After thinking it over and looking at my charts, I think a better starting point for will be 1968!!!
Awesome. And yeah 1968 makes more sense. That sound that by 1970-1973 was in absolute full swing and all over the place probably got it’s start in 1968 or 67. Arguably (and where I started my mello- really for me just singer songwriter project in 2017) the thing started with the 2nd Dylan EP in 1963. BUT in 67 you had Cohens debut. In 68 you had the emergence of Joni and Neil Young and stuff.
68 is also a major year because the first country rock classics started dropping like Dillard and Clark and Rodeo by the Byrds. _________________ -Ryan
There's so much mellow stuff from 1970: two Cat Stevens albums, two Van Morisson albums (just listening to one for my project), Stephen Stills, Shooting At The Moon from Kevin Ayers, Emitt Rhodes, Zero She Flies from Al Stewart, Bridge Over Troubled Water, After The Gold Rush, ...
To be honest, dear readers, I only just learned of this like 2 days ago. I have spent 20 years worshipping at the altar of Bad Brains’ debut, yet somehow never thought to explore other pre-debut album recordings. So, of course, when I saw this and read about it and saw the 5-song tracklist, I just HAD to check it out. And then I did check it out. Then I listened a few times. And I loved it!
The 2nd track, “Stay Close To Me”, is a lovely, romantic, reggae-tinged, summery piece of peaceful beauty. Really, it is. I had not expected this gnarly, fastest-band-in-the-world to pull off such a lovely ballad but they did.
Track 3, “I Love I Jah”, is the longest one here and makes up about 40% of this 17 minute EP. It’s a dub reggae slow burn that slowly morphs and moves into some really cool guitar parts. Awesome bass and production jobs. I love it. If you like the “Jah Calling” and, well, the same song on their debut album, you will enjoy this. I tend to think right now that I like this version on this EP slightly more than the rendition on their debut.
Track 4, “At The Movies”, roars with a heavy metal thunder that needs to be heard! Bad Brains were so fucking badass! When they played somewhat straight-forward hardcore (their style was never really “typical”) they did it better than everyone else on planet earth – only a year or 2 later did they get challenged. When they played dub reggae stuff, it was excellent (I am no expert on this style, but I like what I have heard from the Brains) and when they leaned into heavy metal and what should be labeled very definitely “Proto-Thrash” they became more than mere mortals, but demigods raining bolts of heavy metal lightning upon our mere mortal heads! This track is an example of that – very messy and ragged but undeniably might.
And the 5th and final track here, “Attitude”, is a classic we have all heard many times (if we have heard Bad Brains) and its great here just like it was great in 1979 when they did that demo and when they did it for their debut. Some of the nastiest and most eye-poppingly overwhelming punk tracks you’ll ever hear!
And honestly, as you may have picked up, I am burying the lead. Literally because the lead track here is mind-blowing and easily the standout. When I first heard this song on their 1986 crossover album classic I Against I, I thought “Fuck! This sounds absolutely wild and especially for 1986! Bad Brains must have sounded like aliens to both the punks and metalheads when they dropped this in 1986!”. So imagine my shock when I heard this archival EP and heard “I Against I”, in almost the same form and hitting almost the same beats, but recorded in bloody 1-9-8-0! Fuck me, this is a cool track, the almost fusion-y opening blast of notes, the rapped lyrics with that cool-as-fuck inflection, that massive group chorus, that sudden slow down with the muted chords and the “woof!” vocal part, the absurd and weird and glorious warbling vocal delivery that almost reminds me of pre-Jello Biafra stuff, and then the main riff attack that comes in and the anthemic vocals, etc etc! This entire song is a mammoth achievement in my opinion.
The more I listen to Bad Brains the more I come to the conclusion they were the coolest and most speedy and heavy and badass maybe ever up until 1983 and maybe even after. Is there a punk band or hardcore punk band that you can think of that surely almost every metal head would also love? I can’t think of a bigger gimme to a scenario of a teenage thrash/Anthrax/Slayer/other metal band fan asking you, “Hey man, punk…I am thinking of checking it out. I have heard that punk is pretty related and influential to my fave bands like Anthrax and Slayer. Where should I start?”… the Bad Brains debut album, 2nd album, and 3rd album and their Black Dots album, obviously!
Anyway, I love this. I think I’ve gone on long enough. I am curious if any of you reading this have another better answer to that question. Who do you feel is the best intro drug so to speak into hardcore punk or punk more broadly for that classic image of a metalhead?
Okay, let’s get back into chrono logical order again…
Void were a DC-based hardcore punk band that during their active years released ½ of 1 album when they made the split LP with Faith. We will get to that later. (It’s great and especially the back Void half is crazy and maybe Void’s finest quarter hour)
This was a blast of erratic, truly nuts, clattering, talking-all-over-itself, chaotic hardcore punk goodness! It’s not my fave hardcore ever, don’t really connect with any of the songs and they don’t stick with me after the fact. BUT it does have a lovable energy and intensity that SOUNDS sick. This archival EP is composed of 9 songs. It’s 7 minutes. Most of the tracks are 30-40 seconds of madness. There is a recurring fun feedback note that crops up between several songs here. It sounds like iot was all played in one 7 minute stretch lol. Which is cool and very punk rockin and of itself.
