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1) Hades - DamNation (2001, Metal Blade Records)
 Hades were a gleaming metallic hope in
the 80s... a band that could have been big. SHOULD have been big and were ALMOST big, but didn't quite make it. In a sad twist of irony, it was their dismal European tour (among other things) that
led to the original breakup of Hades, and dismal US tour stints and sales that led to their current hiatus. Luckily, somewhere in between the two, Hades wrote and recorded DamNation, an album
that any metalhead should be required to listen to at least once daily. Folks, it is rare that a metal album is this good. It is even more rare that an album of this caliber is released by a classic
metal band making a "comeback," so to speak. We all know the sad story: past masters looking to re-grasp their former glory, but missing the ring and plummeting to deeper depths than we, the
former fans, could have ever imagined. Hades have re-written that tale with DamNation, giving not only re-formed bands a new pinnacle to which they can aspire, but metal bands of all walks of
life can now strive to top this absolute masterpiece of metal. The production is full and clean. The performances and songwriting are exemplary. Drummer (and newcomer) Ron Lipnicki shines on
DamNation. The man is a drum hero in the making. It's not too late to buy a copy of DamNation, and maybe if enough of you do, Hades just might come back for round 3. We can only hope...
2) Cirith Ungol - Frost and Fire/King of the Dead (re-released 2001, Metal Blade Records)
Never before has a band been so simultaneously lauded and loathed as Ventura, CA's Cirith Ungol. Many critics hailed their
debut, 1980's Frost and Fire, as "the worst heavy metal album of all time," while those of us with balls appreciate the album for the gloriously grating slab of metal that it is. Vocalist Tim Baker's
signature rasping screech may sound like fingernails on a chalkboard to many, but to me, the man has the voice of an angel. Flanged-out bass, barbaric drum pounding, stripped-down
guitar work, and arrangements beautiful in their simplicity combine to create an album that may sound somewhat tame when compared to metal bands of later-days, but Cirith Ungol's music is
no less listenable. They are the missing link between the progressive rock giants of the 70s, like Blue Oyster Cult, and the forerunners of heavy metal, like Venom and Manowar. Songs like
"I'm Alive" and the title track are milestones of the genre, and even the rougher numbers like "What Does It Take" and "Edge Of
A Knife" have their place in the album. While certainly two of Cirith Ungol's weaker compositions, they are part of the whole body of music that makes up Frost and Fire. If they weren't
there, the album would be lacking (and not just because it'd only be 5 songs long).
On 1984's King of the Dead, Cirith Ungol really came into form. There is not a weak moment on the album. The band stepped away from the rock and towards a harder place; King of the Dead
is decidedly more metal than the band's debut. The album's opening track, "Atom Smasher" is a mid-paced crusher that sets the tone for the rest of the album: hungry, relentless and
balls-out heavy. The production, understandably, is not as huge as most releases that hit the racks in subsequent years. Cirith Ungol's rock roots show more in the production than the material
this time out. King of the Dead is a spectacular album. Tim Baker sounds rabid on "Master of the Pit" and the songwriting is varied in tempo and feel, but the prevailing mood is one of aggression.
There has never been and never will be an album that sounds like King of the Dead, and after hearing it, that might come as a relief to some, but that is how it goes with Cirith Ungol. You will love
them or you will hate them. There is no middle ground, but if you fall in the former group, I will accept money and any pizza with toppings (except Dominos) as tidings of thanks.
Note: in 1995, One-Way Records released both albums on one CD, which is why I am including both here as one item. Though
out-of-print, if you are lucky, you might be able to find a copy. If not, Metal Blade re-released both albums in 1999 with bonus tracks and new liner notes, though in a limited edition. My
recommendation: buy them all!
3) Toxik - World Circus (1987, Roadrunner Records)
 Extremes are a good thing in metal.
I would go so far as to say extremes are what makes metal so great, and there may not be a more poignant example of metal taken to its extremes than Toxik's 1987 release, World Circus. The
album features some of the most insanely fast guitars and ridiculously high vocals EVER to grace a piece of recorded music. Toxik SHOULD have been big players in the metal scene. All of
the elements were there: stellar musicianship, two albums on then-top metal label, Roadrunner Records, a supporting slot on King Diamond's 1987 US "Abigail" tour, but for some reason they
just never broke through to any degree of commercial success. Thankfully, CD replication was just starting to catch on in the industry, so World Circus and their sophomore effort, Think This,
are preserved forever on disc in the collections of a small faction of metal heads (most importantly mine). While both albums are great, and Think This is the more polished and refined of the two,
in my opinion it is World Circus that really shows Toxik at their eardrum-obliterating best.
