Forgotten Canadian death-thrashers Infernal Majesty only really have one album of note, their 1987 LP ‘None Shall Defy’. This is the opening track of the album, with infectious vocal lines and dirty riffing. The album plays out in a satisfying and punishing way, with the murky, rather clean guitar tone being unique to this work.

The band itself was late to the thrash scene, so any impact this album could have made was completely ignored by an over-saturated market. They haven’t ever truly broken-up, but have been plagued by lineup issues and an apparent lack of interest. They recorded a concert recently wherein the performed ‘None Shall Defy’ in its entirety, but the preview-video features a lack-luster crowd, and as far as I know, they haven’t released anything since 2007; which saw the release of the ‘Demon God’ EP, and featured a rerecorded “SOS” guest-starring Corpsegrinder of Cannibal Corpse.

Other highlights of this album are the title track, “SOS” and “Into the Unknown”.

None Shall Defy is a forgotten classic, and is totally worth the bandwidth or money for it if you see it in a store somewhere.

Darkness was one of the also-rans in the German thrash scene, and were content to worship their more-known contemporaries. As usual, this album isn’t particularly original, and the production sounds just like Terrible Certainty (Kreator), and that’s why it’s enjoyable. The guitars are the typical German-tremolo picking with a touch of Bay-Area power-chord riffage thrown in.  The soloing is again indicative of the geography, messy tremolo picked solos with healthy amounts of the whammy bar applied. The vocals sound like a more bass-heavy Mille Petrozza (Kreator), with a slightly more pronounced accent.

As is usual with the B-Teams of thrash, all the reasons to enjoy this album are the same things that can be used against it. It’s simple, aggressive, and doesn’t push the envelope. But does it really need to? This is a fun album for die-hards of the style.

Other highlights on the disc are “Critical Threshold”, the title track, and the closer “Phantasmagoria”

Despite the exceptionally silly name, this Canadian act knows what they’re doing. Sounding like the Canadian interpretaion of Testament with a touch of OverKill thrown in, their debut, Metal Forces, is a hell of a lot of fun. Nothing new, but one of my favorite anti-poser songs (after “Flag of Hate”), “Marching”, as well as the first track, with a video entitled “Speed Kills”.

Based on my ability to type in the search field of Metal Archives, these guys formed in ’03 and remained unsigned, and with the apparent peak of the neo-thrash scene they’ll probably remain that way; a shame really, I would love to see them, but Ottowa is a bit of a distance from Washington DC.

This group is a bit different from my usual posts, with these guys being practitioners of the Bay-Area style, rather than my preferred Teutonic style. They know to not overstay their welcome, their full length lasts a digestible 27 minutes, with nine tracks; and no bullshit intro piece.

Again, this album isn’t going to convert anybody into Thrash, but for fans, this is a fun romp.

Do you like Kreator? Good. So does Avenger of Blood. A currently non-active but nonetheless killer neo-thrash band from the bay area. This is the third track off of their second full length, Death Brigade (cover art by the guy who did Motorhead’s), which is a no-nonsense thrash assault. Basically, if you enjoy 80s Kreator, this album is right up your alley.

Featuring an awful snare tone and some slipshod mixing (turn your mids up guys), this is still a fun album, that if I didn’t know better would say was recorded in 87 and only 400 copies were made. The band is currently going through some rather rough lineup issues, but hopefully they can regroup and record something else while the neo-thrash scene is still strong.

Neither this song or album will change anybody’s thoughts on thrash metal, but to the die-hard thrasher it’s a very competent recording to worship Pleasure to Kill. Other song highlights are “Poserslaughter” and the title track.

Ares Kingdom is a death/thrash band from the grim wastes of… Missouri. This album, Incendiary, is the band’s second full-length, after 2006′s Return to Dust. Featuring very well thought out, sometimes epic works, including the subject of this post, the seven-minute “Descent of Man”, as well as the eight minute “Abandon in Place”. These guys finally seem to be catching a break, and will be performing at Defenders of the Old Fest which takes place in Baltimore Maryland on October 15-16.

Anyway, these guys have been active for over 13 years, and it clearly shows in their music. No pulled punches or genre pandering. Incendiary is well-written, with a great production. “Descent of Man” itself features many tempo and dynamic changes, so the idea of a seven-minute thrash song isn’t totally ludicrous. The soloing is very clean and well-incorporated, avoiding both techincal wankery and disappointing lacking. The harsh vocals are very audible and clear, and the lyrics can be relatively easy to make out. The bass, as usual, isn’t really noticed, and the drumming isn’t over the top; which serves the album, so as to not overshadow the vocals and guitar.