The vocalist here is a maniac and is a joy to hang with. He also steals the show on the Faith/Void split as well.
Not much to say about this. It’s cool and it only takes 7 minutes to hear so you should hear it. Especially if you like punk of this era and this scene. It’s not Bad Brains or Minor Threat and not exactly (to me, anyway) a challenge to their DC supremacy. But it’s a nice riot.
The next Void album I’m about to talk about includes all these songs (I don’t know if it includes these specific tracks or recordings…) and then some (lots and lots of “some”!) so while this archival EP is cool, the Sessions 1981-83 makes this sort of, I don’t know, supernumerary, I guess.
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Sessions 1981-83 by Void Sessions 1981-83/recorded between November 1981 and June 1982, released much, much later in 2011
As the title of this collection says quite clearly, this is a collection of the sessions that Void did between late 1981 and mid 1982. There are also a couple live performances tacked on at the end that took place in 1983 just before they split up.
The sessions often went over the same songs as other sessions. So, as you listen to this 34 track, 36 minute archival collection you will hear the same song 2 or 3 times. And its not like their sound developed too much over these years. It’s basically a rabid, unalloyed nihilistic and demented sound and vibe all the way through. There is a torrential attack of messy, fucked up riffs and angry vocals and speedy, pounding drums that plays the whole way through this album. It’s pretty badass, actually.
Again, there aren’t specific songs or moments that stick out here. That may be because I have heard this 2 times and so haven’t given the songs here nor the flow of the album enough time to sink in. That may be part of it. But you know how intense Minor Threat’s first EP is? Well, also surely at the end of listening to it you get lines like “We’re just a minor threat!”, or “At least I’m FUCKING TRYIIING! WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE?!!!!” stuck in your head. I don’t hear moments like that here. Except, actually “Organized Sports” has a nice memorable line and riff. As does the fucked up attack of each version of “War Hero” (“I’m not worried about getting exploded/And coming home without my legs?Or losing my gun in the mud/I don’t care because it’s fun! I WANT TO DIE IN A WARRR!”)… so yeah as I listen and think about it more, there are a few absolutely irresistible punk moments here.
Also, side note, there is a super cool cover of Black Flag’s “Wasted” (called “Wasted Party” here) that is badass and fun. Also the silly intros to some of these songs just puts me in that time and place. I just imagine these wild teens hanging and making music, and it kind of humanizes this group of kids (especially on the last version of “Dehumanized” ironically enough). The banter is fun is all.
Okay in short, this is a really great time and a damn fine hardcore punk release. Void are underground legends for a reason. Check ‘em out.
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Okay, and now let’s go on over to the UK and see what they were up to in this period of time. Starting with some Subhumans!
This is a sick EP. Subhumans were great from the jump. In the UK at the time there was a lot of cool Hardcore stuff, and there was a lot of great Anarcho Punk stuff (most notably Crass, who were probably the number 1 band at the time), and there soon would be a lot more somewhat metal-tinged hardcore in the form of Exploited and GBH. And, there is more, in the UK at this same time was a whole new wave of British heavy metal coming out that had a distinctly Punk rock edge to it. There was some great motion in the punk and metal scenes in this area at this time is what I am saying.
I got a little sidetracked writing the end of the above paragraph, so let me get back on track. This debut EP showcases that the Subhumans were already pretty goddamn badass. The guitars are so staticy and noisy and nasty here, they drip with an edge I really like. The rest of the band has a coiled tightness which is refreshing – they don’t embody chaos and veer off and step all over each other like some other punk of this era did. It instead is a more heavy and sharp sound.
The songs and the vocals and lyrics are sort of a unit of factors that go together well. The vocals aren’t all time great or unique, but they are harsh and passionate and they fit the political screeds quite well. The songs are excellently in your face intense, especially the first 6 songs. The last track is a somewhat eerie, taut, quieter and less punchy song about the feeling of dread at the impending nuclear war between the US and USSR. Probably because the other songs here average a minute and 30 seconds and I just got done listening to Void’s torrent of 50 second songs, but the length of this final song sticks out. Seems absolutely epic in length by comparison despite it being like 3 and a half minutes! Still, Pretty badass way to close the album, although, and perhaps this is just my punk simplemindedness showing, I like and much prefer the harder, shorter, more aggressive punk songs more.
In closing, this is one of the greatest post-initial-punk-explosion British punk groups. They went on to create a huge amount of excellent LPs and EPs and I definitely recommend them to anyone who likes British punk. In particular, I think this is one of their better releases. Although they do get a lot more art punk and a bit more experimental later, there is something simply awesome about Subhumans at their most savage and direct.
Rudimentary Peni were truly great for the entire 1980s. Their first 2 EPs and their first 2 LPs are some of my favorite things to come out of anarcho/hardcore punk. They were always weird, demented, sardonically funny, and incredibly creative.
