ACT LIKE A MANIAC - An Underground Thrash Metal Compilation (1986 - 1993)

12th anniversary of All Things Old School compilation edition (originally due out in 2022) - We have quite a handful bands in the hardcore punk nowadays surfing the Thrash wave, which is dope (and they should keep that way) but their sound were most likely not solely based on the so-called Big Four of Thrash. A lot happened so that we can now stage dive to Dead Heat, High Command and Foreseen. My aim for this compilation is to shed light on the GOLDEN ERA of underground Thrash Metal scene which, in my humble opinion, lasted from 1986 to 1993.

In a time without proper internet, when tape trading was king, new releases surely took some time to reach out the audience in a global scale. Making copies and shipping tapes, digging after the stuff you liked, hearing that Thrashy sound that ignited the desire to start your own project. It's safe to say a new dawn for Thrash Metal was about to happen after 1986, the year albums like Reign In Blood, Master Of Puppets and Peace Sells were released. New acts from all over started to pop up like a wet Gizmo, from Chile to Canada and from Spain to Japan, the following years saw a tsunami of underground releases flooding the planet's ghettoblasters, headbangers united by Thrash.

From there you get 2 types of metal bands: the serious (often satanic) type and the well-humored (sometimes goofy) type of groups, regardless of the approach most of them tackle social issues in their lyrics and for some reason dental problems were a common concern. Either way I tried to mix a bit of everything in this comp, just by checking the song titles you'll know what I mean. Also another key element here for me to pick bands was that they were all under 2000 listeners (or close to that!) according to last.fm, they use that tag there and I never found use for it until now. Note: a fair amount of these recordings were recovered straight the cassette demo tapes and they sound rough. >

With that in mind I ended up leaving out many underground cult groups as the idea was really to spot the underrated and the obscure, lost gems of the shredding technique. This may sound way to familiar with that write up I did about the 80's Crossover but I guarantee these are no punk related groups, except maybe by EVOL, Sacrilege B.C. and Tyrranicide but then again the best metal bands for me are usually the ones whose members do listen to punk! Act like a maniac, whiplash!!

Tracklist - CD1:

ACROPHET - Corrupt Minds [USA, 1988]

FALLEN ANGEL - Dental Surgery [Sweden, 1992]

AFTERMATH - Going No Place [Greece/USA, 1987]

BLOODCUM - Death By A Clothes Hanger [USA, 1988]

STYGIAN - Seconds 'Til Death [USA, 1990]

ARMOROS - Autopsy (Dementia) [Canada, 1987]

NECROSIS - Prayer (Demo) [Chile, 1987]

FORCED ENTRY - We're Dicks [USA, 1991]

DECADENCE - Deadly Dreams [Belgium, 1989]

AGONY - Madness Reigns [Sweden, 1988]

FATAL AGGRESSION - Words Unreal [USA, 1991]

PRESTIGE - Force Of My Hate [Finland, 1989]

CHARGED - Inquisition [Finland, 1989]

FUCK OFF - Another Sacrifice [Spain, 1988]

DEATH SQUAD - Mind Fuck [USA, 1991]

POISON - Requiem / Alive (Undead) [Germany, 1987]

EXPLICIT HATE - From The Jungle [Brazil, 1990]

QUICK CHANGE - Plowed [USA, 1988]

RE-ANIMATOR - Re-Animator [UK, 1989]

AFFLICTION - Peace Through Violence [USA, 1992]

CD2:

TYRRANICIDE - Pull The Plug (USA, 1989)

SLAUGHTERED GRACE - Twins of Sin [USA, 1990]

HEADCRASHER - Sk8 Life [Italy, 1989]

DEAD SERIOUS - It's a Nice Day [Belgium, 1991]

PROTECTED ILLUSION - Swimming in the Moonlight [Finland, 1990]

ACID STORM - Scourge Of The Gods [Brazil, 1989]

DOMINANCE - This Is Only A Test [USA, 1990]

MORFEUS - Humam Degradation [Brazil, 1993]

EVOL - Cyco-Self [USA, 1990]

SILENCE - Vision [USA, 1991]

