METAL UNDERGROUND

METAL UNDERGROUND

Peter Davis

Ha-ha...After having my heart ripped out and eaten in front of me by Quorthon of Bathory. I’m glad to say that I’m back from the grave to deliver you another installment of Metal Underground. A place of literary information. A place where one can easily broaden their musical horizons...

The more and more I do this column, the more demos I seem to be getting—and I like it. too! Let me tell you about some of them worth mentioning...

Talon's three song demo. Grab You Where It Counts, is a damn fine and varied metallic excursion. OK. so poke my eyes because I misplaced the package in which this traditionally melodic fare came in. You’ll be the first to know it. once I relocate it. I know, sometimes I do suck...

Black Wytche (S5 to Mike Z.. 145 Cherry Ann St., Hamden. CT 06514) are a fairly progressive new entry to the underground, with a sound characterized by a heavy will and snappy tempo change-ups. On this tape I see the drums being the weakest point, but. with practice, this should easily improve. Ron Vanscore’s vocals, on the other hand, are very sharp, so with this in mind it's easy to see why his drumming at present suffers a bit. There is quite a lot here to be impressed with, however—with Rob D'Antomo's guitarmanship and John Whiteman's bass playing, it's easy to see that they get the job done just fine thank you. Seven songs in all, and the demo is called "Tempting The Blade." Any takers?...

John McCarthy (vocals). John Alexander (guitar). Mark Kelley (bass), and Rick Mclvers (drums) are Post Mortem ($4 to 24 Jeanette Ave., Belmont, MA 02178). This promo tape is a three-song rough mix sampler of their upcoming LP on New Renaissance Records. Coroner's Office. Their sound is a cross between G.B.H. and Corrosion Of Conformity. No. not entirely original, and yes. a tad derivative, but this doesn’t deplete th'e overall potent punch these gents deliver. It’s my guess that the LP is going to be hot stuff.

The Stormtroopers Of Death only wish they were fine purveyors of filth (kinda like the Dark Bros.). Well, forget it\ You want schism? Just check out Vile s four-song demo (11532 23 Ave. S. Burnsville. MN 55337. $5). With song titles such as 'The Deviant" and "Dorian Gray," one could hardly miss. Mike Senn. formerly of Impaler. has a raging, over-the-top guitar sense and has been known to chew on blood biscuits live every now and again (never mind, you’d never understand— and if you did, some of you would be greatly offended), and Gilligan’s vocal presentation will bite you right where the sun don’t shine. The rhythm section, consisting of Spider on bass and Ken Lemere on drums (another Impaler alumni), adds a new definition to the term "tight." All in all. this kicks in all the right places and then some. So what are you waiting for?...

If you snoozed a while back, when I spoke to you about Kublai Khan's Rape. Pillage And Destroy demo, fear not. Greg Handevidt (formerly with Megadeth) and crew have recently recorded a new and superior three song demo. The fact that I was involved in producing this new demo has littleto-nothing to do with how mindbending this band’s music truly is! Thrash with class and power to pummel, this is some of the most invigorating music I’ve had the pleasure to listen to. With all modesty aside, Kublai Khan are probably the hottest unsigned new metal band roaming the free world as we know it. For $5, Greg and Kevin Idso (guitars), John Fedde (drums), and Mike "The Secretary” Liska (bass) will gladly supply you with the necessary brain-floss. Tunes included: "Clash Of The Swords,” "Down To The Inferno," and "The Mongrel Hoarde.” All will devastate your sensibilities, make you froth at the chops and easily make you forget all about Mega-who? Oh, forget it. (1428 Bradley, St. Paul, MN 55101)

On the fanzine front, you must look into Bob Muldowney’s Kick Ass ($2.25 to 815 Kings Pkwy., Daldwin, NY 11510) which has progressed from black and white offset on 60 lb. stock to 4-color process covers and centerspreads on chrome-coat stock. But it’s hardly the production quality that counts here. What really matters is what depth, insight, and opinions Bob boldly bandies about. This, as as he used to nickname it, is a real "Journalistic Holocaust.” At times his writing does get a bit tedious and long-winded (Imagine that!—Ed.), but overall his perspective cuts deeply—and for this, he should be noticed. More than likely, Kick Ass is one of the finest underground metal publications going. You can opine for yourself what "real metal” is, but in Bob’s view, whatever is lame must be ultimately reduced to ashes.

Another mag well worth your time is Thrasher, which focuses on the radical action and lifestyle of skateboarding. The music coverage here is progressive and plentiful, earmarking lots of true musical alternatives which suit the intense nature of skateboarding and its bionic and supersonic ways. A must. The August issue features the most intense, thorough interview with Metallica I’ve ever run across. You’ll see. (Six-issue subscription for $10 to P.O. Box 884570, San Francisco, CA 94188).

Various releases are flying out of the pressing plants. Stuff worth checking out includes the Crumbsuckers and Nuclear Assault (features Dan Lilker, ex-bassist of Anthrax and S.O.D. fame) along with Agent Steel's Mad Locust Rising, all three courtesy of Combat Records. New albums by Detente, Austin, Texas’s Juggernaut, and Eternal Devastation by Germany’s leading Power/Thrash exponents, Destruction! All on Metal Blade Records. Expect to hear more on Destruction from me very soon, ’cause you really must know about them!

From Richmond, Virginia come the Prevaricators, "prevaricate” meaning “to lie.” Steve Hunter (vocals) and the gang have done themselves proud by following up on the immediacy of their first long player, Snubculture, with not one but two new releases. The first, an album entitled Detente, and the second, a French release called Jihad, which is a four-song seven-inch. This stuff is snotty, aggressive, and extremely LOUD!!!! Delivered much in the spirit of ’60s punk, ala the Stooges only a bit more contemporary in its social commentary. The Prevaricators deal doses of death toward the insipid and apathetic, and deliver it all with the enthusiasm of true sportsmen. (Snubculture and Detente LPs $7 and Jihad is $3.50, all postpaid care of Disrupted Records, P.O. Box 14742, Richmond, VA 23221)

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And last but not least, Seattle’s Accused, featuring Blaine “Zippy” Cook, formerly of the Fartz (Available on Alternative Tentacles Records, P.O. Box 11458, San Francisco, CA 94101) on vocals, and three other musically-inclined dudes that tear it up in ultra-core fashion. Propellent bursts of adrenalin charge from each groove with the effect of a bludgeon, shaking every bone in your frame. With a tasty combination of hardcore punk and metal, The Return Of Martha Splatterhead will melt your parental units’ brain cells, making them charge up and down the walls wishing they had never tossed their Tylenol capsules. This new disc features tunes from their now impossible to get Martha Splatterhead (only 500 pressed) 12" EP and five brand new earthshakers, one of which is a savage remake of the Fartz’s and/or Ten Minute Warning’s (take your pick) “Buried Alive.” This comes by way of the same folks who had the hindsight to release the Dehumanizers Kill Lou Guzzo EP—Subcore Records, that is (2006* 35th Ave. W. Seattle, WA 98199). Till next time take care and keep your ear to the ground for potential alternatives!