METALLICA - Master of Puppets (1986)

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It's a well established fact that 1986 was the best Metal year ever, but it's also the year a number of bands peaked, releasing career defining, never to be bettered albums. One of those bands was Slayer of course, arguably Dark Angel could also be included in that, whereas Kreator managed to reinvent themselves for the unbelievably brilliant 'Renewal' album and thus avoided direct comparison with their 1986 masterpiece 'Pleasure to Kill'. But for Metallica, artistically, if not commercially, this was their greatest work. I've long said that 'Kill Em All' is my favourite Metallica album, but even I can concede that this is 'better'. The step up from 'Ride the Lightning' to this is a large one, you only have to compare the quality of 'Damage Inc' with the slightly off-hand 'Fight Fire With Fire' or the title tracks of these two albums to see that Metallica really stepped up their game to a whole new level. True there are two tracks that are only okay, and yes because there are only eight tracks they do make up a quarter of the album, but really, who wouldn't be pleased to have written 'Leper Messiah' or 'The Thing That Should Not Be'? 

The big question, destined to remain forever unanswered, is how would Metallica's musical growth been different had Cliff not been killed on the tour for this album. By all accounts Cliff's musical input into Metallica was more than considerable, can it really be a coincidence that things started to falter a little in the quality department as soon as he died? I guess we'll never know, but you only have to listen to the depth of quality of 'Orion' to realise that Cliff was something special.

RAZOR - Custom Killing (1987)

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Hmm, this is decidedly on the weak side. Malicious Intent was way better than this, but this still has a degree of charm, albeit it's once again hampered by the quietness of the guitar and the overloud bass and drums... Stace McLaren sounds like he's holding back with the vocals, almost like he's recording them in a bedroom and doesn't want to wake the neighbours. It's all a great shame, especially since this album saw a temporary change of tack from Razor, who decided to abandon their usual formula of 3 minute thrashouts for some seriously lengthy (and slower) tunes. It would have been interesting to hear them get the chance to try something different without being fucked over by the sound. Ultimately, though it pains me to give it a 2, I just can't honestly do anything else.

DEATHROW - Raging Steel (1987)

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A definite improvement on the rough and ready 'Satan's Gift / Riders of Doom' album, but still not really quite good enough to make it a 4M album. Once again, it's frantic German Thrash that follows in Kreator's footsteps, but never really comes close to equalling that band's blistering attack and songwriting ability.

DEATHROW - Riders of Doom / Satan's Gift (1986)

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Released under two different titles with two different covers for reasons no one seems entirely sure of, this is a solid piece of German Thrash which would appeal to fans of early Kreator. Sadly the band isn't up to the level of Kreator, Destruction or Exumer, but this is enjoyable enough all the same.

MEGADETH - So Far, So Good...So What (1988)

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Having dispensed with the services of Gar Samuelson and Chris Poland, the two Daves returned with a pretty boy guitar teacher and a Fred Flinstone-esque drummer and still pretty much managed to deliver the goods. Chuck Beehler's drumming is best described as lumpen throughout (especially compared to his jazzy predecessor) and Jeff Young's contributions were adequate rather than particularly stunning. Despite this the album contains some bona-fide Megadeth classics, including 'In My Darkest Hour', 'Into the Lungs of Hell' and 'Hook in Mouth'. But the cover of the Sex Pistol's 'Anarchy in the UK' can piss right off, thank you very much. 

CORONER - Punishment for Decadence (1988)

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This is the only Coroner album that ever really clicked with me. Combining the Thrashified Malmsteenesque riffing of the first album with a keener sense of songcraft and hooks, 'Punishment for Decadence' also has a nice late 80's production which makes it rather easier on the ear than the tinny 1989 follow up 'No More Color'. Love Ron Royce's voice too, like a Germanic Nasty Ronnie almost, well maybe not... Obvious standout track has to be the classic 'Sudden Fall', although many would call for 'Masked Jackal' since it was a video clip.

WHIPLASH - Power and Pain (1985)

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A truly atrocious album cover and a pretty dreadful production can't completely ruin this great album, try as they might. Whiplash had a slightly different sound than most US Thrash bands, at least partly because vocalist/guitarist Tony Portaro largely eschewed the use of palm damping the strings, which meant his riffs sounded less controlled than most of the clinical Bay Area thrashers, and a fair bit more energetic. He could play the guitar too, ripping solo's like Mustaine from his BC Rich Bich (who was also using this guitar about this time), and scattering the record with his intricate and dextrous playing. This is brutal Thrash for sure, with just the hint of a Hardcore edge, sadly it really does sound like it was recorded in a garage, which makes it hard for me to give it more than 3M's.

CELTIC FROST - Vanity/Nemesis (1990)

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Often described as 'too little, too late', this is actually the sound of a confused band running dry of ideas. Celtic Frost were a band who thrived on being 'different' throughout their career and so for them to make an album this dry, conformist and, frankly, dull is a sad epitaph to a great outfit. It's all oh-so mediocre and weak that it's a struggle to get through the whole thing. Taken in isolation a few of the tracks might pique your interest, but by the end of this album you'll not want to listen to it again for a very long time. I can only assume that after the debacle that was 'Cold Lake', the record company demanded a straightforward Metal album. And whereas with 'Into the Pandemonium' CF got away with making a crazy album because it was succesful, this time the boot was on the other foot. The band split up a few dates into an unsuccessful UK tour to support the album.

