Metallica - Creeping Death (1984) CS EP Music For Nations

 

I bought this cassette tape back in like 1986 when I heard Master of Puppets for the first time and thought it was the shit. 'Creeping Death' is one of the best tracks off of Ride The Lightning and the two covers here are classics by Diamond Head and Blitzkrieg respectively.

When Garage Days Re-Revisited came out in 1987, I remember wondering "where was Garage Days Revisited?" Well, its here. The two covers comprise all of the Garage Days Revisited side of the cassette. As a kid, I was always hoping for a lost, full-length release with two full sides of covers, which I was treated to later on Garage, Inc. At the time, I actually loved the covers on the b-sides of their singles almost as much as the actual songs, songs like "The Prince" (Diamond Head) and "Breadfan" (Budgie) got as much play as the a-side stuff and actually turned me onto both of those bands.

The cover art of the LP was amazing, with a very dark, foggy pass and the words "Creeping Death" below it. I always wanted to hunt down the LP just for the cover art and have yet to find a copy at one of my area record stores.



I was a huge Metallica fan growing up and it was the first arena rock show I saw, seeing them on the 1989 Damaged Justice tour in October in Minneapolis. They blew me away, even if I thought ...And Justice For All was a bit of a more commercial album than I was hoping for when it came out. I really didn't know what to think when I saw the video for "One" and hoped it was going to be their only forray into commercialism. Unfortunately, I was super wrong.

As it stands, Ride The Lightning is probably my favorite Metallica record and this short EP is a great taste of Metallica at a time when they had yet to hit MTV and still had Cliff and were the kings of the thrash scene, always a step ahead of their contemporaries.

Barkhard - Barkhard (1985/2007) LP Zorlac/Rabid Dog Records

 

Skate rock is one of my soft spots - no matter what I am focused on listening to, I can always take a break and bust out a JFA, Big Boys, McRad, D.R.I. or Drunk Injuns record and get a short fix and leave smiling.

When I first started skating, Thrasher's 'Skate Rock' series of tapes and vinyl were necessities for our driveway and curbside sessions. Those records turned me onto so many bands - COC, JFA, Septic Death, McShred (later McRad), MDC - and I still listen to them with great regularity.

However, I never knew about Barkhard until I stared looking at getting some records that I needed to fill gaps in my pretty solid skate rock section of my vinyl collection. Barkhard was the skate rock house band of sorts of Zorlac. Now, if you didn't skate in 1985, you would probably only remember Zorlac from the graphics which were done by Pushead, lead singer of Septic Death and later made famous by all of the artwork he did for Metallica. Pushead had done of a ton of art for so many bands at that point (including the Misfits and Samhain) and his style was instantly reconizable, so Zorlac gear was worn often, even if the boards seemed scarce.

Barkhard was comprised of four Zorlac skaters - vocalist Todd Prince, lead guitarist John Hancock, bassist Joe Nichols, drummer Scott Campbell, and probably the most well-known of the bunch, guitarist John Gibson.

John was the Christian Hosoi of the TX skate scene, an incredible vert skater and someone who went big all the time. His board graphics remain my favorites from Zorlac, and I'm certainly not the only one who enjoyed them - this pic of Kirk Hammet of Metallica (pre-commercialism) showcases them quite well - were also done by Pushead and just stellar.

The band itself is more direct west coast style hardcore punk with a healthy dose of humor thrown in. Tracks like 'Psycopathic Roach', 'Party Barkhard' and 'Beg Us To Stop'  all have a level of dumb fun in them and the more direct tracks are very reminiscent of MDC, tracks like 'I.C.B' and 'To Myself'.




It's raw and fast and actually talented stuff here, with diving guitar licks spicing up the songs even if the production doesn't. Exactly my kind of skate rock. This is a vinyl rerelease done by Rabid Dog Records in 2007 and there is also a CD reissue out you can get on the cheap at Amazon. Now, if I can only hunt down a John Gibson Zorlac board to adorne my wall...

Iron Reagan - Demo 2012 (2012) CS Tankcrimes

 

Iron Reagan is the side project of Tony Foresta of Municipal Waste and its a dense, fast thrash, more raw and stripped down than Municipal Waste and more in line with the '80's crossover esthetic than the party one. The demo is only four songs and its fantasticv. The guitars are raw, more unfiltered and JCM800 raw, like the sound on Slayer's 'Reign In Blood' with a good pedal in front. The songs are simple and fast and hard hitting. The riffs are direct with no fucking around at all. It feels like almost a better throwback band than Municipal Waste!



The demo is sold out on Tankcrimes' store now, but its floating around the net and should be easy to find to download. Highly recommended and awesome.

Cannabis Corpse - Blunted at Birth (2006) LP Forcefield Records

I have known about Cannabis Corpse for a while, but only that they were a weed-laced tribute to Cannibal Corpse, but never looked in on them as I assumed they were nothing but a joke band. I picked this LP up on a whim, mostly thinking it would be worth a laugh and nothing much more. Boy, was I wrong. I brought it home, put it on and after the first side of the LP, I turned to my fiancee, Linda and told her I was gonna buy their entire catalog immediately. Which I did that night.

Cannabis Corpse are an excellent, brutal death metal band delivering a heavy punch of accomplished VA death metal by some very talented guys. They are also a heart-felt tribute to Cannibal Corpse with the name of the band and all the song titles (at least on the first two records) references to that legendary band. The songs and lyrics, however, are totally original. And brutal and fantastic and totally impressive.


