METAL DEMOS

If you asked me (and if you're reading then you kinda did), this is absolutely the way these recordings were meant to be circulated. First wave US thrash assault from some of the greats collected on cassette, copied by die hards, and passed by hand to thirsty kids in school hallways or sent across the world to pen pals from the classified pages of underground metal rags. It's not supposed to sound full, the shit is raw and primal and that's why it worked. Schuldiner's guitar on Reign Of Terror is just wild (extra points for the hard pan on the rack toms), and Thunderstruk makes it hard to understand why WHIPLASH weren't more of a household name. Bay Area royalty is represented (early pre-thrash DEATH ANGEL is really hard to fukk with - more in line with NWOBHM but with serious teeth), and EXCITER's "World War III" is an absolute killer. The kid who put this beast together knew what was up, and I thank them for it. 

METAL DEMOS 

Probably a decent time to revisit a couple of earlier posts with the same spirit. An unmarked tape of (more) metal demos (check the comments - some excellent sleuths have done good work but there are still mysteries to solve) HERE, and a magical collection of early Bay Area killers HERE. If your ears ain't bleeding, then you ain't listening properly.