So I emailed Brian Livoti of Watchmaker, and I asked him for some recommendations of 80's thrash and metal . . . just for the hell of it. Oh . . . and I also let him know I had just updated my Voivod collection. Read his response.
Oh man, Voi Vod are killer! If you like their other material from that period ("War and Pain", "Killing Technology", and "Dimension Hatross") you should find "Roooaaarrrr (etc.)" interesting. Hell, it is worth buying for the cover art alone! But Voi Vod is one of Paul's favorite bands, and you can actually hear a lot of "Dimension Hatross" in our stuff. The chords he uses are all Piggy influenced.
DBC "Genesis Explosion" (Combat Records) is very similar to Voi Vod, but no one else was really like Voi Vod. They were truly an original band, that nobody could touch or mimic. I once saw them in Boston with Faith No More and Soundgarden opening for them. HA! However, Voi Vod have fully admitted to ripping off a Milwaukee punk band, Die Kreuzen, whose self-titled first LP is blistering. The cover art of that is worth the price of a used copy as well. Sick artwork. So if you dig Voi Vod, and want to hear something even dirtier from that time period, I would suggest picking that up. But be careful though, Die Kreuzen mellowed out tremendously after that album, so stay away from all other releases by them unless you want to hear what pre-emo sounds like.
As far as brutal thrash from that period goes, I recommend Sacrilege B.C. "Party with God" (fucking crazy), Viking "Do or Die" (totally ferocious attack), Angkor Wat "When Obscenity Becomes the Norm...Awake!" (underrated and insane), Holy Terror's "Mind Wars", Whermacht "Shark Attack". Any of the first 3 Dark Angel albums, ANY Possessed (total gods), Crumbsuckers "Life of Dreams", Ludichrist "Immaculate Deception", Corrosion of Conformity's "Animosity" (bananas - it is too bad they are now Creed), oh and shit...D.R.I.'s self-titled first LP and "Dealing With It" will both completely obliterate your head! You will be amazed that people were playing like this in 1982. You must buy the Accused's "The Return of Martha Splatterhead" (Mosh 1 on Earache!) and "More Fun Than An Open-Casket Funeral". Holy fuck, those albums are scalding. "Halo of Flies" is one of the most aggressive and just plain over the top angry songs I have ever heard. Their stuff, along with most of my other recommendations, are sadly out of print, but it is all out there if you look hard enough. And it is all worth looking for.
Kreator's "Endless Pain", "Flag of Hate", "Pleasure To Kill", "TERRIBLE CERTAINTY" (yes!!!!!!!!!!!!), "Out of the Dark...Into the Light" and "Extreme Aggression" are all equally nuts. Sacred Reich's first two albums (believe it or not) are examples of perfect thrash metal. You must own "Ignorance". Awesome. Overkill's first, like, 5 albums are sick, but I would start out on "Feel the Fire" or "Taking Over". Yeah, Overkill have the reputation of being somewhat goofy, but there is nothing funny about these albums. The first song off "Taking Over", "Deny the Cross" should make you want to break furniture. Death Angel's "The Ultra-Violence" is a classic. Check out the song "Thrashers" or "Evil Priest" for the thrash attack. M.O.D. "U.S.A. for M.O.D." is totally killer. As is S.O.D. "Speak English or Die". Everything Whiplash did was incredible. Three NY Italian guys all named Tony playing violent thrash. ANY Carnivore is great. Broken Bones are apeshit. So isn't early Discharge. Possibly one of my favorite bands. Nuclear Assault "Survive" is mental. "Rise From the Ashes" is one of my favorite songs from that period.
A little more polished and glammy is Agent Steel and Laaz Rockit - both amazing bands.
Holy shit, you've just taken me back to my mulleted, high school years of metal! But now you know why I am not too interested in most stuff being released today. Who needs it when all of this killer music has already been recorded?
Oh man, Voi Vod are killer! If you like their other material from that period ("War and Pain", "Killing Technology", and "Dimension Hatross") you should find "Roooaaarrrr (etc.)" interesting. Hell, it is worth buying for the cover art alone! But Voi Vod is one of Paul's favorite bands, and you can actually hear a lot of "Dimension Hatross" in our stuff. The chords he uses are all Piggy influenced.
DBC "Genesis Explosion" (Combat Records) is very similar to Voi Vod, but no one else was really like Voi Vod. They were truly an original band, that nobody could touch or mimic. I once saw them in Boston with Faith No More and Soundgarden opening for them. HA! However, Voi Vod have fully admitted to ripping off a Milwaukee punk band, Die Kreuzen, whose self-titled first LP is blistering. The cover art of that is worth the price of a used copy as well. Sick artwork. So if you dig Voi Vod, and want to hear something even dirtier from that time period, I would suggest picking that up. But be careful though, Die Kreuzen mellowed out tremendously after that album, so stay away from all other releases by them unless you want to hear what pre-emo sounds like.
As far as brutal thrash from that period goes, I recommend Sacrilege B.C. "Party with God" (fucking crazy), Viking "Do or Die" (totally ferocious attack), Angkor Wat "When Obscenity Becomes the Norm...Awake!" (underrated and insane), Holy Terror's "Mind Wars", Whermacht "Shark Attack". Any of the first 3 Dark Angel albums, ANY Possessed (total gods), Crumbsuckers "Life of Dreams", Ludichrist "Immaculate Deception", Corrosion of Conformity's "Animosity" (bananas - it is too bad they are now Creed), oh and shit...D.R.I.'s self-titled first LP and "Dealing With It" will both completely obliterate your head! You will be amazed that people were playing like this in 1982. You must buy the Accused's "The Return of Martha Splatterhead" (Mosh 1 on Earache!) and "More Fun Than An Open-Casket Funeral". Holy fuck, those albums are scalding. "Halo of Flies" is one of the most aggressive and just plain over the top angry songs I have ever heard. Their stuff, along with most of my other recommendations, are sadly out of print, but it is all out there if you look hard enough. And it is all worth looking for.
Kreator's "Endless Pain", "Flag of Hate", "Pleasure To Kill", "TERRIBLE CERTAINTY" (yes!!!!!!!!!!!!), "Out of the Dark...Into the Light" and "Extreme Aggression" are all equally nuts. Sacred Reich's first two albums (believe it or not) are examples of perfect thrash metal. You must own "Ignorance". Awesome. Overkill's first, like, 5 albums are sick, but I would start out on "Feel the Fire" or "Taking Over". Yeah, Overkill have the reputation of being somewhat goofy, but there is nothing funny about these albums. The first song off "Taking Over", "Deny the Cross" should make you want to break furniture. Death Angel's "The Ultra-Violence" is a classic. Check out the song "Thrashers" or "Evil Priest" for the thrash attack. M.O.D. "U.S.A. for M.O.D." is totally killer. As is S.O.D. "Speak English or Die". Everything Whiplash did was incredible. Three NY Italian guys all named Tony playing violent thrash. ANY Carnivore is great. Broken Bones are apeshit. So isn't early Discharge. Possibly one of my favorite bands. Nuclear Assault "Survive" is mental. "Rise From the Ashes" is one of my favorite songs from that period.
A little more polished and glammy is Agent Steel and Laaz Rockit - both amazing bands.
Holy shit, you've just taken me back to my mulleted, high school years of metal! But now you know why I am not too interested in most stuff being released today. Who needs it when all of this killer music has already been recorded?
