The trainwreck that is Metallica‘s later career can often even taint the listening experience of some of their best work. I’ll still jam Kill ‘Em All and Ride The Lightening but Master of Puppets and …And Justice For All are sometimes difficult since they’re dressed in some of the little nuances that would later characterize the radio rock of the late 90′s. Though they don’t posses the same infectious riffing of Metallica‘s debut, Australia’s Mortal Sin are not far behind and can be an excellent source of strongheaded thrash back catalog. So, in honor of their forthcoming album Psychology of Death, we’ll rehash a few tracks from their 1986 debut Mayhemic Destruction (is that even a word?). And yes, that’s the Sydney Opera House decimated on the album cover (the alternate cover is downright laughable). As we’ve said many times, we love our Australian metal, both past and present. Enjoy.
These Aussie’s really captured the Bay Area thrash sounds of Metallica and Testament all the way down under. The riffing here is very reminiscent of Kill ‘Em All but, like I said, you don’t have to think about any poopy later career shenanigans while you crank this! Grip it and rip it!
Though originality is not one of Mortal Sin‘s virtues during this era, you’ll occasionally find glimpses of innovation. I mean, how many bands write about the Lebanese civil war? Which brings us to my major gripe with rethrash. Though I love bands like Warbringer and even the more light hearted stuff like Gama Bomb, in the world we live in, it’s way past time political thrash made a comeback. When Dying Fetus is seen as a political band, the state of modern thrash/death lyrics can certainly be said to lacking. An awesome live version of “Lebanon” above.
Mechanix? Four Horsemen? Yeah, remember what I said about lack of originality? Oh well, at least they didn’t kick out their lead guitarist then claim his riffing as their own. Who’d do that, right? My what a mighty retro headbanger this is, though. Note the hilariously craptacular artwork.
The bass is really high in the mix which should make man thrash heads happy. Kinda sounds like early Destruction here on the title track and even borders on death metal. The only real gripe with this album is that it’s kind of all over the place and doesn’t seem to find a cohesive identity the way most first tier thrash classics did. Vocalist Matt Maurer just needed to stick with his semi-melodic Chuck Billy impersonation. The new record should be an interesting listen.