RAZOR - Violent Restitution (1988)

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In a year when many great bands were releasing sub-standard albums, it's nice to recall that this was the album that briefly put Razor back on the straight and narrow. 'Malicious Intent' (1986) and 'Custom Killing' (1987) were both lacking the killer instinct that made Razor's first two albums Thrash classics, and this one started to tip the scales back the other way, perhaps in no small part due to the replacement of M-Bro with a decent drummer! Sadly this was to be the last album for vocalist Stace McLaren and after that Razor were never really the same band.

CELTIC FROST: Morbid Tales (1984)

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Hard to believe this mini album was created by (largely) the same people that spewed up the hugely overrated 'Apocalyptic Raids' e.p. just a few months previously. For early dark Thrash Metal you can't go wrong here, awesome guitar tone, simple but effective riffs and superb aesthetics, Celtic Frost certainly made their mark here and went a long way to putting 'Hellhammer' behind them.

VARIOUS ARTISTS: Speed Kills (1985)

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The legendary 'Speed Kills' introduced many people to the wonderful world of Thrash Metal back in 1985, but the compilers were clever enough to realise that there would be many like me who were already on board and so made sure to include some rare and previously unreleased tracks to lure us in. At the time of release, the Slayer, Possessed, Exciter and Venom tracks were all exclusives, cunning indeed. Okay so this didn't exactly open my eyes to a ton of bands that I hadn't already heard of, and I suspect the big winner out of this was possibly Bulldozer, because I'd never heard of them before this and I bought their album on the back of this compilation, unfortunately the song featured here was the best one on the album, but that's the name of the game I suppose!

HELLOWEEN - Walls of Jericho (1986)

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Probably my favourite Helloween album still, this was the first and last time that you could ever really call Helloween a proper Thrash band. Even then Helloween were clearly not aligning themselves with the likes of Slayer and 'Gorgar' clearly wants to be 'Ride the Lightning'. That indiscretion aside, this is a great album and closes with Helloween's best song, the epic 'How Many Tears'.

POWERMAD - Absolute Power (1989)

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Powermad come from the same place as Laaz Rockit, that 'not really Thrash' but kind of that doomed both bands to obscurity. Shame really because this is a good melodic Speed/Thrash album which has plenty of good songs and catchy choruses. Like Laaz Rockit, the singer is good but perhaps not quite 'mainstream' enough for the band to have really hit the big time. Good stuff all the same.

PESSIMIST - Call to War (2010)

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Sodom-esque nu-Thrash that got my attention pretty quickly, this stands out among the masses of mediocre modern Thrash bands and while this album couldn't really be called a 'classic' this band certainly have a lot of potential for the future.

ANTHRAX - Fistful of Metal (1984)

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Still my favourite Anthrax album, this one sees the band playing a slightly more traditional form of uptempo Metal, but with still plenty of proto-Thrashing going on. I still say Neil Turbin was the best singer Anthrax ever had and this album is just a blast from start to finish.

SLAYER - South of Heaven (1988)

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Possibly the most disappointing album in the history of metal, Slayer knew they couldn't top their 1986 masterpiece, so instead they dropped this lukewarm platter and ran. 3 or 4 really top notch songs hold together an album of filler, frankly, with 'Ghosts of War' and 'Silent Scream' the only songs offering the classic Slayer thrashing their fans really wanted. The title track is a good song, but is overexposed now and worn out. And after the shock and awe of the previous album's stellar production, this one sounds a bit crappy, actually.

SLAYER - Hell Awaits (1985)

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While ultimately eclipsed by 'Reign in Blood' you still can't knock 'Hell Awaits'. Sure the production isn't the best, such a shame the album didn't have the attack of the 'Haunting the Chapel' e.p., but the songs are awesome, particularly the title track, and well pretty much all of them really, the only slightly less than stellar one being the closer 'Hardening of the Arteries' which seems to serve as little more than a pre-cursor to the clever outro. A legendary album and still a brilliant one too.

KREATOR - Extreme Aggressions (1989)

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Supposedly the best of Kreator's albums, but not by my reckoning. It's solid and much better produced than 'Terrible Certainty' but it just lacks something vital that I quite can't quite put my finger on. This does have some good tracks but somehow I just never connected with this one like I did with the other albums.

KREATOR - Coma of Souls (1990)

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Much maligned for being too similar to the previous album (Extreme Aggressions), in my humble opinion this one is much better. The title track is easily one of Kreator's best songs and new guitarist Frank Blackfire (the man who brought Sodom credibility) adds a sprinkling of class all over this album. 'Terror Zone' for instance has an excellent harmonized guitar intro and the whole album is much more memorable than it's illustrious predecessor.

KREATOR - Terrible Certainty (1987)

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A tough one to score this, it's either a very high three or a low four depending on my mood. A much cleaner sound than 'Pleasure to Kill' and some dodgy soloing from new guitarist 'Tritze' can't disguise the fact that this should have been better. The 'Flag of Hate' e.p. promised an album perhaps the equal if not greater than 'PTK' but this is not that album. What went wrong? It's no turkey, but it should have been better.