Violent Force: Malevolent Assault of Tomorrow (1987)
An oft-forgotten outfit from Velbert/Ratingen, north of Dusseldorf, Violent Force, streaked almost unnoticed across the 1980s’ Teutonic thrash firmament (where Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction were among the brightest stars), leaving far more questions than answers in their fiery wake.
Questions like, how did such a short-lived proposition with obviously modest means (indie label, indie budget, indie everything!) manage to craft a remotely professional, decently-produced LP like 1987’s Malevolent Assault of Tomorrow?
And also: how did one of the band members dare call himself Lemmy?
Well, turns out vocalist and guitarist Frank ‘Lemmy’ Fellinger (he grabbed the mic when their original singer quit), guitarist Stachel (just, uh, Stachel), bassist Waldy (yep), and drummer Jürgen Hillebrand (who replaced the well-traveled Guido ‘Atomic Steif’ Richter) were all about nicknames.
They certainly weren’t hiding from the authorities with the cranked up volume, speed, and aggression heard on blistering assaults like “Soulbursting,” “Destructed Life,” and “Violent Force” (the song), none of which ever quite bled into protean death metal, as did some of their wilder countrymen.
There is, however, an obvious hardcore streak coursing through the simple, circular, punk-on-steroid riffs and the galloping bass of album highlights like “Dead City,” “Sign of Evil,” and the sub-two-minute “Vengeance and Venom.”
There’s also one of those mandatory, workmanlike instrumentals (“What About The Time After?”) where it sounds like the boys started practicing their scales with the tape running, and a few songs (“M.A.O.T.,” “The Night,” “S.D.I.”) that start blending into each other after a while, but what did you expect?
Had Violent Force delivered something more than a cult underground thrash metal album in Malevolent Assault of Tomorrow, you wouldn’t have to take my rambling words about it, and the group may have enjoyed a longer run instead of going their separate ways the very next year.
But, before they did, Violent Force’s youthful, mosh-inducing energy was thankfully captured for posterity in a 1987 German TV movie called Verlierer (“Loser”), in which director Bernd Schadewald tells a story of brutality and despair among rival gangs of gang working class teenagers.
p.s. -- I later included Malevolent Assault of Tomorrow in my Loudwire list of the ‘10 Teutonic Thrash Albums You Should Own.’
p.p.s. -- As usual, High Roller Records goes above and beyond with this vinyl reissue, not only replicating the original art, but reprinting old photos, the lyrics, and including a poster, to boot.
More German Thrash & Speed Metal: Destruction’s Infernal Overkill, Exumer’s Possessed by Fire, Grave Digger’s Witch Hunter, Helloween’s Walls of Jericho, Holy Moses’ Queen of Siam, Iron Angel’s Hellish Crossfire, Kreator’s Pleasure to Kill, Paradox’s Product of Imagination, Rage’s Reign of Fear, Running Wild’s Branded and Exiled, Sodom’s Persecution Mania.
