’s a fucking gradient and I had to cut it off somewhere. Anyway, where am I going with this?
Well Defenders of the Faith seems like the odd one out, doesn’t it? Priest are the oldest and the furthest along in their careers of any of those artists (even including, by the way, all the ones in that short list of who I left off). I always thought Defenders of the Faith wasn’t considered their magnum opus, or their best album but rather simply yet another classic Priest. It’s almost boring by this point how often they released classic A-Tier heavy metal albums. They were an institution of metal, they were consistent craftsman. With Powerslave and Zen Arcade and Double Nickels, Don’t Break The Oath, Ride The Lightning, etc… these are arguably the GREATEST album in those discogs or those are the albums when young bands had put it all together and made a masterpiece and it was a major turning point. With Defenders of the Faith, those descriptions don’t apply in my opinion and I think that is the general consensus amongst Priest fans. Sad Wings and Stained Class and British Steel and, later, Painkiller I think generally are looked at as major turning points in Priest’s career. Hell, even Screaming for Vengeance is more of a PERFECTION of their sound than this album. Defenders of the Faith sounds like the metal-legend-version of a great Hall of Fame Pitcher almost miraculously having a Cy Young Award season at the age of 35 (think Verlander in 2018 and 2019).
There are a few new wrinkles here, with Priest playing with weird electronic(?) sounds here on songs like “Love Bites”, and I coulda sworn I heard a keyboard here or there (maybe just very manipulated guitar or studio effects?...). Generally though, this is another album with lots of in-your-face metal bangers, with sick/perfect production, INSANE solos (maybe my favorite showcase of Tipton/Downing greatness is on this album), and yet another exemplary album for those wondering who the greatest Metal Lead singer of all time is (it’s Halford, btw lol).
Now that I have just spent most of the time so far saying broad, meta shit, how about what I think of this album and it’s music…. Well, this album is (mostly) AMAZING! It’s incredible. Truly. Judas Priest were almost impossibly good. Every member of the band is absolutely on fire, scorching hot, all throughout this absolute mammoth of a metal album. This is almost a fucking clinic in how to make a badass heavy metal album in a traditional way while leaving room for anthemic radio-ready stuff and for a few more heart strings pulling sappy stuff. All that said, and perhaps this is an indicator of how much I adore peak-Priest more than any other old school/pre-thrash metal band, this is maybe my 5th or even 6th favorite Priest album. Despite this wiping the floor with many very good metal albums, I still put Painkiller, Stained Class, Sad Wings, and Screaming for Vengeance firmly above this. Maybe also Sin After Sin. My point is Priest were so siiiick for so long, it blows me away.
Every time I listen to this album, by the end of track 5, after I have feasted on the near-perfection of white-hot speed metal genius joints “Freewheel Burning”, and “Jawbreaker”… then the masterpiece of mid-tempo biker badassery “Rock Hard Ride Free”, followed by perhaps one of the top 5 greatest priest songs ever top to bottom “The Sentinel” and finally the odd minimalist catchy as shit weirdness that is “Love Bites” – EVERY TIME I go through that gauntlet I think to myself “well, right, this HAS GOT to be perhaps their best album right? I mean fuuuuck, this is all killer no filler”.
…Then side 2 starts and continues and ends and I am left unsure. There is no doubt seide 1 stacks up to any Priest album. I adore it. Some of the greatest heavy metal I’ve ever heard. Kings doing King shit. But side 2 is … just okay. I mean that’s probably harsh and probably if I heard it outside of the shadow of side 1 I’d even say its Quite Good!. But none of tracks 6-11 is better than any of tracks 1-5. Arguably I guess with great tracks like “Some Heads Are Gonna Roll” or the super sweet and surprisingly touching “Turn On Your Light” can compare to “Love Bites”, but that’s it. Tracks 1-4 are unassailable. Tracks 5-12 are between pretty good (Eat Me Alive) to Great (“Some Heads…”, Night Comes Down”, Turn On Your Light”). This is just a bit of an overly adorned way of saying that this has the perhaps the same highs as Sad Wings of Destiny and Painkiller and Stained Class and Screaming For Vengeance but doesn’t have the same consistency as those albums which is why I rate it at #5 on my Priest ranking.