On this, their first EP, they are generally playing rudimentary (wink wink leo dicap guffaw) punk rock, with blasts of weird spindly guitar sounds, meaty and sharp riff work and some artsy deathrocky music to differentiate it from most of their contemporaries. The vocalist/guitarist Nick Blinko is one of the all time great punk musicians and lead singers and his name should be as known and revered as Jello in my opinion. And on here, it’s clear he was onto something special from the jump.
Of course, Farce EP is a total masterpiece as is their debut LP Death Church… as is their utterly indescribable 2nd LP Cacophony. Is this as great as those releases or even in the same league? When I started listening and revisiting this for this project I would have said “No, not on that level is this EP” (I would have said it just like that indeed). But after half a dozen listens to this excellent, 12 minute EP, I am loving it more and more and I am starting to think this is at least approaching that same level of genius.
I mostly just wanted to revisit this debut EP and this project gave me an excuse. This, much like Dead Kennedys, isn’t really the style of punk that presaged thrash or more gnarly and punky forms of “extreme metal” later in this 80s decade. Some of their contemporaries like Discharge and GBH did, not so much this band. They were always more in the Crass/Conflict, artsy, spindly, strange camp of anarcho/hardcore. Still I am glad I listened to this and there are a few heavy moments that I am sure a few thrashers listened to at some point in the next 3 years after this dropped. Farce EP is a lot more heavy and aggressive I think, so that EP won’t be out of place in this project.
Anyway, this is great. I love the straight up aggressive hardcore tunes a lot here. But the album shines when the vocals get really weird and the guitars get distinctly creepy and brittle, like on “Teenage Time Killer” and “The Gardener” and “Tower of Strength” (side note on Tower of Strength, his vocals reminded me many many times of a 90s rapper, but I couldn’t pin it. Maybe one of the guys in A Tribe Called Quest…? Anyway, it is fleeting and only mildly similar but it bothered me that each time I heard it I could never place what it was reminding me of) or humorous and atypical like on the closer “Play”. The whole 12 minute experience. Highly recommended.
Oh and I have to awkwardly say at the end, I like the drummer here a lot. The march he does on “Teenage Time Killer” is sick.
This EP is one I am having a hard time grappling with. Do I like it, love it, indifferent, hate it? I think the last option is out of the question. Although initially when I heard it I thought it was just too hooligan-ish, meathead-ish, I thought it sounded too much like an embodiment of that fashion/era y’know of the punks you see in your mind when you first think of punk – big brightly colored mohawks, denim jacket, spiky belt and wrist straps, that sorta thing. I just have a tendency to think of that and wince. And, indeed, GBH or Charged G.B.H. as they were called at this early stage in their careers, were for sure hugely influential to that aesthetic. And so initially when I heard those heavy metal guitar tones used for hardcore punk and I heard those lead guitar lines (!!!!) and those very very heavy and thudding drum sounds that start this EP, I was ready to say “yeah this ain’t it”.
But today I came back and listened to this 21 or so minute EP several times. And perhaps just due to my mood or maybe because I got a lot of the weirder and more abstract and un-metallic punk pumped into my ears via Rudimentary Peni and Void and Subhumans, I was ready to just turn off my skepticism and enjoy this for what it is.
What this is can be described as essentially the first (to my ears) clear attempt at mixing NWOBHM and Metal in general with Punk Rock. This came out at around the time and slightly before Venom’s debut which did a lot of the same stuff from the Metal half of the equation. The guitar tones and the drums here are CLEARLY metal indluenced. The songs and the vocals and the attitude is CLEARLY hardcore punk. The band seems like some hard-nosed yet fun loving dudes making some kick ass music to mosh and party to. The moment that most sticks out for me is at the end of the very proto-thrash song “State Executioner” when the lead singer burps loudly and then the band laughs like jolly idiots. Silly, sophomoric and fun in a lowly way. Then they jump into the next hard charging punk ditty”Dead On Arrival”.
The sound here is very heavy and hard and fast and there is not a single moment that really deviates from this excellent little formula of fun – until the “hidden track” (it was hidden before, now on streaming its simply the last track) “Alcohol” starts. It’s the longest, slowest, weirdest, most throw-away of the tracks here. Sort of like Hooligan’s answer to Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf” only much less cool and about a deep love and appreciation of alcohol instead of weed. The band seems to have just discovered the weird child effects they can put on their vocals, so they do what any bunch of enthusiastic youngsters might do, and they toy with this weird effect ad nauseam. The production is purposefully warbly and disorienting. The whole song just sounds “off” and strange. I don’t really like this song, but it is a little curiosity and for sure a fun and thorough change of sound.
The track “Necrophilia” straight up is a thrash song that could directly come off Metallica or Exodus’ debut albums (and yes a lot of that association may be due to the shouted “No Remorse!” which directly ties to the track of that name on Kill Em All… but its not just that, it’s the riff and drums and the snarled vocals and even the way the singer snarls at a lower pitch at the end of some lines, its all sooooo thrash.)
Okay, I think that is enough about this EP. I actually hadn’t heard this EP in isolation nor in full before the last couple weeks in preparation for this diary entry. I had heard their first couple albums years ago and I look forward to checking out at least their first LP for this project soon-ish. But this was a nice listen and it does indeed bridge a gap between hardcore and thrash that I loved hearing with my own ears. I think, outside of Welcome To Hell album by Venom, there is no more obvious precursor to the bands that sprung up in 83 and 84 making those thrash records.