OBLIVION - D.O.A. (Dead On Arrival) [USA, 1990]

SACRILEGE B.C. - Victimized [USA, 1986]

MANDATOR - An Invisible Disease Strikes [Holland, 1989]

ASPHYXIA - One Big Family [Belgium, 1991]

LAWSHED - Don't Urge Disorder [Japan, 1991]

MEZZROW - Prevention Necessary [Sweden, 1990]

WITCHHAMMER - On My Own [Norway, 1991]

OPPRESSION - Parasites [Finland, 1988]

OBLIVEON - Fiction Of Veracity [Canada, 1989]

DENIAL - The Awakening [USA, 1990]

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Which one was your favorite? Drop me a line in the comments if you're having a hard time trying to find the whole album of a specific release. This compilation title was also inspired in the 2007's iconic comp THRASHING LIKE A MANIAC.

OVERPOWER - Overpower 2022

Location: UK

Release: Self-released, 2022

OVERPOWER from South West UK presented last year their 5-song debut EP and it's the bomb! I remember hearing their promo 3 years back and held high expectations for them. It was an easy pick for the All Things Old School 2022's best of selection, another true hidden gem for all crossover maniacs out there.

Many new groups claim their sound is Thrash hardcore nowadays but in reality they're delivering beatdown-ish metallic dull hardcore. Don't be fooled, accept no substitutes, here you really get what's advertised, only the real deal, OVERPOWA!

DOWNLOAD [+ Promo]

HARDCORE NEWS 16 "Demo Zone 2.0"

Demos (and promos) are the essence of Hardcore/Punk, the rawness and lack of pressure by external demands (like label contracts) allows a band to go loose, risk free, not rarely rewarding us with the wildest creations. In some cases a demo turns straight into a Debut EP which I believe is the case of NEW WORLD MAN or FUGITIVE, new "super" groups that are bringin' the ruckus... or sometimes a band needs a second demo, like the dudes in BURNING LORD, to improve the group's tightness on the slightest just to score a record deal or simply to keep that rawness (DIY vibe) on cassette format for another touring season.

The following are what caught my attention in the first half of 2022 in Demo Zone styled news:

DEFECTIVE CHAIN - Demo

Hard not to appreciate a band coming out of the blue with a strong solid demo such as this one by DEFECTIVE CHAIN, reminds me of some killer productions from Painkiller Records and Mosher's Delight back catalog. A.C.A.B.!

NEW WORLD MAN - EP

When a side project like this appears I'm always prone to think it will become their main thing, maybe not like Turnstile accomplished but the competence factor is surely there. Led by the Rhine duo from Life's Question, they borrowed the guitar talents from Regulate and Mindforce and drummer from Invoke to form NEW WORLD MAN. Streets Of Hate promptly came along to release this on cassette and gave them the best description "FFO: Crumbsuckers & Nuclear Assualt".

DOOMSDAY - Promo

Bay Area Crossover still bustin' in 2022, newbloods in DOOMSDAY dropped earlier this year one hell of a promo Riff City, including an Iron Age cover, full-length to come out on SLAM Records / Creator-Destructor.

FUGITIVE - Maniac

The selection of bands listed here are almost all Crossover ones or related to Thrash Metal at a certain level, but what can I say? The absolute majority of new demos/bands coming up recently are 90's "chug-chug" metalcore/beatdown... AGAIN! Therefore FUGITIVE was an easy pick, with Blake from Power Trip leading this pack you get riffs for days, joining forces with other dudes coming from Skourge, Creeping Death and ANS you get a legit new Texan Crossover act about to invade boomboxes worldwide.

THE EXECUTED - Demonstration

Formed by 2 dudes from Arizona with a grindcore background, THE EXECUTED bring some mean hardcore with nods to Oi!/Street Punk, this a short but very promising demo!

The drummer also plays in SYCOPHANT in case you're in the need of some UK82 kick, impressive D-Beat hardcore that came out last year. 