Other notes: What is with Priest and consistently giving us 10/10 perfect album openers? “Exciter”, “Victim of Changes”, Painkiller”, The Hellion/Electric Eye”, “Sinner” and now this “Freewheel Burning” all are S-Tier classics and all are perfect openers.
I mentioned it before on this comment and also on the comment I made for that Loudness album, but can we give it up for these fucking guitarists and their damn solos and guitar battles/teamwork? In the most classic metal way possible I am always engrossed and blown away every song there is a solo on this thing. On an album that features a damn fine rhythm section and Rob-Freakin’-Halford, it’s these 2 guitar gods that steal the show. I think this also is a testament to the production. Is this as good as metal production gets? Every detail sounds beautiful and powerful and those solos really do have dimension and space and feel like EVENTS when they appear. Love it.
Okay, enough mostly fawning over this album. I could just listen to this 5-10 more times and never move on, but I won’t. I WILL be returning to this album of course. I’m sure some of the side 2 cuts will grow on me.
And just for fun, of the LPs I have heard more than once by Priest (I think I listened to Point of Entry, Firepower, and something with the name Ram in it one time awhile back but can’t remember the deets so won’t rank) here are my rankings:
(This is fucking hard…)
#1 – Stained Class/1978
#2 – Sad Wings of Destiny/1976
#3 – Screaming for Vengeance/1982
#4 – Painkiller/1990
#5 – Sin After Sin/1977
#6 – Defenders of the Faith/1984
#7 – Unleashed In The East (Live)/1979
#8 – Hell Bent For Leather/1978
#9 – Rocka Rolla/1974
#10 – British Steel/1980 (I know it’s weird, but for some reason that album annoyed me BIG TIME when I was 15 and I have never quite gotten over the hump/my prejudice against it and it’s big anthemic tunes… I’m sure if I returned to it NOW I would think it’s good to very good.)
I want to come in here and say something unique, like maybe that Anthrax’s debut album is JUST as great and deserves AS MUCH praise as Slayer’s earlier debut or even Metallica’s. And, indeed, after one listen to this album a couple weeks ago, I was fully bought into this being in the same relative tier of revolutionary thrash brilliance as Show No Mercy and Kill “Em All. But now that I have given this a few listens my opinion has settled into, essentially, this is QUITE good and at times GREAT, but is markedly and clearly of a lower level than it’s siblings’ debuts. It does NY proud, it made a good effort, but in the end the dual forces of 1. Comparably un-impressive production and 2. My PERSONAL preferences away from the more NY bro-y style of Anthrax has placed this at number 3 of 3 for these first 3 Thrash LPs.
Okay, that rather meh intro out of the way, this albums kicks ass! What I do majorly appreciate here is how unashamedly childish and adolescent this is. This is most glaringly clear on the song “I’m Eighteen”, which is just a fun, buoyant metal jam. But it’s evident all over this album that these are simply very talented and very intense late teens-early 20s Queens-based metal heads who have taken a crash course in both Priest and Maiden metal as well as NY Hardcore/Punk rock and they just want to get on with it and get in the studio and release some badass and ultra HEAVY songs together.
This album, much like Show No Mercy and Kill Em All, is sort of in-between NWOBHM tribute territory and this whole new thing they were creating together in the early 1980s that would become known as Thrash. (side note: I heard that the name of the genre actually taken from and coined from the second song here, “Metal Thrashing Mad”… now that may be bullshit, but that is cool if so.). This is in other words sort of a Speed Metal meets Priest-worship album meets occasional blasts of INSANE speed and aggressive hardcore intensity/Thrash. On songs like “Across The River” Anthrax goes just as hard as anything Metallica and Slayer had made to this point. On songs like “I’m Eighteen” or “Howling Furies” they sound like good ol’ school metalheads. On songs like “Panic” and especially “Anthrax” they sound evil and brutal and some of those riffs and solos could fit nicely on Show No Mercy.
The production is NOT bad bad. It’s just not great. It doesn’t consistently capture the sharp lines and viciousness and unusually high degree energy and verve that Anthrax had. At times they do indeed sound like the next generation, the cutting edge of heavy as shit thrash metal. It’s a bit uneven.
