Tag Archives: Thrash Metal

Friday Morning Metal – Exumer – Death Mask Messiah

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It’s been almost ten years since the last time I posted an Exumer video. I bet they’ve done a bunch in the interim, I’m just not good at paying attention. This week it’s Death Mask Messiah, which I guess dovetails nicely with at least one of their themes: insanity, politics, death, hate. It could line up with two. These guys have been thrashin about since 1985, bringing everyone hot dog metal. Or Frankfurter metal. Either way, it’s very great thrash.

These guys waste no time getting into the mix. The drums are like the kick in the ass that turns a casual jog into a crazed run. I dig the vocals, they got solid edge to them and fit the vibe really well. There’s a solid breakdown before the solo, seems like a good spot for the pit to gear up before going crazy. There’s a lot of squeadlies in the solo, plus some solid whammying. You don’t hear much whammying anymore. Hopefully whammying makes a comeback. The song ends pretty abruptly at three and a half minutes, no held notes or fade outs on the melody, just done.

The video is them playing in like a rail yard or industrial area or something, then a bunch of babes show up. Oh dip one of them is Pyramid Head™! I was not expecting a lady Pyramid Head™ to show up. It looks like she’s get the ladies to join her or something. Or maybe she’s sacrificing them to Pyramid god? She doesn’t really mess with the band. Maybe they’re teaming up; the band lures the babes there, then Pyramid Head™ convinces them to buy a timeshare in Boca Raton. It’s a deal of a lifetime!

Friday Morning Metal – Struck a Nerve – Parade of Violence

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Here we go with some frenetic thrash out of England, it’s Parade of Violence by Struck a Nerve. I bet them being the self-proclaimed most aggressive and intense thrash band the UK has ever produced struck a nerve with other British metal bands. They’re on Listenable Records, and this song is pretty listenable, so that’s apt.

Super chuggy guitars kick the song off before very frenetic drums drive all over the place. The vocals have the shreddy edge you’d expect from a thrash band. Three stacked solos is pretty great. Maybe four stacked solos? They just keep noodling and taking turns noodling, it’s fantastic. They even do the pained solo faces. You need more faces during solos, it makes it look tough. All in all this is a great down the fairway thrash song from a pretty tight band. I will have to find more of them!

The video is all in-studio, but the guys look like they’re having a great time doing it. Though with a song called “Parade of Violence” I think I would’ve tried to stage a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, but the floats are full of people throwing things at the crowd and getting in fist fights. The Snoopy balloon crashing into Spongebob while the people holding the ropes are throwing haymakers. Gotta make it a real parade of violence. Oooh. The band could be performing on a float!

Friday Morning Metal – Fugitive – Spheres of Virulence

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Happy Friday, here’s Spheres of Virulence from a band I’m pretty sure didn’t kill their wife. Tommy Lee Jones still doesn’t care. It’s Fugitive, who have members from Power Trip in them. The internet really wanted to get across that Blake Ibanez from Power Trip started Fugitive. I wonder if he plays Ibanez. Or is related to Raul. Would be funny if he played like… a Gretsch Falcon. I’m not sure if those guitars can make thrash sounds. I bet they can.

The song is a pretty balls out standard thrash fest, featuring chugga rhythms and driving drums. The vocals have a pretty solid growly edge to them, definitely fits in the sound well. There’s a solid noodly solo about halfway through, but not long enough to really let the guitarist shine, which is a bit of a bummer. But also the song’s like 4 minutes long so I’m sure they didn’t want to waste time. I’m sure there are dudes lifting weights and drinking from a gallon jug of water to this song. Or a one-armed indy wrestler uses it as their walkup music.

The video cuts between live shots, shots on a sound stage, and weird clips from odd videos. They also put a rad filter on it to make it look like you’re watching cable in the 90s and are on a channel you’re not supposed to watch. There are a couple cuts where there’s no filter at all and the resolution looks really weird. Like the opposite of public access TV. It’s too bad they didn’t play in a gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse within a six mile radius.

Friday Morning Metal – W.M.D. – Eyes of a Killer

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Well this band has Canadian markings, it’s Eyes of a Killer by W.M.D. The youtube comments say they’re from Vancouver, but Encylopaedia Metallum claims they’re from Calgary, Alberta, Canadaaaaaa, so I guess that’s a point of debate. Hah their demo was called ‘DEMO’lition, that’s pretty clever. Gotta appreciate that.