Okay, let’s do more English albums now, starting with a classic from a new favorite of mine… the mighty SAXON!!!!
Look, at this point, I think I need to admit it: I got that Saxon Fever! And the only cure is…more Saxon albums that I love! Starting with this one.
I love this album. I think I can say with some certainty it is my favorite of the 3 I have heard! I know, right!? Wild.
“Gosh, it feels good to be back!”, was the first thing I thought when that sharp, tight guitar riff followed by those soaring Biff Byford vocals came in at the start of “Princess Of The Night”. After 11 consecutive hardcore punk releases in a row, this very, very different take on heavy music of the time and this whole package of sound/skill/intent/message/vibe/whatever just felt like a breathe of the freshest air.
That is not to say I haven’t loved listening to all those wild, at times wildly erratic and intense hardcore records, because you know I have. It’s just good to change it up a bit, and to change it up into a mammoth blast of fuckin’ Saxon greatness?!!? Hell yeah, brother.
I have listened to this several times. I went back and listened to Wheels of Steel and Strong Arm Of The Law again as well. I wanted to see if I really do love this one the most and the answer is “Yes”. I think by this point the band were in full swing in terms of their sound and identity and they seemed to focus on songwriting and melodies more here. The increase in melodic flair and catchiness was already evident between their 2nd and 3rd albums. But between this, their 4th, and their 3rd – they stepped it up all the more. This album is perhaps not as rough-hewn, rockin’, gritty or rambunctious as the previous albums. And I do love that side of them, I might add. But they make up for that with some truly touching songs and new wrinkles in their songwriting.
This album seems to be the most self aware. There are songs here that directly reflect their time on tour in the US or their love and appreciation for their fans, and all in all, these songs are highlights for sure. I gotta be honest the closing track here, the title track “Denim and Leather”, on paper should strike me as corny, and yet I got a little misty-eyed while listening. It’s the best song of theirs I have heard and its so unabashedly sentimental and thankful to their fans who they had come up with from the start. The chorus is fabulous and uplifting, the way the sound gets louder and climaxes, really all of this long-ish song (5.5 minutes I think) is fabulous!
Other highlights are the fabulously catchy opener, the classic, a bit on-the-nose-but-in-a-lovable-way, “Never Surrender”, the old school hard nosed groove of “Rough and Ready”, the again quite corby yet somehow PERFECT rocker anthem “Play It Loud”, the short and sweet tour-de-force of “And The Bands Played On”, the aforementioned song chronicling their road trip across the USA “Midnight Rider”, and of course the NWOBHM take on Nuclear War catastrophe “Fire In The Sky”.
Overall, love this. Just a damn fine metal record.
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Due to including their classic debut here on this (originally conceived to be) Thrash influences project, I felt I should include this classic EP (and later their second classic LP).
Do I love this as much as their debut? Not at all. BUT that doesn’t mean this is not great. It is great. It’s insane and more intense and rabid and more fast and unbridled in its raging. It’s a 14 minute showcase of Jello’s venomous and humorous and red hot rage, East Bay Ray’s strangely \offkilter riff work and melodies, new drummer DH Peligro’s thundering and brutal beats, and Klaus Flouride’s big booming bass work. Especially the first half of this thing is a brutal menacing blitz of noisy angry outbursts, highlighted by the classic “Nazi Punks Fuck Off”.
The second half gets a little silly and calls back to the sillier moments on their debut. The reworked California Uber Alles in the track “We’ve Got A Bigger Problem Now” is quite funny and unexpected the first few times you listen. Not my fave but a good time. And of course, just like with the closer of Fresh Fruit, on this EP the DKs end with a prefect cover of an unexpected beast of a song, instead of “Viva Los Vegas”, it’s “RAWHIDE” this time around and it fucking rips. “rollin’, rollin’, rollin’… RawHIDE!”
Overall, this is cool, I like it. Overshadowed by the 2 LPs before and after, but still DKs ate their peak so can’t complain.
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I spent 2 long decades underappreciating this revolutionary album. It was one of the first punk albums I remember buying. As a 13 year old budding music fan this album struck me as an odd, messy, downer of an album. Outside of the 3 most easily lovable tracks here (“Gimme Gimme Gimme”, “TV Party” and “Six Pack”) the album felt depressing and dark to an oppressive degree. I just didn’t get this level of self-loathing, depression, and ugliness.
In recent years I haven’t returned to this album too much, but each time I did a renewed appreciation emerged. Is it a good sign that 30-something ryan connects a lot more with the themes of this album? Probably not. But outside of the personal connection to tracks like “What I See”, “Damaged II and I”, “Life and Pain”, and “Room 13”, I also hear a lot more truly brilliant musical choices here. The Greg Ginn solos, those ugly splattered outbursts, hit me as truly brilliant now. The oppressive, dank and dangerous atmosphere of the production strikes me as some of the best of any punk album ever made. And the vocals of Henry Rollins, those same vocals that seemed unmemorable as a young man, strike me now as a beautiful expression of paranoid and hateful confusion.