FORCED DOWN - Demo

Trevor Vaughan is back in all its MA Glory, after he ditched Peace Test and let it have it's own life without him, it wouldn't take him long to start another project. In fact, you may not like his work but you've gotta reckon his prolificacy, a true non-stop music machine! Sonically FORCED DOWN floats around Straight Razor and Peace Test, a must check for any 625 Thrashcore/Sound Pollution fan.

But... if you're really into that Rival Mob/Straight Razor sound then you may dig STONE FLEET, another project with Tyler from Caught In A Crowd that came out last year through Blind Rage Records.

DOWNLOAD [all demos]

LAWFUL KILLING - The First Division

Location: London, UK

Release: Self-Released, 2022

Artwork: Jack Hamilton 

Sorry for the lack of new content folks, I got sidetracked by personal issues but these dudes put me back on track, LAWFUL KILLING and their debut full-length on... no label whatsover? That was weird, I would sign them on a heart beat. (In fact, that has always been a dream of mine, to start a label).

Judging by the art cover it's clear their love for late 80's Crossover, even if you're not familiar with their sound if this art doesn't appeal to you (a possible fan of the genre) I don't know what would, they nailed 100%.

Soundwise, in The First Division you get what has been expected, riffs galore, well-composed melodies, real punk lyrics (no occultist bullshit) and lots of speed, you go through tracks 1 to 5 in one single slab! The record also features 3 re-recorded songs from previous singles and it got mixed by Scott from Blind Authority. 

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SKOURGE - Hardcore Up Your Ass

Location: Houston, USA

Release: Lockin' Out, 2021

SKOURGE is doing the hardest thing in Hardcore: getting better by each release! As you probably know by now they're back with 3 new songs in Up Your Ass EP, more thrilling death/thrash metal-inspired hardcore. New album out sooner than you think.

CIII

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PEST CONTROL - Infestation / Rat Race

Location: Leeds, UK

Release: Self-released, 2021

More PEST, more THRASH!! New single out in April.

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NEKROMANTHEON - Visions Of Trismegistos

Location: Kolbotn, Norge

Release: Hells Headbangers, 2021

Behold the beast of 2021, bringing inspiration from ancient Egypt and Greek mythology to their old school Death/Thrash harder-than-ever sound, NEKROMANTHEON is on top of their game after 9 years since the last album came out.

This thing is so damn evil that it can blow a priest's head off just by listening to the opening riff, a true shredding machine working 32 minutes at high voltage. It's even more maddening to think they're just 3 dudes raising all this hell, so how they came up with this monstrous album "all the sudden" you may wonder?

They first appeared on my radar after they were featured in the sick SPEED N' SPIKES split series by Relapse Records around 2008 alongside other select Thrash acts such as Abigail, Rammer and Toxic Holocaust. Besides the killer music, all 5 split 7-inches forms a nice zombie-themed cartoon painel.

After that they recorded 2 stellar full-lengths and won the Norwegian equivalent to Grammy in 2012, the Spellemann Awards! Taking in consideration this background plus the fact they started in 2005, it all falls into place when you listen to Visons Of Trismegistos. In 2019 Duplicate Records came forward and re-released their awesome first EP We're Rotting with a bunch of extra tracks from splits and compilations, which is the version you'll be getting here.

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[We're Rotting LP + Speed N' Spikes Series]

1984: Punk Is Dead, Metal Up Your Ass!

Age of Quarantine, day # 408 - (Heavy) Metal is for the 80's as Grunge is for the 90's, two Rock 'N' Roll sub-genres responsibles for undermine other rock-related youth movements, the Punks (1977-1983) and then Metal itself (both Thrash and Glam metal-heads) in the 90's. In this write-up we are going to revisit the first Punk bands that embarked on the newfound Metal trend and the subsequent development of CROSSOVER that followed, highlighting some obscure albums that succeded, not comercially but by withstanding the test of time.

The biggest example of a band crossing over sub-genres is probably the Boston pioneers in SSD, with the general decreasing interest in Punk by '83, they quickly adopted a new sound in the following year with the How We Rock LP but we know how it turned out for them, a big disrupt in their audience and an unappealing album. That was the case for many other groups but the outcome were certainly diverse.