The band is made up of Richmond, VA metal heads with Phil 'LandPhil' Hall (from Municipal Waste) and his brother Josh 'HallHammer' Hall as the two founding members. It's a side project band, but that in no way explains how good they are. It feels like a well-rehearsed machine with some fantastic riffs and guitar work. The vocals are guttural and extreme but well-done and actually partially understandable. It also helps that the LP comes with a lyric sheet - and holy shit, there is some very funny stuff here. From 'Staring Through My Eyes That Are Red':

Follow down into my lair
rotten smell, they smoke their weed there
her heady weed hits the air
I awake, from my coffin I stare
shaking hands, their bowl has fallen
to me this night, the pot has callen
I awake from death to toke it
hand from the fround, now I claim and smoke it
Smoke it
give to me, I wait and lie
graveyard slaughter, must get high
must get you dead
skull i split and scalp i peel
blazed as shit, can this be real
stoned as shit now
flesh i crave
for my munchies its your brain i save

It wouldn't be a stretch to say that 90% of what I have listened to this past week is Cannabis Corpse. The catalog is that fantastic with this being their debut LP. It's short, more like an EP and the vinyl actually also plays at 45 rpm. It is an absolute that if you like death metal and weed (thought that part isn't strictly necessary) you should check these guys out. Their catalog is for sale on Tankcrimes and you can also listen to each record on the site. The rest of the catalog is also as impressive as this first record, which is really saying something about the dedication and talent here. Go buy everything.

Samhain - Unholy Passion (1985) EP Plan 9

Samhain was one of my favorite bands growing up, next to the Misfits and Minor Threat, a super dark, slow kinda punk that totally connected with me. Luckily, they were still around so getting their releases wasn't too hard and posters and merch were easy to find at the cooler record shops in town. Samhain trades the campy fun of the Misfits for a serious, goth rock feel, which really works with Glen's voice and the echo laden, percussion driven sound of the band.

As a kid, I dug the cover art for their records, especially this release and Initium. I actually bought a Samhain poster from Cheapo Records in Minneapolis when I lived there in 1989 with the cover art for Initium advertising a show and it was HUGE, in color and for a young rebelous youth, the perfect thing for showing how serious I was about punk and Samhain. Three dudes covered in blood? Skulls? Awesome. I put it up over my bed as soon as I got home and proudly showed it to my mother - who then promptly made me take it down and get rid of it. I traded it to a friend of mine for two Misfits posters which I still have to this day, but fuck, I really wish I had the Samhain poster. If you read this Tony, and you still have that poster, hit me up!

I bought this EP, Unholy Passion, on cassette tape back in the day and like Initium, I listened to it a ton. I was always impressed with the song writing, even at a young age, and liked the simplicity and vocal melodies and slow goth feel. Initium definitely feels like a transition record from the Misfits - which it is - and this was the first release to feel like they got their sound down. The chimes at the end of 'Unholy Passion' really show their penchant for percussion, as does their remake of the Misfits classic, 'All Hell Breaks Loose' as 'All Hell' with a massive drum sound.


It's one of the best Samhain records in terms of raw song writing, even if Samhain III - November Coming Fire has a few better standout tracks. There isn't a bad track here and its a showcase for Glen's voice for sure, but a total package release with the rawness Glen would leave behind later in Danzig, something I sorely missed.

I bought this EP about ten years or so ago and even though at that time I wasn't listening to anything nearing punk, I snagged it fast, as my cassette tape had long since given up the ghost. Now, of course, its rare and sought after and I'm stoked to have it in the collection.

I also found a flyer for a show of theirs with Poison 13, one of the best skate punk/garage bands that ever existed in the EP sleeve. I picked it up when I was listening to a lot of Poison 13 and trying to collect anything the members were involved in. I tend to keep things like that in with my records so they don't get lost in some box in some move and its a cool little addition this this fantastic EP. To be at that show in Austin would have been really amazing.

Unholy Passion was later remixed and rereleased on Final Descent and later, in the Samhain boxset with Glen playing the guitar tracks and this original version, as far as I can tell, is still out of print.

Municipal Waste/Toxic Holocaust - Toxic Waste (2012) EP Tankcrimes

Fast and unrelenting, this EP brings together two of the best of the new wave of thrash, Municipal Waste and Toxic Holocaust. It's a fantastic release by Tankcrimes, who may be my new favorite label.

I don't think I have hyped a label before on here, but do yourself a favor and go check out Tankcrimes right now. You can hear samples of all the bands on the site - like actual full songs - and they have some fantastic groups, lots of good thrash and even good prices in the store, especially in a day and age when new vinyl releases for metal bands are hitting $20-30.

This EP was a while in the making and finally came out earlier this year and I was super excited to get a copy. It's dense and fast and over too fast. All four songs are great, raw thrash and if you at all like either of these bands - or want somewhere to start - this is a must-get.


Alter-ed States is my favorite of the bunch, but really, all four are totally bitchin' tracks guaranteed to get you stoked.

Municipal Waste - Hazardous Mutation (2005) LP Earache Records

Continuing on with my thrash-centric reviews, I thought it was about time I brought up Municipal Waste. Much like Toxic Holocaust, Municipal Waste is a band celebrating 1980's thrash, but borrowing more from the D.R.I. school of crossover (espicially Tony Foresta's vocals) with a healthy dose of reckless partying thrown in.

Hazardous Mutation is their first release on Earache and while more polished than their earlier efforts, is a lot less polished than their follow up, The Art Of Partying, which came out three years later. It's fast and fun, with some blazing riffs and serious speed. There are no keyboards, no sound effects, nothing to detract from the relentless pace of hardcore thrash and its awesome.


There are also very few stand-outs on the album for me, unlike The Art Of Partying, which has a ton of tracks I can name and wait for when I listen to that record. That being said, this album kills. Its dense and fun where many of their contemporaries seem to find it more important to be serious and hard, they get down with beer and thrash in equal measure andhow can you possibly not like that?