The song starts off with some spooky whispers before a drum fill and chuggy guitar kicks into gear. You can hear the bass in the mix, which doesn’t seem like something thrash bands do. But these guys do it, and it’s springing and slappy and awesome. Dang the drums in this song are badass, super driving but with a couple solid breakdowns for the crowd to fist pump before crashing the pit. The solo is shreddy and soaring and completely deserving to be played on a flying v. There’s even a key change toward the end! The screams give off a solid Slayer vibe, and the vocals fit in pretty well. Despite being from Canada, they don’t say aboat, so that’s interesting.

The video cuts between the band playing in a forest, and a lady hiding in the woods or running from a killer? Or a dude in a hoodie? Or the guitarist? There’s a bit where he’s standing on a road and walking toward the camera. The video ends before we figure out what happens to her. Hopefully she makes it to safety.

Friday Morning Metal – In Malice’s Wake – Beyond Death

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Coming straight out of Melbourne, this week it’s In Malice’s Wake thrashing faces with Beyond Death. These guys play a pretty heavy thrash, though you think with a name like In Malice’s Wake they’d be proggy math rock with tons of time changes and polymeters. It’s math! Like in Guts Punch Balls Throw Up. However, they play songs about the downfall of humanity, armageddon, and self-awareness. That third one is really a thing. It’s not me saying two serious things and then a joke. I hope the self-awareness songs are like “you got something in your nose” or “hey quit calling that guy a chump while you yourself act the chump.”

The song wastes no time to get into the kind of shreddy wall of sound that pervades the song. There’s a couple interesting rhythm changes with a quick noodly phrase to bring it in. The lead vocals are growly and tough, with the bassist adding the more gutteral backing on the chorus. They work well together. There’s a quick solo early in the song, but for the most part it’s a big aggro thrash epic.

The video is primarily them playing at a bonfire near some woods. I hope there are a bunch of people in camp chairs behind the camera, drinking beer and grilling hot dogs. Those are two great things to do at a bonfire. Especially if there’s some badass metal getting performed. Their lead guitarist looks like a wizard, and I think he aced the Advanced Fast Hand Finger Wizard Master Class the way he shred the solo early on.

Friday Morning Metal – Nukem – Random Acts of Violence

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They’re here to play thrash and chew bubblegum, and they’re all out of bubblegum. It’s Random Acts of Violence from San Diego’s own Nukem. According to Encylopaedia Metallum I guess they’re from El Cajon, which is the drawer of California. San Diego is probably right nearby. I wouldn’t say they’re groovy, but they do look like they’re ready to rip em a new one.

Right off the bat I can hear the bass thick in the mix and now I am stoked. After the intro, you get into the frenetic riffs and shreddiness that comprise a top notch thrash song. The vocals have a good edge to them, and fit well. There’s a solid breakdown halfway through that I’m sure is when you get a lot of fist pumping and shouting from a live show. There are like… three solos, two shreddy and one noodly. Wait I think a fourth solo has hit the video. This rules!

The video is them on a soundstage or something with some purple lighting. Pretty barebones, but then you get to see them shred all over and that’s fun. I bet they could intersperse the SNL Digital Short “People Getting Punched Right Before Eating” and that would work well. Or just random clips of people getting hit in the nards. That’s a good random act of violence right there. These guys have great rock squats going on, like the seasoned pros they are. Definitely adding them to my “get back to work” mixes going forward.

Friday Morning Metal – Zerre – Deception of the Weak

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Look over Zerre, it’s a Friday Morning Metal! This week it’s Deception of the Weak by Bavaria’s own Zerre. Encylopaedia Metallum says they got their start as a hardcore punk band before transitioning to thrash, and you can kinda tell the overlap. Apparently they don’t have themes. I would like to submit a theme: shred. Is shred a theme? I think it could be. It might lean more toward like… snowboard metal I guess, so I look forward to that.

A solid chugga melody starts the song off before the band kicks into full effect. The vocals are leaning a bit more toward hardcore than metal, but they fit in with the rest of the band’s vibe. The chorus has a great opportunity for the crowd to get in the mix. There’s also a couple solid breakdowns for those who enjoy headbanging. Dueling guitar solos from an explorer and flying V is how you know this is a great metal song. And dang the guy on the explorer shreds hard; very noodly, very fun. Clocking in just under 4 minutes, Zerre’s not wasting anyone’s time.