Before the tides turned in '84, there were 2 groups that defied logic with their ultra-fast music back in 1982: VOID and DISCHARGE. With the release of their seminal albums that year, new standards were raised for both punks and metalheads.

Aware of the ongoing changes, many Punk & Hardcore bands around 1984-1985 either changed names or scrapped their initial material to encorporate METAL. Trailblazers in UK and US started to pop up, shaping the yet-to-be coined Crossover Thrash sound: ENGLISH DOGS - To The Ends Of The Earth (1984), SACRILEGE - Behind The Realms Of Madness (1985), CARNIVORE - Nuclear Warriors "Demo" (1984), CORROSION OF CONFORMITY - Animosity (1985), CRO-MAGS - Age Of Quarrel "Demo" (1985), YDI - Black Dust (1985) and S.O.D. - Speak English Or Die (1985).

By 1986 the underground rock scenes around the globe was already taken, mohawks and spikes were replaced by long hairs and camo pants, followed by an avalanche of Crossover productions, specially in NY with Combat Core's most notable releases: CRUMBSUCKERS - Life Of Dreams and AGNOSTIC FRONT - Cause For Alarm . Other highlights with big shifts in their sound for that year includes Seattle's THE ACCÜSED - The Return of... Martha Splatterhead, Houston's VERBAL ABUSE - Rocks Your Liver and Toronto's SUDDEN IMPACT - No Rest For The Wicked. Also, both groundbreaking CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER - Convicted and CONCRETE SOX - Your Turn Next that didn't switch their sounds per se but indeed were adding more Metal up in their punk veins, or asses.

From 1987 to 1991 things got real busy, a kid could get lost in a record store spending loads of cash to acquire a dozen Crossover releases and still wouldn't scratch the surface, in the shopping bag you would probably find one of these game-changer albums: EXCEL - Split Image (1987), D.R.I. - Crossover (1987), BROKEN BONES - F.O.A.D. (1987), AMEBIX - Monolith (1987), LEEWAY - Born To Expire (1988), SUICIDAL TENDENCIES - How Will I Laugh Tomorrow... (1988), R.D.P. - Brasil (1989), PRONG - Beg To Differ (1989), GANG GREEN - Older... Budweiser (1989), THE EXPLOITED - The Massacre (1990), HOGAN'S HEROES - S/T (1990) and BIOHAZARD - S/T (1990).

Now... looking for what got lost in the haystay during these years of Metal reign, bands with a decent amount of followers that, like SSD, are most known for their earlier punk work but have, at one point, released (usually just before breaking up) these ugly monsters that deserve a second spin, true Frankensteins of an era:

WASTED YOUTH - Black Daze (Medusa, 1988)

Starting by the cover, this and the following records have pieces of art that screams the 80's in the best way possible! From Punk to Thrashers, representing LA, Black Daze and its 8 tracks (including a Van Halen cover) are on constant spinning in my boombox for years already, recommended for fans of Welcome To Venice compilation.

LOST GENERATION - Midnight Meat Train (Anthrax, 1989)

This Connecticut group has a fairly rich output in punk productions, including collaborations with HR in '83. Further on they even flerted with goth in their great '88 album Censored but it was not until '89 that they took the higher risk by fully embracing Metal and delivering the thrashy beauty that is Midnight Meat Train, whose title was inspired by Clive Barker's story.

The album also includes a cover song by Merryweather's classic Kryptonite and featured two different artworks for USA and European markets, due to graphic content in the original one (seen above).

ENGLISH DOGS - Where Legend Began / Metalmorphosis (Combat, 1986)

The first time I saw something related to them was on my teenage days in a magazine featuring an early Sepultura band photo in which one of them was wearing a English Dogs t-shirt, that image stuck on my mind for eternity for some reason. Years later I came to know their music that evolved from Oi!-Hardcore to Metal Punk quite rapidly, making their '85 album Forward Into Battle their most notorious work but they've put other records out during their called Metal Years that are worth giving it a try.

The most obscure and underrated one (before going on their first hiatus) must be the Where Legend Began, this album resonates Metal all over, leaving little to no space for hardcore or punk in it, headbangin' alert! As a bonus the 3-song EP Metalmorphosis, released the same year, was also added here. Very fitting EP title by the way.

