Geary of War: Mosh in May Part 2 – The Journey Continues….

Paul pondered but I felt that I’d give him one anyway. The lad deserves some support, as his fledging writing career gathers pace, and what better way than to prologue his ever-expanding journey through Mosh in May. I feel like it might become an annual thing…

I had pondered a grand introduction but i have settled on this. The thrash odyssey continues…
Exodus – Bonded by Blood.
Slaughter – Strappado
Merciless – The Awakening.
I have a confession. I was, at the time of writing, unable to listen to ‘Bonded by Blood’. Spotify, my primary means of music resource did not have it. I did however listen to ‘Let There Be Blood’, the 2008 rerecording featuring Rob Dukes on vocals. I was already a fan of this incarnation of Exodus so was quite excited about this album. Needless to say it didn’t disappoint. Highlights included ‘And Then There Will Be None’ and ‘Piranha’. I found this album to be a headbanging beast, filled with all the things that there is to love about thrash. Its been on again more than once. I think that says all that needs to be said.

Slaughter. Very metal band name. Naming your album after a method of torture and death seals the deal. This death tinged offering has a thick tone making it sound very evil indeed. Tip of the cap for naming a track ‘FOD’. It made me laugh. Strappado has the feel of an era in time where genres where being defined. Fear was for pussies. Evidenced with the doom laden stomp in ‘Tortured Soul’. Overall a worthwhile record, energy pours out of it and your head will nod. What else is needed?
If Slaughter took the death metal road then Merciless grabbed the spiked cuffs and hoofed it down the black metal road. With ‘The Awakening’ you can almost hear Vikings. It has groove in places, it’s brutal and it’s a very good record. Not as catchy as others; you wont wake up with a tune in your head but will never regret sticking it on.

The next three:
Merciless Death -Evil in the Night
Death Angel – Killing Season
Warbringer – Waking Into Nightmares
‘Evil in the Night’ has immediate black/death feel to it. Buzzing tone is clear. It’s blistering with energy. Thick and savage. Raw and barely tamed. For me this was a fun record. Not a favourite though.
Death Angel. Damn do I love these guys. A band I knew of but never crossed paths with. While one part of me regrets this, another questions if I would have the passion for them I do now. Schrodinger’s metal. It’s heavy, groove ridden rifftastic wonderland. It’s stuck in my head. Thick, blinding and compelling. A personal highlight from this album (yeah lots have been beasted) was ‘Steal the Crown’. Damn that’s a fun track.
Warbringer I had heard but had got lost in my best of 2013 crusade. This brand of high tempo infectious death thrash is essential. Headbanging is not a question of if but when. Oh and dust off the air guitar. The solos are coming.

 

Geary of War: Mosh in May Part 1 – It Begins…

Last month, I set my good friend Paul a challenge; 31 records in 31 days, each a thrashtastic voyage into the headbanging void. His mission: to take notes and feedback for this site. I look forward to having him collaborate with me here now, as I spend a lot of time bouncing blog ideas off him, getting recommendations and giving recommendations. It is what metal is about, more than most genres; the passing of the knowledge. You always want to be the guy (or girl) who finds THE coolest new band, THE hardest new riff, THE most brutal song title. It’s amazing that in this ultra competitive sport of oneupsmanship, metalheads are mostly all friends. But anyway, Paul has sent me his first section for you to enjoy. Rock and fucking roll:

Mosh in May.
The Month of Thrash.
A subject alluded to in previous entries is the musical enlightenment journey that Sandy’s mammoth knowledge has been sending me on. I by no means live in a musical black hole but often realise that, goddamn it I missed stuff!! As a result I asked The Gatekeeper of Riffs to pick a thrash album a day for yours truly to wade into and report back with my musings. They won’t be a standard review so take it as read they all kick ass. This is my perception and selfish indulgence!!

The first three albums were:
Kreator – Coma of Souls
Sodom – Agent Orange
Dew-Scented – Impact
Kreator starts off with ‘When The Sun Burns’ which I noted as a “ripping opener” when jotting down my thoughts as it span. While the vocal delivery varied quite a bit I found the deeper growl worked best best showcased in ‘Terrorzone’ or ‘Mental Slavery’. This is a raw hook laden beast of a record. Sodom. In a word? Yes. Which I then underlined and followed with exclamation marks. If Sodom was a dinosaur they would be Riffasaurus Rex stomping about in an uncompromising groove. The vocals cast my mind to Venom which is not a bad thing at all. This gritty, heavy slab of thrash is a genre straddling colossos. I was aware of Dew-Scented but as can often happen I never got around to listening to them. Now that this blight on my thrash history has been corrected I can safely say they are a top band. This thick heavy slab of riffage is unyeilding. The hints of death metal cementing its savagery. As with Sodom this was marked with YES!! to highlight my enthusiasim for this band along with the reminder to go lift weighting or boxing on the bags with this soundtrack. Things will get done!
The following three were:
Evile – Infected Nations
Destruction – Spiritual Genocide
The Haunted – Versus
Evile have all the potential in the world. These guys understand thrash. Its groovy. Its heavy. Most of all its anthemic. You want to grab a beer and sing along. Simply put this a majestic record from a superb band. ‘Spiritual Genocide’ is a furious, snarling riff laden beatdown. Personal highlights include ‘Legacy of Past’ and ‘Riot Squad’. The catchy nature of the tunes makes them easy to fire back on. As to aggression? I have more weight lifting tracks. That should answer that question. The Haunted. If they needed explained then I feel sorry you have yet to be sonically assaulted with this astounding thrash/death metal titan. Versus almost feels an angry reminder of how brutal they can be after the superb, soul searching that was ‘The Dead Eye.’ In Pete Dolving, they had one of metal’s great vocalists and he goes to town here. Its a gym classic for me. Energy galore. Crank it.

Mosh in May: List building for friends

If there’s one thing I can do, its build lists of metal for people. My friend Paul, who will hopefully begin contributing to this site soon, has been a recipient of many of these lists over the months and years. Top 20 best death metal albums he hasn’t heard. Top 10 best power metal bands. Best supergroup records. The list(s) go on. But we’ve been doing Mosh in May this month. Basically, I pick 31 thrash records for him to get involved in, and he gives me feedback on them. It sounds condescending almost to say I’m educating the lad, but if there’s one thing I love to do, it’s get my friends into metal, and get more people to appreciate the awesome musicians out there.

Mosh in May is up to day 8, and so far, Paul has been spinning the following: Sodom (Agent Orange) Destruction (Spiritual Genocide), Dew-Scented (Impact), Kreator (Coma of Souls), Exodus (Bonded by Blood), The Haunted (Versus), Evile (Infected Nation) and Slaughter (Strappado). He doesn’t even know what pleasures I have lined up. Thrash from around the world. Old school classics and newer, but more obscure bands. This is what I do. Actually the most rewarding thing for me is getting to rediscover some of these records for myself. I forgot, for example, how good ‘Strappado’ was, or that Evile had such potential so early to be the reincarnation of 80s Metallica, of that Dew-Scented were a band I loved back in 2005.

I’ll keep making lists, and hopefully, when and if Paul becomes a contributor, he can let you know how I do. Mosh In May will probably become a yearly thing, as apparently I can never stop finding metal records to discover and enjoy