I kind of like hearing old school hard rocking mid tempo bangers on here alongside the heavier and faster stuff. This first generation of thrash releases all sort of walk that line and within a year or 2 most of the early thrash bands will have fully abandoned the mid tempo stuff for their unique take on the new sound (Slayer, Exodus, Overkill, Anthrax, Megadeth etc). It’s a nice time capsule hearing this in between album.
I will say that the star of this show is a young 21 year old Charlie Benante on the drums! I have always respected the man as one of the all time great metal drummers. But it blew me away some of the wild, furious yet detailed things he was doing on this album! Hell, comparing ONLY 18-year-old Lombardo on Show No Mercy to 21-year-old Benante on Fustful of Metal I may even go so far as to say at THIS STAGE Benante was the greater drummer. As a worshipper of Lombardo most of my life, this is a big statement for me.
The riffs are consistently heavy as shit and when they get brutal they REALLY GET BRUTAL. The vocalist… well not a huge fan of them. They are fun enough, a bit too flashy, as if he’s trying to conjure up the spirit and power of Halford but without the pipes to do it. Idk, just not my thing overall.
I don’t have much else to say. Going into this I was biased against Anthrax. I have always felt that they sort of stuck out like a sore thumb on the so called “Big Four” as by far the weakest of them. Maybe that is just the vibe of Anthrax… they come across here and on later albums as the Fun thrash band, the ones that sound the most like they are having fun. And really there is nothing wrong with that, just doesn’t line up with my tastes as much as the political/sardonic Megadeth, the serious and somewhat “artsy” Metallica, or the hellish and primordial Slayer.
I just took a look to see what can be definitively called the first Thrash albums. I think it’s well known that the first 3 were Summer of ’83 Kill Em All, December ‘83’s Show No Mercy, January ‘84’s Fistful of Metal. Looking ahead, by the end of 1984 we still obly get a few full LPs of Thrash. (yes, I am excluding Hellhammer’s LPs/Demos, they are thrash but also not… feel more like crusty heavy metal black metal). Chronologically it goes Kill Em All, Show No Mercy, Fistful of Metal, Ride The Lightning, Living Death’s Vengeance of Hell, Voivod’s War and Pain, Bathory (arguably an EP), Morbid Tales (arguably an EP), and some album by Poison which is a bit thrashy but mostly just disgusting black metal that doesn’t really feel like thrash to my ears (been awhile since I heard it). That’s 9 actual albums by the end of 1984. If you include great EPs, yes, the floodgates open and you have a picture with a LOT more activity. Still, my point is… what is my point?... oh I remember! The point is that thrash really starts taking over big time in late 1985 to 1987. I think that was the peak of Thrash. It’s kind of cool thinking about the first Slayer, Metallica and Anthrax albums as a relatively CLEAN and clear trio that started it all and the full ramifications of these albums wouldn’t be seen for a couple more years.
Okay, I am done going on and on and on for thousands of words saying not much. I really like Fistful of Metal. I’d rank the Thrash LPs this way so far:
#1A. Show No Mercy by Slayer
#1B. Kill ‘Em All by Metallica
#3. Fistful of Metal by Anthrax
#4. Satanic Rites by Hellhammer (yes I know its weird I include this here. I am just a random nonsensical person sometimes).
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Okay, and that’s all for these first 5 1984 albums. I am not sure when or if I will be making that list again as I go. How can I rank these disparate albums next to each other? Maybe I’ll update a ranking of all my 1984 albums (not just the ones featured here) after I have covered a dozen or 2 1984 releases… Or maybe I will make cute little rankings of genres or subgenres or genre groups as I go like what you saw with Thrash metal there just now? Idk, I’m undecided.
Judas Priest was the best of this bunch. But really quite enjoyed Anthrax and Loudness as well. And respected the other 2 as well, Spike In Vain and Controlled Bleeding.
Anyway, I’ll see you next time. Not sure what I will post next. I recently fell in love all over again with The Replacements. I have been putting off listening to Anthrax and Priest in large part because I have been listening to The ‘Mats Let It Be and Hootenanny for a few days straight! This got me thinking of the holy trinity of American Indie Rock that I ARBITRARILY decided should be lumped together… those 3 being The Replacements, Husker Du, and The Minutemen. And then I looked at their discograohy. Holy shit, did you notice how similar the AMOUNT of albums those 3 have and how similar the release dates are? And how each released their most famous and widely regarded as best albums in 1984?
