the metal years

this is my other music blog, this one deals with the music I grew up listening to, all the cool metal bands from way back in the day, from before the money got in and ruined it all

[themetalyears]

Necronomicon - Apocalyptic Nightmare - 1987

Overlooked and overshadowed, German thrash band. Great sound, great songs - but I guess they weren’t Kreator or Destruction!

[themetalyears]

Target - Mission Executed - 1987

Wow, never even heard of these guys before! Belgian band with a serious early 80s Bay Area/German thing going on!

[themetalyears]

Virus - Pray For War - 1987

English punk band that jumped onto the thrash bandwagon, think Onslaught, Sacrilege, English Dogs. I love it, actually, saw them live a few times, supporting Suicidal Tendencies on their first UK tour at The Clarendon Ballroom in Hammersmith.

[themetalyears]

Mercyful Fate - Melissa - 1983

Mercyful Fate’s second album, and first for Roadrunner. Awesome metal, tuneful, well played and dramatic - who can’t say that King Diamond didn’t bring some drama to the stage! Loved this from the first spin.

[themetalyears]

Over Kill - Feel The Fire - 1985

Great New Jersey band, kinda thrash I guess! Loved their demo’s - always had them on heavy rotation on my Walkman!! This is their first album, including a Dead Boys cover, before it was cool to cover punk bands.

[themetalyears]

Wargasm - Why Play Around? - 1988

Boston thash band, was called “Overkill”, then “Maniac” - both used by other thrash bands! This is steady, Motorhead-y, thrash metal on Rock Hotel Records - who released the first Cro-Mags album.

[themetalyears]

At War - Ordered to Kill - 1986

Thrash metal from Virginia. A little bit of “shock” and anti-pc sentiment in here, but the 80s was full of that in metal. Pretty darn good, Motorhead-y thrash.

[themetalyears]

Motörhead - Peel Session - 1978

Peel session from 1978, from one of the greatest, purest heavy metal bands of all time.

[themetalyears]

Chronical Diarrhoea - Abstract Carnage - 1989

Early German, metallic, crossover thrash from way back when.

[themetalyears]

Mötley Crüe - Too Fast For Love - Leathür Records Version - 1981

Oh boy, I love this version of Motley Crue’s first album - the version that got rerecorded and released is fantastic, however this version has that spark and rawness that a big producer can take out of things. 

[themetalyears]

Syar - Death Before Dishonour - 1984

This is one of those rare things - an English band on Mausoleum Records, a label I usually associate with ace, European bands. These guys are from Harrogate in Yorkshire and sound like they would fit right in on Ebony or Neat Records.

[themetalyears]

Holland - Early Warning - 1984

Hammer’s first album - so to speak! Great NWOBHM on Ebony Records.

[themetalyears]

Hammer - Contract With Hell - 1985

North-East metal on the Ebony Records label - sounds like it fits the Ebony roster perfectly. I think I bought my copy from a record shop in Chester back in the mid-eighties when it first came out. The record shop is long, long gone! The band was origanlly called “Holland”, which I think is a weird name for a band, but thankfully changed it when an American band of the sam name threatend to sue them.

[themetalyears]

Faithful Breath - Gold'n'Glory - 1984

Teutonic, Viking metal in the NWOBHM vein - riff heavy, like Iron Maiden bred with the Scorpions! Epic stuff on Mausoleum Records.

[themetalyears]

Crossfire - See You In Hell - 1983

Fantastic Belgian speed metal on Mausoleum Records - the label that seemed to release endless amounts of obscure, yet brilliant classics in the early 80s.

[themetalyears]

Backwater - Revelation - 1984

Oh my - this is an awesome classic of Germanic speed metal. I picked this up on spec - I was really into Kreator, Sodom and Destruction at the time, so thought this was in the same vein. It’s more of a dirty, Motorhead sound, gritty and dirty. Brilliant stuff.

[themetalyears]

Savage Grace – After The Fall From Grace - 1986

This is the remastered version, but then again you are listening to it on YouTube!

Intricate, well-played speed metal with some great ideas and fairly standard, if well-played riffs and licks. Definitely worth your time to listen to.