DR. KNOW - Wreckage In Flesh (Metal Blade, 1988)

Even Nardcore's mainstays wanted a piece of the pie, before splitting for good and following constant line-up changes they assembled a Metal squad and went out with style! Just begin by the artwork, similar to stuff found on latin automotive workshop facades. Jokes apart Wreckage In Flesh is, in reality, my personal favorite album by them, I strongly recommend you to take a chance on this one!

The LP came with a cover sticker that said the following about this release "DR. KNOW CONQUERS IT ALL FROM BLUDGEONING YOUR SENSES WITH POWER, TO THRASHING IT WITH SPEED... ON THEIR NEW VOYAGE DR. KNOW TAKES YOU ON A TRIP THROUGH THE STONNED SIDE OF REALITY. IMAGINE A WORLD WITH THIRD DEGREE BURNS, IMAGINE WRECKAGE IN FLESH! FEATURES A BRUTAL VERSION OF INTO THE VOID." Convincing huh?! ...and yeah they covered Black Sabbath.

DISCHARGE - The Price Of Silence 12" (Vap, 1984)

These guys needs no introduction, or shouldn't need, the originators of D-beat, changed the course of extreme music for good. The influence they exerted on Metal eventually came back around on their own music, this "reversed" influence can already by heard in their '83 EP Warning: Her Majesty's Government boosted by line-up changes on guitar duties (which later resulted in the creation of Broken Bones). The rare Japanese-only album The Price Of Silence compiles the EP with the same name plus the Warning EP and more.

In '85 they dropped another EP called Ignorance that clearly shows them going furhter in a (tragic) sonic collision with Heavy Metal/Hard Rock. By '86, with the release of their second full-length Grave New World, they already sounded something entirely different (0% D-beat, 100% Glam), turned out to be a huge disaster. Passed that and with a new formation in '91 they presented something way more decent in Massacre Divine, but the damage was done.

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT - Out Of Hand (In Your Face, 1991)

San Francisco thrashers, best known for their first full-length American Paranoia (out on Pushead's label) was and still is recognized as a major staple in the HC community but their follow-up album Out Of Hand is rarely brought to mention, out on Heresy's bass player label - In Your Face Records. Influenced by everything that was happening at the time they stepped up the metal intake without damaging their style.

WHITE PIGS - Songs Of Sin (Walkthrufyre, 1989)

The ugliest of them all, another Connecticut's munster: WHITE PIGS and their farewell album. They started as a no-frills hardcore band similar to early Poison Idea with an EP released by Super Seven/Mystic Records (later featured in a compilation). By '85 they recorded the demo for Songs Of Sin, going through a Speed Metal makeover, which caught Combat Records' attention and six songs ended up on the label's Boot Camp EP Series in '86.

The full-length was only released 3 years later on Walkthrufyre, right after the band split. This label has a few and mostly obscure releases but the ones by Life Sentence standout!

WARZONE - S/T "Demos" (Caroline, 1989)

Before wrapping up, this album shouldn't go unmentioned, another drastic change in the wrong direction, NYHC legends S/T LP reunited the worst of both worlds, which later even Raybeez disregarded the album. Then why is it here? Well, the demo sessions for this album leaked sometime ago, a less metallic version with some different (and better) songs that didn't make to the final cut.

Other hardcore legends that put out something almost as weird but in the long run I learned to enjoy them were CRO-MAGS' rapmetal album Alpha Omega from '92 and UNIFORM CHOICE's The Cult worship in Staring Into The Sun from '88, nothing but shaved long hairs and cowboy hats.

CREDITS: DTS-Metal.com, METALLIpromo.com, PUSHEAD and SEAN TAGGART for doing amazing artwork for nearly half of these bands.

FACE FIRST - Demo II

Location: Boston, USA

Release: Self-Released, 2021

Age of Quarantine, day # 320 - First real post of 2021, starting the year with ya FACE FIRST! Whatever this year brings us, give 'em thrash, at least is what these dudes are doing, barely the year began and they've dropped this nuke, their second demo with 6 face-ripping tracks.