It all lines up for another… drum roll…
1-9-8-0s Battle of the Bands!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you know, kinda like what i did with REM, The Cure, SY, U2, etc....
How fun would that be? For me, anyway lol. If y’all want to join in you can too. If I go forward with this project ALONG WITH continuing and not abandoning the bigger project, I will post something about how I will order the releases. But I’m telling you it’s weird how perfectly those 3 classic 80s American indie underground legends’ discogs line up.
Okay, and with that I am done. Let me know your thoughts. _________________ -Ryan
I honestly think Fistful Of Metal is Anthrax's best. By far! That and their S.O.D. LP from '85 are the only two I really love listening too nowadays.
And, I agree. I have Fistful Of Metal grade below Kill 'Em All or Show No Mercy, but it's definitely worthy of the bronze!!! Megadeth's debut from 1985 just feels different to me than those three classic thrash/speed debuts.>
Last edited by Repo on 04/07/2023 12:45; edited 1 time in total
Really cool traditional/straight-up heavy metal band and album I had never previously heard. The guitar work and solos are flawless here and at times are truly mind-blowing. Akira Takasaki's solos are next level! The riffs are top notch and relatively original too – I didn’t spend the entire album thinking “wait, that sounds like ____(Maiden, Priest, etc)”.
Anyway, great addition that Gowi recommended. I didn’t have this on my initial loooong ’84 queue. Much appreciated.
Totally!!! Akira Takasaki rules!
edit: And if you want more of this sick goodness, I'd go BACKWARDS to ...
Really cool traditional/straight-up heavy metal band and album I had never previously heard. The guitar work and solos are flawless here and at times are truly mind-blowing. Akira Takasaki's solos are next level! The riffs are top notch and relatively original too – I didn’t spend the entire album thinking “wait, that sounds like ____(Maiden, Priest, etc)”.
Anyway, great addition that Gowi recommended. I didn’t have this on my initial loooong ’84 queue. Much appreciated.
Totally!!! Akira Takasaki rules!
edit: And if you want more of this sick goodness, I'd go BACKWARDS to ...
I like it WAY better than 1985's Thunder In The East.
Okay, cool! I am intrigued by their earlier stuff because I heard that Disillusion was the first album they sang in english. I would love to hear some cool Japanese lyrics over top some classic metal stuff. and Yeah those guitar leads and riffs... chef's kiss. _________________ -Ryan
I honestly think Fistful Of Metal is Anthrax's best. By far! That and their S.O.D. LP from '85 are the only two I really love listening too nowadays.
And, I agree. I have Fistful Of Metal grade below Kill 'Em All or Show No Mercy, but it's definitely worthy of the bronze!!! Megadeth's debut from 1985 just feels different to me than those three classic thrash/speed debuts.>
Really, you think this is their best?! That is a unique take. I seem to remember you mentioning that take on your diary. I am fond somewhat of what I have heard from 1987's classic and most famous album. But it's been awhile and I bought that CD when, in like 2002, I fell in love with Ride The Lightning and went on a lawnmowing spree to buy all the essential albums of the scene per Amazon reviews lol. That was when I got Bonded By Blood, Reign In Blood, Spreading The Disease, Rust In Peace, Countdown To Extinction, Master of Puppets, Cowboys From Hell, Among The Living etc all within about 2 months. Good GOOOD times (if confusing and pubescent and insane as well).
S.O.D.'s album always came across as gimmicky and just hard to pin down for me as a younger laddy. But with more obsessive context listening I have a feeling I'll "get it" and respect it more. I am now finally a major appreciator of the drummer legend, which will give me a stable piece of the puzzle to fpxus on when listening. Benante is a freak and a god!
