Slayer Repentless!

Slayer have never let me down. Ever. Since hearing Haunting the Chapel all those long years ago, and instantly loving it, the thrash kings are IT for me. And this new tune showing all the pretenders how to get it done. Of course some will be hollering for the pitchforks but Slayer will do as they always have - press IGNORE and watch them implode in faux outrage as the music like the movies plays on.

The Fatal Feast

Mosh!

Now granted, that is a rather ominous headline for a blog that deals a lot with food *Laughs Out Loud* but don't go ringing for the blokes with stomach pumps just yet! (Hope these iron innards of mine have more metal than that...Metal, see what I did there)? Nope, the Fatal Feast here has been whipped up by those dirty (in a good way) lads from Virginia. And a delicious, melodic sonic meal it is too.
It is Municipal Wastes fifth album (released 2012), and fans will know by now exactly what to expect from the party thrashers ~
crunchy odes to booze, mutants and lyrics which I would best describe as 'comic world'. Seriously, if ever the Wasters get bored of
shredding guitars, I suggest they create a comic book. It would be ace. (And if you ever read this blog chaps, you can thank me later).

The band are heavily influenced by Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, Exodus and other 80's thrash, and this album has elements of all of those. I grew up loving this music; drinking to it, skating to it, even loving to it (ooer!) and it warms the cockles of my metallic heart to know it isn't on its scuffed knees just yet. Like we used to say back then, thrash or die!
I knew there was something special about Municipal Waste when I first heard 'Headbanger Face/Rip' in 2007. It had that heavy groove with energetic, crunchy chorus so beloved of early S.O.D and Suicidal Tendencies. If you are looking for the spirit of thrash metal circa 1985 ~ these Wasters are your bag of alien space barf!

The Fatal Feast tastes f**king delicious! A fitting last dance for death row punks the world over. From the speedy New Dead Masters to the brilliantly psychotic You're Cut Off (check out the awesome video), this is getting plenty of play at the moment. And you wanna know something? Im greedy, and I love metal with an anarchistic, punch-yer-face vibe, so I'll be needing seconds of this thrashy feast! Play it again mutie.

Feast Rating 4/5

The Fatal Feast (Nuclear Blast Records)

Waste in Space (Main Title)
Repossession
New Dead Masters
Unholy Abductor
Idiot Check
Covered in Sick/The Barfer
You're Cut Off
Authority Complex
Standards and Practices
Crushing Chest Wound
The Monster With 21 Faces
Jesus Freaks
The Fatal Feast
12 Step Program
Death Tax
Residential Disaster

Intermission Satan

Less Sabath, More Sabbat

100% classic

Let me kick off straight to the point here; Sabbat were a bloody awesome British thrash metal band. When they released their debut album, "History of a Time to Come" back in 1988, I was blown out of my Nike hi-tops. What a cracker of an album, there isn't a bad track on it. From the brilliant opener, "A Cautionary Tale" to the Christian antagonizing ending of "The Church Bizarre", metalheads will be in their element. "Appetite For Destruction" (Guns n' Roses) was released the year before and Sabbat's mighty offering had the same impact on my teenage self.
And that artwork? I had it the album on vinyl to ogle that lovely art. If I was ever to get a back tattoo, this would be the design. Wonderful package, as was the follow up, 1989's "Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays.)" Funnily enough I didn't get that one on vinyl because CD was becoming popular and I was busy scooping those up but in the end got it on cassette.
Such a damned shame that after this period, the mighty Sabbat went tits up but maybe it was for the best? Perhaps its better to have brief spells of genius than having to witness a great band become less great, and hear albums get weaker and weaker. Yes there was a third record, "Mourning Has Broken" (1991) but it was considered both a critical and commercial turkey which banged that final nail into Sabbat's split. But like I say, better to have 2 fantastic albums than none at all


Belt it out

Thrashaholic!

Fans of old school thrash metal should (this instant) check out the brilliant Gama Bomb, who are described on their Facebook page as "Ireland's premier speed thrash band". Hell yes! Ive been a thrash metal fan since it began and to see bands like Gama Bomb and Municipal Waste popping up to shred the stage is quite a f**king buzz. They first came to the attention of my studded earholes in 2009 when Metal Hammer included copies of their album,"Tales from the Grave in Space" with their magazine. Indeed its the first album ever to be released FREE by a signed band. Kudos to them. It rocks most awesomely too!
When you read song titles like "Last Ninjas Unite" and "Escape from Scarecrow Mountain", you know something special is lurking in the metallic forest, waiting for the chance to assault your senses like a sonic werewolf. This is the type of band that deserves success and praise, not the pre packaged, miming oiks that litter those foul talent shows on a Saturday evening. Its all bout music and imagination, a fairly potent mix when dressed in skull branded guitars and denim jeans.

Gama Bomb's new album "The Terror Tapes" is out April 19 (EU), 22 (UK), May 7 (US) on AFM records!

Black Dahlia Murder

Municipal Waste: New Great Vid!

"You're Cut Off" the brilliant new animated video from Virginian thrashers Municipal Waste. New album "The Fatal Feast" is out now! A truly kick ass band!

Monsters Of Rock

1988 Monsters Of Rock ad

Before it was annoyingly changed to 'Download' (look im old fashioned okay?) this festival was a one day event called 'Monsters Of Rock' and it was as great back then as it is now (but with more long haired guys). I of course went to a few and due to a moody 'press pass' got to meet Guns n' Roses, Bon Jovi, WASP (who were dicks) and Maiden and witness the highs and lows (I was there when two fans were crushed to death in 1988).
If you weren't born in the 1980s its difficult to explain just how big an impact heavy metal made on fans lives. We wore patched denims/leathers, scrawled bands names on school desks and made compilations on music cassettes. Its much the same now (minus the cassettes) but back then it was new and and growing bigger before our very eyes.
I don't have a time machine for the 'Feasts Of Metal' but we do have the next best thing, Youtube! So sit back, grab a few cold ones and enjoy a few vids of early 'Monsters Of Rock'! Mosh \m/

Guns n' Roses 1988



Iron Maiden 1992



Some flyers from '87 and '88



Slayer 1992



AC/DC 1991 (The Aussies have headlined the most)



Metallica 1995

D.R.I. Thrash Zone

1989s Thrash Zone by D.R.I. Enjoy bangers !!!!!!

Track listing:

1. Thrashard
2. Beneath the Wheel
3. Enemy Within
4. Strategy
5. Labeled Uncurable
6. You Say I'm Scum
7. Gun Control
8. Kill the Words
9. Drown You Out
10. The Trade
11. Standing in Line
12. Give a Hoot
13. Worker Bee
14. Abduction

United Kingdom Apple Core

Back in 1986 emerged a young British thrash band who brought some cool music and a dose of FUN to the scene. Their name was Acid Reign and they were a bloody great band! They were picked up by British thrash metal label Under One Flag in '88 and released the Moshkinstein EP, which is when I discovered them. The EP cover (shown below) stood out from the rest in that crowded Musiquarium record shop in Swansea and as soon as I got home and played it, I was hooked.
The awesome 'Goddess', the punchy 'Suspended Sentence' and the truly awesome 'Motherly Love', their song to Norman Bates. Brilliant stuff!

Mosh!

They got to support bands like Flotsam and Jetsam, Death Angel, Nuclear Assault and Exodus, touring on Exodus' "Fabulous Disaster Tour".
Sadly they weren't around for long and after releasing just two full length albums, (1989s 'The Fear' and 'Obnoxious' in 1990) they went their seperate ways.
But it was fun while it lasted. Fantastic music to skate to as well! Moshkinstein!

Check out Motherly Love below!