09 September 2011

A THRASH FROM THE PAST


A non-stop hour of raw early Bay Area thrash metal demos and from some of your favorites and a few under appreciated ragers. The MORDRED tracks suffer from poor reproduction (and interruptions that I can only hope are someone's little sister pressing record on a teenage hessian's boom box), but the primitive power of "Burned At The Stake" cannot be hidden by a mere lack of fidelity, and this is easily my favorite jam on the tape. In the context of crucial mix tape construction, the choice of "Guitarmony" by ANVIL CHORUS to follow such a certified scorcher is questionable (not to mention exceptionally un-evil), so I'll suggest that this instrumental be used as a three minute cool-down before getting your face melted by some live Baloff & Company - who themselves get thrashed into the ground by ULYSSES SIREN fukkn screaming through three unrelenting tracks to close out the first side of the tape (the last of which is cut short by a poor mix tape planner - he was probably baby sitting his little sister though, so it's cool). Manic, technical and purely evil high end thrash insanity of the highest order. San Francisco's favorite teenage Filipino speed metal warriors DEATH ANGEL open the flip side with their seminal three track Kill As One demo from 1985, with the 11+ minute instrumental "The Ultra-Violence" still shining like a beacon of adolescent metal mastery (the drummer was fukkn 13 when they recorded this shit). And in case that instrumental isn't scary enough, two rippers from BLIND ILLUSION close out the side (a side once again prematurely cut off by a lack of preparation on the part of our baby sitting hessian). Get out your puffy white hi-tops, stuff a comb in the back pocket of your high waisted denims...and drink beer.

What high school metal mix would be complete without the personal touch of some outsider art? 
Not this one. 

2 comments:

Davey said...

Thanks for this!!

Anonymous said...

This is just sweet. And the bad sound quality and interruptions somehow make it even better. Memories!
By the way, is this the same Mordred that went on to become a funk-metal band? And if so, will I be cast out of here forever if I admit I actually liked their album Fool's Game?
I love this. Thanks!