Overall, tracking down either of Ares Kingdom’s full-lengths will not leave the listener disappointed.

This one is going to be written in a hurry, due to me recovering from Immolation last night, and having to leave for work soon.

Forbidden was one of the late-80s thrash bands that never really got recognition due to the decaying scene. Releasing a near-classic with Twisted into Form. Though outshined by the 1990 epic Time Does Not Heal, Twisted… still holds its own. Featuring impressive guitar-work and a rather unique vocal style, loud, but very confident. The album has a very solid production, with all the band members holding their own, and the music never gets stale.

Diamond Plate is one of the newer thrash bands, based out of Chicago. Startlingly young, though you wouldn’t guess it by the music in of itself.

This is the title cut off their newest EP, featuring a great four-song excursion into thrash metal. Featuring great production, great riffing and some mindblowing leads. To get it out of the way, the largest complaint about this release is the vocals. They are a bit… odd.  A deep throaty yell, though unique, isn’t necessarily the greatest.

More importantly, the instruments. Everybody in this three-piece is immensely talented. The drummer doesn’t get very creative (as is customary for the style), but definitely keeps up, and using his bass drums tastefully. The bass has a great thick tone, and is clearly audible with the rest of the instruments. Then the guitars, after all the riffing, there are some incredibly thought out solos. It’s obvious that this guitarist worships the throne that is Alex Skolnick, with long, technical solo sections. The title track is the longest on the EP, at seven minutes, but doesn’t become stale, with enough riff changes and breaks to keep the listener attentive throughout.

The rest of the release is similarly strong, and Diamond Plate is a band to watch out for, and if they can release a full length this strong, it will be monumental to the modern thrash scene.

First attempt at not .self posting on reddit, here goes:

Ulysses Siren is another forgotten Bay-Area band, the only thing setting them apart from the hordes of also-rans, is the incredible quality of their output. Releasing two demos (later compiled into a full length called Above the Ashes), Ulysses Siren was an incredible thrashing machine, sounding like an Americanized Artillery, with a touch of Exodus in the vocals. The riffs are technical and unique, and the playing without question. The lyrics are the standard thrash fare, though well thought out.

Terrorist Attack opens the compilation, introducing the album and the peculiar guitar tones. Not very distorted, so it sounds like good ol’ speed metal, but overdosing on PCP. The vocals drop in, while the lyrics aren’t anything special, it’s a very passionate delivery, accentuated by the guitar’s flourishes. The relatively clean tone also serves to show off how precise the instruments are, demanding perfection out of the players. The song goes through a few riff changes, a short break, then into an extended solo and bridge section. The vocals come back and repeat a chorus, ending the song strongly, then dropping into “The Reich”.

I could go on for a while in this fashion, but would end up gushing over ever single song. If you consider yourself a fan of thrash metal, become familiar with this bands material. You’ll thank me.

Hello everybody, I’m BrutalN00dle, and this is Thrash Thursday, a weekly serial post that started a month or two ago on reddit.com/r/metal . Graciously invited by tekhammer to bring the good-word over to this site.

To celebrate this development, here’s the mighty Kreator, with the final song off of Terrible Certainty “Behind the Mirror”.  Kreator was a nigh-unstoppable force in the mid-80s, with five absolutely crushing albums, increasing in quality right up to 1990′s magnum opus “Coma of Souls”. Unless you’ve been living under a rock that was hidden by other rocks, you are aware of the phenomenally influential “Pleasure to Kill”, but less discussed outside of thrash circles are the two efforts following it. Following “Pleasure…” Kreator discarded their wild violence and focused into a razor-sharp, technical thrashing assault.

The song itself starts off with a clean intro, then into a riff that is undeniably Kreator. Mille’s unique voice comes in with lyrics that are based around personal reflection, the subject of the song enters a new mental plane of existence, but finds an apocalyptic realm rather than a tranquil paradise. Then a solo that Kerry King wishes he had the forethought to write, and Kreator finishes their third LP with a bang.

Kreator would go on to release two more incredible albums, then the dreaded dark-ages of thrash metal came about. Though the German scene fared better than the American one, Kreator finally returned to form in the 21st century with the release of Violent Revolution, Enemy of God, and the recent Hordes of Chaos.