4) Gothic Slam - Killer Instinct (1988, Torrid Records)
NY's Gothic Slam fell prey to the end of the first wave of thrash. Along with acts like Powermad (see below) and Rigor Mortis,
Gothic Slam were one of the handful of bands to be scooped up by a major label (in this case, Epic) towards the end of the thrash craze in the late 80s and early 90s' a surefire sign that a genre at
the height of its popularity is about to come crashing down. As was the case with each of the aforementioned bands and a number of others, the majors hoped to cash in on the surge in
thrash metal's popularity and while some of the bands garnered respectable sales for a metal band on an indie label, for a band on a major the sales just sucked and the bands were left swinging
from the corporate teat, sucking in vain for even a few drops of the success they might have enjoyed had the majors not decided to get into the game.
That little slice of history aside, Killer Instinct was actually Gothic Slam's first release on the doomed record label, Torrid (who also
released the first two Hades albums). Their second, and final, release Just A Face In the Crowd (Epic Records), is a good album, but Killer Instinct is Gothic Slam's tour de force. The songs are
thrash incarnate. No bull, no tricks. Even the album's opening is a tongue-in-cheek response to the funk-thrash antics of bands like Mordred. A pseudo (read: bad) funk groove is played for a
mercifully short time before vocalist Daniel Gomez declares "F*CK THIS!!" and the band tears into what may be, to this day, one of the most slamming thash riffs of all time, launching the album into
the opener "Skankin'." One of the greatest things about metal is songs ABOUT metal and "Skankin'" is a prime example. Sadly, Killer
Instinct was never released on CD and most likely will never be, unless by some miracle I come into a financial windfall and decide to finance it myself.
 5) Demolition Hammer - Epidemic of Violence (1992, Century Media)
Demolition Hammer is absolutely one of the most underrated and under-appreciated death/thrash metal bands of all time. If you don't own every Demolition Hammer album, you
should be ashamed of yourself because you contributed to the demise of a band that embodied everything that is great about metal.
Demolition Hammer were their most ferocious on their second album, Epidemic of Violence ("Skull Fracturing Nightmare" is the
opening track). Drummer Vinny Daze (RIP) was an absolute animal on the release. Listen to the double bass 1:37 into the song!! Pay close attention to how he switches up the beat and the fills he
plays as the song fades out. Not only did the man have machine-like stamina, but he was also a straight-up AWESOME drummer. Crank up your speakers, listen and learn.
This is some of the angriest, most hateful-sounding metal to ever come out of the underground. Demolition Hammer's debut release,
Tortured Existence, is a solid, but Epidemic of Violence is their absolute best and a masterpiece in every sense of the word. After Vinny Daze left the band, Alex Marquez (Malevolent
Creation, Solstice, etc.) came on board for the excellent Time Bomb album, another amazing release, but Vinny is what really pushed this band over the top.
Bassist/vocalist Steve Reynolds disbanded Demolition Hammer after Time Bomb because, in his words, "The kids just don't want
to hear it anymore." He cut his hair and got a boring job so he could finally pay his bills. Epidemic of Violence is as potent a legacy as someone could hope to leave behind. If you don't have
it, buy it. If you listen to the album and don't like it, do us all a favor and lay down on the railroad tracks and swallow a locomotive because you aren't going to do anyone a lick of good
with that attitude, least of all yourself.
6) Watchtower - Control and Resistance (1989, Noise Records)
You think Dream Theater is technical? Or those new boys, Spiral Architect? Watchtower makes 'em both sound like that kid banging a bucket on the sidewalk (before some idiots decided
that kid with the bucket was actually good). THIS is the pinnacle of technical music, and there are no bleh ballads or slow songs. Control and Resistance is like Rush on some potent mixture of
speed and crack. You will not find more impressive musical chops than the bass, drums and guitar on this album. It approaches savant levels. The songs are catchy, heavy, and intricate to the
point of being ridiculous. Add to that the siren-hail vocals of former Hades vocalist Alan Tecchio and you've got one of the most underrated metal albums of all time!