I am no historian of heavy music, but from what I have been recently listening to, this feels like the first punk album or even metal album to fully embrace and express the depths of self-hate and darkness. This feels like a revolutionary album because it turns the aggression inward to make the first introverted and internal soundtrack if that makes sense. If one of you can name an earlier punk or hardcore or metal album that captures this introverted internal war feel please PLEASE let me know.
As is tradition for me and my writings, I have gone a little off track. So, let me recenter this by saying this is the best LP I have heard so far in this project. Minor Threat’s debut EP is the best EP and the 2 of them make for a good 1-2 punch of highest tier greatness. I have been listening to this album on repeat for the last few days and each time I hear that haunting and scary ending of “Damaged I” when Henry screams “Damaged… MY damage… No One Comes in! STAY OUT!!” I am left in awe of the experience. The vocals on that closing classic in particular are so rabid and savage, they sound like something you’d hear on a black metal album 12 years later. The sludge riffs, the wailing feedback, the brutal and claustrophobic soundscape, the up and down, minimalistic rhythm work… its all stunning.
That’s another thing that makes this the greatest Hardcore LP of all time up to this point (maybe never to be topped) is how ahead of its time it is. The beginnings of sludge metal and sludgy hardcore are here with “Damaged I” and “Life of Pain”. Of course Henry Rollins would famously steer the band even more into that slower, gnarlier sludge sound in future albums. I also feel like this was hugely influential to many many punk and metal bands to get emo and introverted. Husker Du and others have to be thankful to Black Flag for trailblazing this territory. The guitar antics of Ginn were present in Black Flag’s early EPs, but here is where he really embraced his chaotic, almost completely free, spattering style of lead guitar work. So many factors make this not only a perfect album but also a groundbreaking one.
Speaking of Rollins, I think the addition of Henry Rollins to Black Flag has to be one of the most Important moments in heavy music history. Much like when Dickinson joined Maiden, when Rollins arrived and went into the studio shortly thereafter to record this debut LP by Black Flag is when Black Flag became the legends they are now seen as. And much like Di Anno in those early Maiden albums, Morris and the other early Black Flag singers, while excellent in their own ways, just couldn’t do what Rollins could do. They didn’t have this depth of feeling, this same artistry, almost elemental force that Rollins always had.
Track for track, this is as strong as it gets. Even the songs I used to love I STILL love and unlike when I was 13, I am not only loving the catchiness of “TV Party” and “Six Pack”, I am also obsessed with the songwriting, the acidic humour and mockery, the power of the band and the solos. Outside of those more famous tracks, there is not a bad song here. I adore both Damaged tracks, “Life of Pain”, “”Thirsty and Miserable”, “Padded Cell”, “Spray Paint”, “Rise Above”, “Room 13”, “What I See”, “Police Story”, etc etc. Every song is great on its own and also flows and fits with all the rest.
Okay, I’ve gushed enough. I have fallen in love with this record and that is plain for all to see.
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What can I even say about this that isn’t well known to all who are interested in this music? In late 1981 Venom released this album and metal was never remotely the same again. This album is an event in metal’s development so bedrock and clear to anyone with ears to hear, that I am finding it hard to find even 5 similarly important moments in metal history. Kill Em All? Sure. Black Sabbath’s debut and/or Paranoid? Yep. But after that, what? Repo would say Nevermind, and I kind of agree its an important moment because it absolutely overtook every other form of heavy metal in pop culture including the relevance of Thrash or Glam. Maybe Pantera perfecting Groove metal in 1992 with Vulgar Display of Power is up there as well (I know its cool to hate Pantera, but c’mon they were absurdly influential whether for good or bad). And… I can’t think of anything else on the order of magnitude of the emergence of Venom and the release of Welcome To Hell.
I didn’t honestly fully understand the heaviness of this album before. Out of context or not having fresh in my mind the heaviest and most evil stuff being released at the time made me think “What’s the big deal?” when I first heard this. I think I gave this album and Black Metal 3/5 stars and just felt unimpressed. But now, after spending a little time revisiting metal and discovering the heaviest and most extreme metal released 1977 to 1981, when I pushed play on this album today I was BLOWN THE FUCK AWAY. This album is fucking filthy, dangerous, evil, infernal, and strikingly aggressive. And, considering I feel this way about this 41 year old album today, imagine how insane this must have sounded to people in 1982? Imagine how thrilling it must have been to teenagers looking for the good shit back then when they played this! When I imagine this it makes sense that members of Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Bathory, Slayer, Sodom, Metallica, Mayhem, and many others and all the groundbreakers of ever-more-extreme metal over the next 10 years would hold this album and Venom in such high regard.
The production is fabulous. It’s bad, but in a good way lol. The fact that all the sounds bleed over into other spaces and encroach on everything makes this have a primordial oozing disgust to it that would prove massively important to Black Metal in the years to come. Do I really hear Black Metal here? No. I barely hear it on their second album. The main thing that can be pointed to as Proto-Black Metal about this is the production and the satanic lyrics. I DO hear thrash here in those thunderous riffs, those galloping rhythms, that gravelly vocal menace hanging over all the songs.