The video is a combo of a live performance and some additional footage of them shredding. LIVE! SIN! DIE! I guess that’s the deception of the weak. As opposed to April Fool’s Day, which is the deception of this week! Ha! I’m here all night folks.

Friday Morning Metal – Tankard – A Girl Called Cerveza

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Oooh Frankfurty thrash! This week we’re checking out A Girl Called Cerveza by Tankard. Bjørn keeps sharing various Tankard songs so it seemed like as good a time as any to get a video up in here. These guys have been around since 1982 (like me!) and are considered one of the Big Four of Teutonic Thrash. Much like bands that are 40 years old, there’s been some churn, but the original bassist and singer are still there kicking ass and taking names, so good on them for the longevity!

The song kicks off with some solid riffing before kicking into a solid chugga melody. It’s fun to hear a German guy pronounce cerveza as “serve-essa” almost like Vanessa maybe? The vocals fit well with the band, while the lyrics are about how this lady stole all his beer after getting him drunk. Poor guy. Nobody should get their beer supply taken. The solo is a frenetic and fantastic, but I can’t remember if it’s arpeggios or just very staccato. I should probably take some music theory classes if I’m going to keep writing about how rad these songs are.

The video is a combo of them shredding on the roof of a building and also the Girl Called Cerveza making metal faces while the singer paws at her. Then she kills the singer in a brewery! I think? Regardless, it looks like they’re having a hoot and a half, so give it a watch and enjoy!

Friday Morning Metal – Heathen – Dying Season

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Oooh more bay area thrash! This time it’s Heathen, who’ve been melting faces from 1984 to 1993, then 2001 until the end of time. They peddle in themes of Society, Politics, Religion, Death, and Dying Season is no different. But don’t get them confused with other Heathen bands from Pennsylvania and San Gabriel, who are both also metal bands. I bet if you pick a name like Heathen for your band, you’re kind of pigeon holed into a sound. Imagine a barbershop quartet going by Heathen. It’d be quite a shock.

The song starts with a kind of sitar-esque melody before diving headlong into dueling guitarmonies and big bombastic drums. The vocals have a good edge to them, and fit into the mix well. Which makes sense, this song may be 15 years old, but the band’s been around forever. Dueling guitar solos show off both of the guitarists’ chops about 2/3 of the way through the song, with another to close out the track. Very sweepy, very shreddy. 6 minutes of thrash is pretty good, and the song doesn’t seem to drag too hard or anything.

The video cuts between the band and a kinda cheesy look of a war movie perhaps with zombie soldiers. General zombie stopper looks like a bald MacArthur, sending soldiers off to battle. These poor guys get shredded by a bunker full of big machine guns, only to climb out of the earth a little later. And the one guy who manages to survive ends up meeting the zombies at the end. Poor guy! That would be a horrible fate, getting turned into a zombie soldier. I’d rather turn into a zombie professor, at zombie university. Or maybe zombie state, they’re less hifalutin there.

Friday Morning Metal – Kreator – Hail to the Hordes

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KREATOR! KREATOR! Happy Friday, please enjoy some badass thrash from Germany’s own Kreator. These guys have been shredding as long as I’ve been a person, so I have to imagine they have tinnitus and a sore back. Oooh their bassist is Frédéric Leclerq, which is one of the hockey-est names I’ve read in a while. Aside from a little part in the 90s, they’ve had the same drummer the whole time, which kinda pokes a hole in Spinal Tap’s claim that drummers explode randomly and frequently.

The song kicks off with some great dueling guitarmonies and big bombastic drumming before getting into gear. The drums are relentless, pushing the kind of tempo that would get a runner breaking land speed records. A double guitar solo of noodly proportions takes us into the final chorus. At four minutes and change, they don’t waste much time, but there’s enough breaks where I could see this being stretched out live for solos and crowd interaction and whatnot.

The video itself is a live show from 2017. You know it’s a good show when you see plenty of battle jackets and a teeming mass of a pit. I think they have pictures of family members blown up real huge behind them too. That’s sweet of them. It’s like they have giant Aura frames showing off their cheeky cousins and uncles and stuff. I dig that the vocalist sets his mic up similar to Lemmy, with it like pointing down at him from on high. Like he’s shouting at a giant.