First demo came out 4 years ago so they got room to grow and this is what they did, the sound now is undeniably more tight with plenty of neck-breaking riffs and mosh parts to step in, time to face the blade! 

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FORCED NEGLECT - Double EP Tape

Location: Alabama, USA

Release: Self-Released, 2020

Age of Quarantine, day # 281 - Narrowing down to the last posts of the year. For now we have FORCED NEGLECT and their double feature cassete tape comprised of two excellent EPs The Poison Of The Fang, released earlier this year and the 2019's Need To Feed. Expect merciless crossover metallic hardcore, back to back.

The cassette was very limited and put out for a good cause but this sure could get a vinyl treatment.

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EXPOSURE - Atonement

Location: Mannheim, Deutschland

Release: Street Survival Records, 2020

Age Of Quarantine, day # 272 - A highly antecipated record here at the AllThingsOldSchool's HQ, German EXPOSURE finally presents their debut full-length, exceeding all expectations I must say.

Is it thrash metal tinged stenchcore or the other way around? Sodom meets Discharge and Clevo HC? Truth being said they got a bunch of ugly influences and created a gnarly monster hungry for mosh that is the Atonement LP with a production quality not unlike of those found on Earache Records or Relapse releases. Better than that they kept it legit and chose Street Survival as the label to go, real recognize real!

PRE-ORDER 12"

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DEAD ENEMY - Knowing The Enemy

Location: Fortaleza, Brazil

Release: Self-Released, 2020

Age Of Quarantine, day # 250 - From the always shine city of Fortaleza comes DEAD ENEMY and their first album Knowing The Enemy, paying tribute (so to speak) to our nasty far-right government leader.

The band members' background are encrusted in the counter culture movement for quite some time, with a fair amount of projects under their belts, all focused on speed! Bands like BECO TUBARÃO and BLIGHT demonstrate that well, but most notably DAMN YOUTH and their sonic thrashcore that have been waving the Ceará scene flag for the rest of the country and beyond now counting with the hand of DEAD ENEMY to tear down some fascists walls and stagedive for diversity.

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PEST CONTROL - Demo 2020

Location: Leeds, UK

Release: DIY, 2020

Artwork: Meirion Jones

Age of Quarantine, day # 185 - Dood... quarantine is taking its toe, I think I'm going crazy (but not insane). Well at least in Leeds they can't and won't stop delivering the goods, specially in crazy times like these.

Enters PEST CONTROL with members from Implement and Cheap Surgery bringing the very best from both Thrash and Punk worlds, music to chase fascists out of this earth.

FFO: Primal Rite, LawGiver, Vio-lence

 

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IMPLEMENT - Leeds Punk Metal

Location: Leeds, UK

Release: Cold Comfort, 2018-2020

Logo: Ciaran O'nuallain

Age of Quarantine, day # 135 - For over a decade now LEEDS is still a hotspot for NWOBHC bands (this blog is filled with them) and since last year I've been following a fairly new project from there, IMPLEMENT.

Right off the bat SACRILEGE comes to mind as you play any track among their 3 EPs plus the 3-song TOUR PROMO released just before the virus breakout. Their music flerts with stenchcore and crossover so people into GAZM and Lifeless Dark will most likely be delighted by IMPLEMENT.

Their debut full-length can pop-up anytime from now on, hopefully sooner than later.

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YOUTH COLLAPSE - New Form EP

Location: Nashville, USA

Release: From Within Records, 2020

Age of Quarantine, day # 65. Quick post just to get the ball rolling in here. YOUTH COLLAPSE is the new band led by Greg Falchetto, this time around a bit more similar to his first well known project THE MONGOLOIDS if compared to his other ongoing band World Demise, the singering at least because the sound has huge doses of dope crossover elements! Bands like Retaliate came to mind. 

The production was handled by Taylor Young (Twitching Tongues) so expect killer guitar solos and darkened world-class grade music.    