The fact that this is the most demonic and satanic album ever released in metal up to this point is revolutionary. The fact that it was the heaviest and most brutal metal album released in metal up to that point is revolutionary. The fact that Cronos’ vocals are so rough and growling that it seems to me to be the earliest incarnation of what would become the “Death Growl” is revolutionary. The fact that they were so unabashedly unafraid to mix the speed and harshness of hardcore punk/punk stuff with the galloping heaviness and riffs of metal was, you guessed it, revolutionary. All these things on their own would make this essential listening simply for that one innovation. But all of em on one miraculously out-of-the-blue game-changing debut album???!??? Fuckin a!
Another thing that I recently discovered is that the songs here are fabulous too. When I first heard this, if you had asked my thoughts, I would have said “I don’t really think its aged well. The songs are boring now, the drummer sucks and there are way more intense metal albums out there. What is the appeal?” And yeah, I was an idiot lol. The drummer doesn’t suck exactly. He’s a fair bit rough, but that’s cool and punk as shit! I now love those lagging drums. And the songs… these have aged quite well actually. The opener “Sons of Satan” when it comes on instantly hooks me and makes me pay attention. The utter hate and filth of “Posion:” with its cool solo is a classic, the closer “”Red Light Fever” is so sickeningly brutral and heavy I sit in awe. The title track and “Witching Hour” and “One Thousand Days In Sodom” and “Schizo” and “Live Like An Angel” all feature some special satanic, gnarly, heavy, fast, hellish power that I just love and adore now.
Is this the most important and influential metal album and band of the 1980s? I think maybe. It’s down to Venom, Metallica, Bathory and maybe Slayer. And considering each of those bands was influenced directly by Venom, I think the answer is Venom is the daddy of em all. And did this and Black Metal quickly get overtaken by more extreme and more frightening satanic, evil, brutal music made by the teens it influenced? Yes. In 1983 Hellhammer and Slayer came in. in 1982 Metallica and the first appearance of Sodom occurred. Also in 1982, Mercyful Fate’s satanism was arguably even more scary and evil. In 1984 the pandora’s box really blew open with debuts from Celtic Frost and Bathory and many more bands appeared to get truly gross and frightening. But one thing I discovered from listening to this a few times today is that I can enjoy the songs and atmosphere and vocals here completely irrespective of its influence. Simply as a punk and metal powerhouse album with catchy and violent riffs and speedy beats and soupy primordial production, this is a masterpiece.
I am glad to finally see the fucking light on this record. The 1-2 punch of Damaged and Welcome To Hell in November and December 1981 is mind-blowing. This was a time of boundary-pushing brutality in the punk world and metal world. Glorious.
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PRE-THRASH Tier List/Ranking:
(side note: as it is becoming clear to all of you who didn’t know already, I like music more often than I dislike it. And when I am listening to mostly classic releases within 1 of my favorite genres and a genre I respect, I am way more likely to love the album than dislike or hate or be neutral about it. Honestly, none of the albums so far have been less than good and enjoyable. I am easy to please perhaps. That is one way of looking at it. But whatever, these are the tiers…)
MASTERFUL, PERFECT, ALL TIME GREAT, FIRST BALLOT HALL OF FAME, AMEN (unranked, alphabetical. Top-most tier are basically just too special to rank right now):
Damaged by Black Flag (November 16th, 1981) – exemplary track, “Damaged I”
Minor Threat by Minor Threat (compilation of first 2 EPs released June 1984, EPs released June 1981/August 1981) – exemplary track, “Minor Threat"
NEAR-PERFECT, ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL LISTENING:
3. Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables by Dead Kennedys (September 2nd, 1980) – exemplary track, “Holiday In Cambodia”.
4. Welcome To Hell by Venom (December 1981) – exemplary track, “Red Light Fever”
4. Stained Class by Judas Priest (February 10th, 1978) - exemplary track, "Exciter"
5. Static Age by The Misfits (Recorded Jan-Feb, 1978) - exemplary track, "We Are 138"
JUST FUDGIN’ GREAT
6. It’s Alive by Ramones (Recorded December 31st, 1977) – exemplary track, “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”