And yeah Megadeth always seemed a lot different than the other big 4 members. They each had their own style obviously. But with Megadeth, maybe it's the fact that they were always the most technically accomplished and showy, or maybe it's those weird and high pitched Mustaine Vocals or maybe it''s their willingness to do weird things with Thrash basically from the jump like the kinda funky artsy stylings of Peace Sells... But Who's Buying, Idk, there was always something about them that was utterly unique and yet I never fully FULLY fell for their albums. Closest I came was with Rust In Peace as a kid. I need to revisit that iconic album sometime soon. (Certainly sooner than this project will take me to it... at this rate that will be in like 2025-26 lol). _________________ -Ryan
Okay, this is really really great Hardcore. This is a classic of New York Hardcore punk band that only officially released a legendary EP (this one here) after being together for years. Who knows what cool stuff they coulda made had they released more stuff at their peak. But they were one of those major, focal point bands in the whole NY punk scene for years before even releasing this. I will have to do research if I wanna know what drama or complications or decisions lead to them having such a sparse discography. Years later in 1994 a cool compilation of this EP and singles and other disparate recordings were assembled. (Oh and another album, their one album, from 1990) And right now as I type this I am listening to an even more massive 2.5 hour beast of a compilation with it seems EVERY Reagan Youth recording. Still I am not gonna reference all those cool little ditties here. Just this EP.
And that is okay because the few tracks and 10 minutes of music on this EP release are amazing. Reagan Youth were NYHC before what we think of NYHC took shape. This isn’t uber macho, group vocals and metal riffs infused NYHC made famous and influential by bands and releases like Cro Mags and Age of Quarrel a bit later. Instead this is Punk rock first and foremost with some actual melodies and hooks mixed into the classic overcharged East Coast Hardcore of Minor Threat. The songs are just really solid and well written gems on this EP. The lyrics are the usual political/communist-themed stuff with a few more childish, teenage anger issues thrown in. But also with some cool anarcho messages. Mostly the lyrics are a bit clunky as is tradition for hardcore punk or the era. The vocals are earnest and solid. The drummer and guitarist are actually very very tight and solid musically. They don’t sound like the usual hardcore punk amateurs. Some of the beats are complex and powerful. And on occasion the guitar does a nifty riff.
And yeah I see that this band did release one LP years later in 1990 before breaking up. I’m listening to those songs on this Compilation now and it seems they went very much into the METALLIC direction. There are tapping guitar leads and huge metal riffs and… it’s really quite good and I think I recommend their later album as well. The whole infusion of metal into hardcore gets a bad rap. But some of the developments on that front are kinda awesome I think.
Okay, and as for this little EP, fuck man I’m listening again and it’s truly incredible stuff. The only thing that I am a bit annoyed by or feel is a demerit is the lyrics. Literally everything else screams ESSENTIAL AND INCREDIBLE ALL TIME CLASSIC HARDCORE release. Highly recommend listening to these songs such as “Reagan Youth”, “New Aryans” (just listen to that discordant and eerie guitar melody!), “No Class” (apparently not on the initial print of this EP, but fuck me listen to that bass work and that whole entire sonic onslaught! It’s incredible! The guitar is incredibly cool), “I Hate Hate”, “Degenerated”, and of course “USA”. All great.
I was wondering where I have heard that incredible guitar tone and this style of New York hardcore… and then I saw that the guitarist is shared with the amazing Urban Waste EP I covered here like 7 months ago! That EP like this one features some of the most incredible, staticy, powerful guitar riff sounds of the era. If you love Reagan Youth then check out Urban Waste and Nausea, and the vice versa applies as well of course.
I would place this just behind Thou Shalt Not Kill EP by Antidote as my fave NYHC so far. Highly recommended. I should have checked this out earlier.
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Live Skull by Live Skull Live Skull (EP) by Live Skull/Released early 1984, Recorded a couple days in Aug. ‘83
I think this is a gem. Love the atmosphere. Love the guitar playing in particular and the sweeping riffs. The drumming throughout is cool as well. Just a lot of great noisy, experimental, exploratory rock. I should check out more Live Skull because based on this, they were a super interesting band.
EDIT: initially and perhaps still, that is all I wrote about this album. Weird because this is probably my second fave of this bunch and I do highly recommend it. I just am not feeling my creative juices right now. The point is I think this is indeed some of the freshest and most exciting "noise rock" I've heard from this era. Live Skull for some reason never seem to get much love and attention. At least I hadn't heard of 'em until now. This is a shame because this EP is consistently masterful in it's atmosphere, it's incredible guitar parts and sounds and solos and riffs, in it's rhythmic qualities, in it's flow and in the way these compositions build. And the vocals are cool as well and while being on the back burner in terms of focus here, the vocalist doesn consistently hang in the background and add a special ghostly soul to the songs. Check this out if you are interested in indie rock and stuff from the 1980s.