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FRINGE PRODUCT (RECORDS)

Age Of Quarantine, day # 40 - Defunct Toronto based label that put a lot of weird stuff in the 80's and 90's but also hold the license pressings to many punk and metal classics for the canadian market. In the midst of its 130 or so releases I selected a few obscure albums from the FRINGE PRODUCT hoster (or under its sublabel Diabolic Force), this is the side result after digging up for the 80's Canadian Skatepunk article.

PART I - Thrash Metal & Crossover

CORPUS VILE - What Does It Take [1989]

Although active during most of the 1980's Winnipeg's own CORPUS VILE managed to record only this album, a full moshing 12-song crossover LP with a gnarly SSD cover (from their rock metal era)! They used to gig with many other crossover greats like Cro-Mags and Corrosion Of Conformity, underrated af!

M.A.D. - Taboo Of The Western World [1991]

Their acronym stands for Mutually Assured Destruction (surely not the RVA hardcore one), another Thrash act hailing from Ontario, land of mighty RAZOR. Taboo Of The Western World is a pretty solid Crossover album despite the art cover tells you otherwise, a true tribute to the Bay-Area sound of that era.

PARADOX - Product Of Imagination [1987]

By far the most well-known release on this selection of underground Thrash and the easiest to track down. Based in Bavaria (Germany) PARADOX put out 2 monster albums before they first disbanded in 1990, this one being the first and it has all the classic 80's Thrash Metal elements. The LP features art by Joe Petagno, famous for his work with Motörhead!

DISSECTION - Final Genocide [1988]

Under different band names it is with DISSECTION they've put out their best work, more cult than classic, Final Genocide is a 11-song LP with Thrash and proto-Death Metal elements and occasionally over-the-top frantic/aggro sections.

SPLATTERPUNK - This Infinite God... [1992]

The weirdest pick of this selection which I was in doubt to either add it here or not but by the 4th or 5th track I found myself bangin' my head to it. This Infinite God is the only release by these Ontario technical/progressive Thrashers, think Voivod meets Sacred Reich.

DOWNLOAD [Part I]


PART II - Hardcore Punk & More Metal

DOGS WITH JOBS - Shock [1991]

Considered by some as a Speed Metal band despite the big Thrash Metal influence (remnants of past projects), DOGS WITH JOBS gathers the best of the canadian underground realm including the occasional goofiness, their first album Shock is my favorite because the Thrash parts are more prominent here. Both their records were reissued just recently by a brazilian label, Tales From The Pit. 

NORTHERN VULTURES - Tabarnak Hardcore [1991]

Another obscure Montreal locals hosted by Fringe, NORTHERN VULTURES was active between 1985 to early 90's. They played anarchopunk-influenced hardcore and were oftenly sharing the bill with the likes of SC.U.M.,  Sudden Impact, UK Subs, Broken Bones and label-mates in Bunchfuckingoofs. Their last album Tabarnak Hardocre was engineered by Mike Amstadt (known for his work with Voivod) and featured a live version of their anthemic song Rise Up. 

MALLET-HEAD - Self Titled LP [1988]

GANG GREEN goes Heavy Metal! That's right, two members of the legenday punk band embarked on a metal trip (like many from that era) and MALLET HEAD LP is what they came up with, a very fun album containing good doses of traditional Heavy Metal, Speed Metal and touches of Glam Rock here and there. Sic My Duc!

Bonus: M.S.I. - 9 Out Of 10 Doctors Recommend More Stupid Initials

Their only 2 releases came out in the late 80's by 2 unknown labels and 30 years later Schizophrenic Records puts their entire discography on a LP plus a thick zine. I was trying to find a connection with Fringe Product but I failed to connect the dots, just a note on a Corpus Vile poster (see below) but since this discography can't be found anywhere else and M.S.I. being one of the first straight edge bands in whole Canada I couldn't miss the chance to add them here!

DOWNLOAD [Part II]


Plenty of others records/bands can be worth of your attention in the extensive FRINGE PRODUCT catalog, check this bandcamp for more Canadian punk classics and the skatepunk article I mentioned at the beginning. As usual pay a visit to EqualizingxDistort for more detailed history on Canadian punk!