7. Unleashed In The East by Judas Priest (Recorded 10-15 February 1979) – exemplary track “Victim of Changes”
8. Lightning To The Nations by Diamond Head (October 3rd, 1980) – exemplary track, “Am I Evil?”
9. Black Dots by Bad Brains (Recorded June 1979) - exemplary track, "Pay To Cum”
10. Denim and Leather by Saxon (October 5th, 1981) – exemplary track, “Denim and Leather”
11. Killers by Iron Maiden (February 2nd, 1981) – exemplary track “Wrathchild”
12. Strong Arm of the Law by Saxon (November 14th, 1980) – exemplary track, “To Hell and Back Again”
13. Ace Of Spades by Motörhead (November 8th, 1980) – exemplary track, “Ace Of Spades”
14. Omega Sessions by Bad Brains (Recorded 1980, released 1997) – exemplary track, “I Against I”
15. Why EP by Discharge (May 1981) – exemplary track, “Ain’t No Feeble Bastard”
VERY GOOD with HINTS of GREATNESS
16. Iron Maiden by Iron Maiden (April 14th, 1980) - exemplary track, "Phantom of the Opera"
17. Overkill by Motörhead (April 24th, 1979) - exemplary track, "Overkill"
18. No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith by Motörhead (Recorded 28 to 30 March, 1981) – exemplary track, “Motorhead”
19. Wheels of Steel by Saxon (April 1980) - exemplary track, "747 (Strangers In The Night)"
20. Rudimentary Peni EP by Rudimentary Peni (1981) – exemplary track, “Teenage Time Killer” 21. Demolition War EP by Subhumans (1981) – exemplary track, “Drugs of Youth”
22. Fight Back EP by Discharge/May 1980) – exemplary track, “You Take Part In Creating The System”.
23. (GI) by The Germs (October 1979) - exemplary track, "Lexicon Devil"
24. Sessions 1981-83 by Void (Recorded between Nov. 1981 and June 1982) – exemplary track, “Dehumanized” all 3 versions, really. 25. In God We Trust, Inc EP by Dead Kennedys (November 1981) - exemplary track, "Nazi Punks Fuck Off!"
26. New Hope for the Wretched by Plasmatics (March 1980) - exemplary track, "Dream Lover"
27. All My Friends Are Dead by The Consumers (1977) – exemplary track, “Anti Anti Anti”
28. Realities of War EP by Discharge/March 31st, 1980) – exemplary track, “Society’s Victim”
29. Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne EP by Charged G.B.H. (September 12th, 1981) – exemplary track, “Necrophilia”
30. Breaker by Accept (March 16th, 1981) – Exemplary track, “Run If You Can”
31. T.S.O.L. EP by T.S.O.L. (1981) – exemplary track, “Abolish Government/Silent Majority”
32. St. Valentine’s Day Massacre EP by MotorheadGirlSchool (February 1981) – exemplary track, “Please Don’t Touch”
these are…GOOD… not bordering on great to my ears. But good. Lay off me! lol 33. Condensed Flesh EP by Void (Recorded 1981, released in 1992) – exemplary track, “War Hero”
34. Angel Witch by Angel Witch (December 1980) – Exemplary track, “Angel Witch”
35. Dance With Me by T.S.O.L. (June 1981) – exemplary track, “Funeral March”
Note to my friend Repo: I had that compilation of early Mercyful Fate demos on the docket for this post initially. Started listening and liked it. But from what I read and heard it seems these were early demo versions of what came the next year with their iconic debut EP/Mini-album. And, considering I have never heard that release, I decided I should listen to the demos AFTER doing a deserved listen and analysis of sorts of that EP.
I also had the great Saxon Live album from 1982 here (recorded in 1981) and decided to either put that on hold or just not highlight it. I mean Saxon with 4 LPs here is a bit much. Lol. Not really, love those guys’ music and that live album is a great capstone of that amazing run of music they made in 1980-1981.
I will also be revisiting Angel Witch because I watched that video you shared, Repo, and I keep fuckin seeing that album praised alongside albums I love from this era. I may still not love it, but who knows I may also have a “Eureka!” moment with it.
Also also also, as I gushed about the Greatness of the Most High and Revolutionary Damaged, I started remembering other Hardcore albums I adore that I didn’t highlight here because much like Germs’ album I felt it didn’t really influence or inform the Thrash bands and extreme metal bands of the coming decade. I understand that is debatable, but that was my reasoning for excluding 10/10 classics like Group Sex by Circle Jerks – just not proto-thrash at all! But I may include other missed 1979 and 1980 albums later. Just know that I view Group Sex as the other masterpiece of the LA hardcore scene.
…Okay, I think that is all I’ll do for this year 1981! Phew! What a year!
The next post will likely be starting on 1982 hardcore punk and metal albums. 1982 is also the year that Metallica dropped their No Life Til Leather demo/EP/thing. I think I will skip it when we get there and cover that when we start listening to and talking about Thrash. But we shall see.
Okay, chat later. Give me your thoughts and disagreements. And tell me what metal releases honest to goodness influenced Thrash metal that were released in 1980 or 1981 or 1982 or 1983 before Kill Em All. Are there other Proto-extreme metal albums I have missed? (I will cover Accept’s 1982 album and the title track thereof of course… but there may be others I am overlooking.) _________________ -Ryan
<Will slowly read through this tonight after tai chi! Psyched to see your love for Venom and the Flag!!!>
Awesome! Yeah I just updated my 1981 chart and thought “Fuck, this chart os looking more and more like it was influenced by Repo by the day!” Top 10 alone features Black Flag, The Cure, Venom, Saxon, and Iron Maiden!
Hope you enjoy the rambling style you’ve come to expect.
On Hardcore and Metal Releases Passed Over like Fredo in this Project:
Looking over the years 1978 to 1983, there are many albums and EPs I love within the Heavy Metal and Hardcore Punk and Punk genres that could conceivably be included in this never-ending project trying to trace the origins and influences on Thrash and other extreme metal of the later 1980s.
