END OF LEVEL BOSS
Inside the Difference Engine
(Exile On Mainstream)

ISOLE
Bliss of Solitude
(Napalm)

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE
& THE MELTING PARAISO U.F.O
Nam Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo
(Ace Fu)

O'DEATH
Head Home
(Ernest Jenning)

TRAP THEM
Seance Prime
(Deathwish)

DYSRHYTHMIA/ROTHKO
Fractures 

(Acerbic Noise Development)

THE FIRE THE FLOOD
Truth Seekers

(No Sleep)

MORE REVIEWS

If you are a metal fan there is no way a record with a cover like this can pass by you unnoticed. Gorgeous stuff courtesy of who else by Ed Repka, the creator of classic artwork for Atheist, Death, Megadeth, Massacre, Sanctuary, Toxik and lately Municipal Waste and 3 Inches of Blood. Merciless Death does indeed have the thrash metal art form down to perfection; from the riffs, the vocals, the drumming, the production job, to the talk, the song titles, the logo, the high-top Reeboks, the vintage denim and leather clothing and the dissing liner notes. Such memorable lines, include, ‘hate to people who prefer Pantera over Razor, people with Reebok High-Tops that shouldn’t have them, Overkill’s two guitarists at the Whisky – you were dicks, Fuck you!, the emo band called Onslaught and stupid Valencia High kids who hang out at In & Out.’ Priceless.

Musically speaking, this band pays respectful tribute to the glory days of thrash metal, offering a straight up order of vintage riffs, grunting vocals (at times a la early Tom Araya banshee screams included, at others like Kreator’s Mille Petrozza minus the corrosive factor), desperate guitar solos, and fast drumming without the aid of double bass drums. Basically Merciless Death picks up where the genre left of; incendiary speed is only broken to get into short grooves, while bassist vocalist Andy Torres spews his lines in almost hardcore fashion placing the emphasis in a flat delivery and hardly ever reflecting melody.  Evil in the Night is solid and immensely enjoyable. I am just wondering what its impact would have been had it been released back in the glory days of the genre. It would have left a mark, chances are it wouldn’t be as big as that left by acts like Testament and Exodus, but it sure would have been greater than the one left by Re-Animator, Xentrix and Assassin. Hold it, doesn’t Andy Torres’ jacket sleeve say Acid Reign? Maybe they’d be quite content at that level then.

MySpace