“Some things seem to be just one tweak away from being great. Dead Carnage is an okay band name, but it seems a bit redundant. Isn’t most carnage dead? Better, I think, would be Live Carnage. The image of butchered and bloody bodies, moaning and clinging to their last vestiges of life, seems a lot more brutal to me than any imagery evoked by “Dead Carnage.” But hey, I’m a guy that listens to Goatpenis—a band’s moniker has never stopped me from checking out an album before.” Live undead.
“Crossover thrash certainly seems to be making an honest effort to have its day in the sun lately. While it has existed since the early 80s and has had its loyal adherents ever since, the genre is suddenly teeming with new life. Bands like Power Trip, High Command, Enforced, and Red Death are capitalizing on the resurgence of interest in the style, and the results have been quite glorious.” Mob violence.
“Warbringer has been bringing the war to thrash since 2006, breathing life back into the classic 80s sound with a powerhouse blend of Bay Area legends like Exodus, Death Angel and Testament. On 2017’s Woe to the Vanquished they expanded their sound outward, incorporating black metal influences into their thrash template with interesting if not always completely successful results.” Has Weapons of Tomorrow upped the ante once again and armed them for revolution?
![High Command – Beyond the Wall of Desolation [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/High-Command-Beyond-the-Wall-of-Desolation-01-768x768.jpg)
“I soon began to hear rumblings about Beyond the Wall of Desolation both in the comments here and in the metal community abroad, so I finally forced myself to taste of the fruit that the record has to offer. It’s a good thing that this fruit comes pre-pulverized in smoothie form, because High Command’s brand of thrash lands like a swift punch to the mouth and I found myself sans teeth in short order.” Teeth are for closers.
“In 2017, a little Texas band named Power Trip released their sophomore album Nightmare Logic and subsequently blew the metal world’s collective mind. Their brand of crossover thrash made them darlings of the underground and mainstream metal media alike, and that record was a part of several year end lists here at AMG. Todays offering At the Walls finds relative newcomers Virginia’s Enforced laying siege to the throne with their debut set of crossover tunes, but do they even riff?” Riff the walls down.
“Goddamn, I’ve reviewed a lot of black metal this year. Not that I’m upset about it. But, since joining this illustrious website of snobbery and pretentiousness five years ago, my yearly average is higher than it’s ever been. Is it due to Grier selling out and over-rating the under-rated albums of 2019? Oh, hell no, you over-commenting sonsofbitches. It’s because I’m blessed to review bands like Istapp, Darkthrone, and Vous Autres. Over-rater, I am not. Over-editor? Well, yeah, look at what I have to work with here! But, in hopes of lowering my average for the year and giving my black, swollen head a rest, I closed my eyes and reached into the scorpion-infested grog box that is the AMG Promo Bin. And out I pulled Atlanta’s only Kreator-inspired thrash metal band, Sadistic Ritual.” Thrashlanta.
“Sometimes, I hear a band and wonder if anybody actually listens to them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure plenty of people blast The Acacia Strain while working on their trucks or whatever, but are those people actually listening to the riffs and paying attention to the songwriting, or do they just want something br00tal blasting in the background? I suspect the answer is the latter, and such is my distaste for bands who build their songs solely from breakdowns. By its very nature, a breakdown is supposed to ‘break down’ the song.” Sack beatings and breakdowns.
Doctors in Da House! Next Dr. A.N. Grier presents his Top Ten of 2018. It’s been meticulously researched, so now it needs peer review. Give it!
“I have a long history with thrash metal, dating back to the very first time I heard a metal song (“Dyer’s Eve”) at the tender age of nine. My exposure to black metal is much more limited as I only discovered this site and the many flavors of extreme metal three years ago. Ulthar’s debut Cosmovore bills itself as equal parts black and thrash metal, with a healthy dose of death metal swagger in its step as well. I’m intimately familiar with the thrash portion and merely acquainted with the blackened component, so I approached Cosmovore with curiosity, trepidation, and excitement in equal measure.” Speed and loathing in Cosmovore.
“On Thursday the 9th of August, myself and 19,000 others descended upon the grounds of an old manor house in the heart of the British countryside for a weekend of heavy metal, drinking, and debauchery.” AMG was there. Were you?