For example, I touched on Judas Priest to start with Stained Class. BUT I have proceeded to not talk about their classics from 1977 and 1979 and 1980 and I MAY touch on their great 1982 album, but its debatable and not settled in my mind.
Another example is LA hardcore albums like Group Sex or Adolescents' debut or what-have-you. I highlighted Germs' debut, so the question would be why not more other stuff of its ilk?
Anarcho punk classics from Crass and other abrasive and intense punk has also been ignored.
To answer all these questions on omissions (questions that almost surely don't exist but in my mind), it comes down to whether 1. I have consiodered the sound influential to Thrash and 2. Whether I remember clearly what the album sounds like and 3. whether I am curious about the album or EP, if I have never heard the album but have had an interest, I will often include the album due to sheer curiosity (only to discover that the sound of the album isn't really proto-thrash at all.)
I think we can all agree that Discharge was way way more influential to Slayer and Thrash etc than contemporaries like Crass or Zounds. I am sure we generally agree the heavy and punishing sound of Black Flag's Damaged is more influential to extreme metal than contemporaries like The Adolescents or The Minutemen or The Circle Jerks. And that is usually the tie breaker on whether I highlight the albums here.
The most painful omissions and how I would rank them if I were to listen and write about them here are as follows
Group Sex by The Circle Jerks/1980 (top tier)
Screaming For Vengeance by Judas Priest/1982 (second tier)
The First Four Years Compilation by Black Flag/1983 (second tier)
The Number of The Beast by Iron Maiden/1982 (2nd or 3rd tier)
Piece of Mind by Iron Maiden/1983 (2nd or 3rd tier)
The Punch Line by Minutemen/1981 (3rd I think)
Penis Envy by Crass/1981(3rd I think)
Vicious Circle by Zero Boys/1982(3rd I think)
Killing Joke by Killing Joke/1980 (Kinda wanted to do this because they are covered by Metallica and seem to have had some influence on them and others... but I just don't hear it in their sound really at all.)(3rd I think)
The Eagle Has Landed: Live by Saxon/1982(3rd I think or 4th)
Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash by The Replacements/1981(3rd I think or 4th)
Christ: The Album by Crass/1982(3rd I think or 4th)
The Record by Fear/1982 (idk)
Milo Goes to College by Descendants/1982 (idk cant remember)
Kill From The Heart by Dicks/1983 (idk cant remember)
Everything Went Black by Black Flag/1983 (idk cant remember)
Millions of Dead Cops by MDC/1982 (idk cant remember)
Filth by Swans/1983 (idk cant remember)
Adolescents by Adolescents/1981 (idk cant remember)
The Curse of Zounds! by Zounds/1982 (idk cant remember)
There are more, but I'm getting tired of writing em. You get the idea. There are some controversial omissions. Especially considering what I have listened to and reviewed here. Many of these are way way more similar to thrash than, say, TSOL's debut album or Germs debut. But in those cases I had forgotten what Germs LP sounded like as it had been loooong time since I heard it and in the case of TSOL, I actually had never listened to that album yet had heard about it for so long I just was deeply curious.
Okay, I'll go back to other stuff. Just wanted to say something about these albums and why excluded. _________________ -Ryan
And tell me what metal releases honest to goodness influenced Thrash metal that were released in 1980 or 1981 or 1982 or 1983 before Kill Em All. Are there other Proto-extreme metal albums I have missed? (I will cover Accept’s 1982 album and the title track thereof of course… but there may be others I am overlooking.)
ALSO, I'm chewing on your question from my thread. It's an oft debated topic actually so a VERY good question. The short answer is I hate being overly picky about genres and Mercy Fate are typically thrown in that subgenre (First Wave Of Black Metal) as the best fit due to the corpse paint and lyrics and album covers. AND music wise, they are starting to transcend the NWOBHM sound imo (as were Maiden). Sometimes life is a little messy! lol. It's one of those fun metal debates! Which subgenre would YOU put them in?!
And tell me what metal releases honest to goodness influenced Thrash metal that were released in 1980 or 1981 or 1982 or 1983 before Kill Em All. Are there other Proto-extreme metal albums I have missed? (I will cover Accept’s 1982 album and the title track thereof of course… but there may be others I am overlooking.)
ALSO, I'm chewing on your question from my thread. It's an oft debated topic actually so a VERY good question. The short answer is I hate being overly picky about genres and Mercy Fate are typically thrown in that subgenre (First Wave Of Black Metal) as the best fit due to the corpse paint and lyrics and album covers. AND music wise, they are starting to transcend the NWOBHM sound imo (as were Maiden). Sometimes life is a little messy! lol. It's one of those fun metal debates! Which subgenre would YOU put them in?!
awesome thanks! I have added all to my queue except Black Metal which is yet to come chronologically and I wouldn't skip it for the world (much like Welcome To Hell, it was released late in the year so I will get to it in about 3 or 4 weeks.
awesome thanks! I have added all to my queue except Black Metal which is yet to come chronologically and I wouldn't skip it for the world (much like Welcome To Hell, it was released late in the year so I will get to it in about 3 or 4 weeks.
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Damn right that's where Damaged belongs!!! 
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