 7) Razor - Violent Restitution
(1988, Roadrunner/Roadracer)
As good a thrash band as any of the era (the 1980s), for some reason Razor never caught on in the US. Well, they didn't catch on much of anywhere while we are on
the subject, relegated to the status of a "cult" band. The fact that they only had one album released domestically via Roadrunner Records (yes, this is the one) could have a hell of a
lot to do with it. While Razor's previous 4 albums (Executioner's Song, Evil Invaders, Malicious Intent and Custom Killing) were testament enough to their greatness, their finest moment was
Violent Restitution. I don't know if the label sat on it or what, but this album should have landed Razor right up there with Slayer as kings of thrash metal based on the strength of songs like "Behind
Bars, "Enforcer," "Hypertension" and many others. Vocalist Stace "Sheepdog" McLaren has a throat of steel, screaming and
growling. Listen to the scream in the album opener, "The Marshall Arts!" It is inhuman in length and tone! The songs are fast and compact with no bull... just full-on metal fury with catchy
choruses and powerful production. Razor's first 3 albums (not including the rare Armed and Dangerous EP) have finally been released properly on CD, so pick them up for a potent dose of
thrash metal. You can find copies of Violent Restitution floating around as well if you look hard enough.
8) Indestructible Noise Command - Razorback (1987, Giant Records)
"Who?" you say? Yes, that is what I said too when I first saw a cassette copy of this album in a used rack well over a decade
ago. The cover was just so classic-cheese that I had to buy it for a laugh. Once I put the album on, I wasn't laughing. Indestructible Noise Command, like all of the bands on this list,
managed to go virtually ignored by the music public and most of the underground, an even more difficult task considering they were signed to a semi-major label, Giant Records (later home of
Morbid Angel). Razorback is a fine example of US thrash done well. What classic thrash bands have that most new blood (and the Swedish brethren as well) lack is catchy songwriting. I.N.C.
have it in spades. It is not that the music is ultra-fast (though it is speedy), or even that it is insanely heavy (which, when I think about it, could be two of the reasons they went relatively
unnoticed). I.N.C.'s primary strength was their ability to pen hook-laden songs, making Razorback an infinitely listenable album. Their follow up, The Visitor, is also a very good release, but
doesn't quite capture the magic of Razorback, which serves as a slice of time for thrash in the 1980s. A fine example of what it was all about.
 9) Wehrmacht - Biermacht (1989, New Renaissance)
Beer metal! Wehrmacht and Tankard may be the only two acts to fall into this category. Biermacht's cover is an eternal classic... a cartoonish drawing of
the band members in various states of inebriation perched atop and around an enormous tank with a keg for the turret, each wielding an enormous pitcher of beer!
Wehrmacht's two classic albums (the other being their debut, Shark Attack) were released by the cult record label New Renaissance Records, responsible for unleashing acts such as
Necrophagia, Deadly Blessing, Blood Feast and At War on the world. Biermacht is comprised of 14 tracks totaling in at under 30 minutes total playing time. Speed, humor and more speed is the
formula here. This is hyper-thrash metal with a lot of laughs. How can you not love a song with the chorus "Draft beer! Not me!! Drink beer! Be free!!?" Vocalist Tito Matos has one of the most
distinct voices in metal. The man doesn't sing by any stretch of the imagination... it is all about attitude and screaming like a banshee! If you like catchy songs, you'll love Biermacht. If you
like FAST thrash, you'll love Biermacht. Both of Wehrmacht's albums were recently re-released by the resurrected New Renaissance Records, so scrape together some cash and go buy them!
10) Powermad - Absolute Power (1989, Reprise/Warner Bros.)
Like the aforementioned Gothic Slam, Powermad were snatched up by a VERY major label (Warner Bros!!) at the end of the thrash
craze, then dumped on the market and left to flounder when the album failed to sell like the label anticipated. Powermad even went so far as to not only have a song on the soundtrack of a
major theatrical release (David Lynch's Come Fire Walk With Me), but they also performed live in a club scene in the movie, switching from the thrash-blasting of the album's 'hit' for lack of a
better term, "Slaughterhouse," to backing up the film's star, Nicholas cage, in a rendition of "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You." Being signed to a major didn't soften any of Powermad's
metal sensibilities, I am happy to report, as the material on Absolute Power is even heavier than on their debut EP, The Madness Begins. Vocalist Joel DuBay is one of the finest metal
screamers mine ears hast heard. The material is no-frills, catchy, melodic, and heavy throughout. The riffing is fast and razor-sharp. The drum performance is unremarkable, but
satisfying nonetheless. Absolute Power is one of the cleanest thrash albums ever recorded (the benefits of a major label budget) and Powermad may be the first thrash band to really
incorporate Iron Maiden-ish melodies in the track "Nice Dreams." Though out of print, since it came out on a major label that means there were a fair amount of copies of Absolute Power
pressed. It should be a relatively easy task to find it used.
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