I like the ideas here. While Minutemen were doing somewhat similar things and right anbout the time Black Flag started getting the idea of doing similar things, Saccharine Trust were blazing their own trail in the direction of Fusion-y, jazz rock meets hardcore and noise punk. The result is this album. It’s full of cool and explosive tracks. I could never tell quite where they were going to go next.
This album doesn’t consistently blow me away as I feel it’s a bit unfocused and once I got over the overarching appreciation for the uniqueness of the sound, and was listening for some cool tunes and moments, I found it lacking in those aspects. I can’t deny a great appreciation for this band. They influenced and inspired a lot of music that I love most from the last 40 years. Just as of now I won’t say this is a favorite of mine.
When they really embrace a melody and their jazzy, subtler side as a band and turn away from the more Brutal Fusion sound, they really do kick ass and hit their peaks here. Namely, as the best example of how great these guys can be, I adore the track “The Cat Cracker” at the midway point of this album.
Not much else to say. This is a good and super unique record and I think that Saccharine Trust probably should get more love or at least respect – on the same level as Husker Du and Minutemen – as one of the great innovators of Post Hardcore.
I saw I skipped this earlier when I was covering 1981 releases and I figured I’d back track.
Saccharrine Trust hadn’t yet embraced the scattershot, agitated, brutal form of jazz meets noise rock meets hardcore that was on display on their first LP yet when they made this first EP of theirs. Still, this is a pretty cool and groundbreaking mix of LA Hardcore aesthetics and sounds with post punk and almost dreary gothic creepy atmospheres. I like this a lot. Not much else to say.
I love the title of this album. That probably is what drew me to it and made me add it to my queue. That and my interest in early noise rock.
As for this album and it’s quality… I mean It’s solid. It’s nothing that blew me away. The whole vibe I get here is a drunken and drugged bunch of weirdos making music that was abrasive, in-your-face, intentionally irritating and generally designed to annoy or push the buttons of people of the time. The vocalist doesn’t really articulate any memorable lyrics or melodies or convey some great emotion. The clattering, off key, discordant guitar work isn’t mind blowing but it does have some cool ideas sprinkled into this ramshackle, disorganized mess of an LP.
Mostly this seems like a little somewhat throw-away document made by some disgruntled and rebellious college-aged artsy types. There doesn’t seem to be any trace of profundity or even memorable trolling here. This doesn’t present a particularly fascinating snapshot of the time or place like similarly weird releases of the time from bands like Butthole Surfers, or Minutemen. Nor does it seems particularly exploratory or innovative like the records I just covered by Live Skull or Saccharrine Trust.
It's just a fine way to spend 24 or so minutes. Didn’t do much for me.
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Okay, that is this batch. I think I will embrace shorter comments going forward rather than always trying to find words to describe records even when the record doesn’t bring to mind too many thoughts. This approach will make ideas flow faster and will also differentiate albums that REALLY have a lot going for them and make me think.
Anyway, I’ll catch you on the flipside. Peace _________________ -Ryan
Nice write-ups!!! Haven't delved into Saccharine Trust IN AGES! I need to fix that pronto!
I saw Black Flag play My War in its entirety last night in a small little town in Northwest Indiana called Hobart. Gregg Ginn & co blew me away. Total & complete euphoria! I was even in tears at one point because I was just caught up in how amazing and next-level they are. Reminded me how influential that record was on the extreme metal to come. \m/
MercuryTurn your back on the pay-you-back last callProfile St. Louis
Nice write-ups!!! Haven't delved into Saccharine Trust IN AGES! I need to fix that pronto!
I saw Black Flag play My War in its entirety last night in a small little town in Northwest Indiana called Hobart. Gregg Ginn & co blew me away. Total & complete euphoria! I was even in tears at one point because I was just caught up in how amazing and next-level they are. Reminded me how influential that record was on the extreme metal to come. \m/
Holy shit!!!! That’s awesome, Repo! Knowing 1. Your love of that band and record and 2. How great and influential it is indeed, I can only imagine that specialness of that show!
My War is INSANELY groundbreaking. Even back when I was kind of lukewarm on my own personal feelings for it and Rollins-era-Black Flag, I was always in awe of how much it reshaped extreme metal and punk. _________________ -Ryan
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Mercury
Repo
mickilennial
Fischman
