As reissues of the most obvious underground landmarks of the times get out of the way, a second wave of more obscure releases are getting the same treatment.   Here at Deaf Sparrow, we applaud those who put time and effort into releasing these obscure gems.

I know a lot of thought and time goes into writing liner notes. Maybe almost as much work as re-issuing out of print old school records. Liner notes and the act of re-issuing records itself is already a sort of tribute. And as such, it’s supposed to remind us, and in some cases, unjustly elevate, the status and legacy of such and such band. So I am not all that surprised that the liner notes from Paradox’ debut album hail this German group as ‘one of the most important bands of the late 80’s metal scene’. Certainly, if someone wants to dispute such claims they’ll have plenty of grounds, as their influence in this side of the hemisphere was barely felt. One point we can’t argue though, is guitarist Markus Spyth’s abilities to craft highly enjoyable solos and pretty fucking good staccato riffing. On that aspect Paradox were way above most of their contemporaries. At the song level though, Paradox suffers of being too average and sounding almost like every other 80’s thrash band. Their debut album Product of Imagination, released by Roadracer in 1987, with the exception of the solos and a couple of songs (“Pray to the Godz [sic] of Wrath” being the best one) basically sounds like every other competent trash record of the times.

Paradox’ sophomore effort Heresy has a very obvious problem; Spyth is nowhere to be heard and his absence is greatly felt. Not that Heresy is badly played, matter of fact, some of the tempo switches are rather flawless, but his absence is greatly missed especially during the solos, where the eloquence and feeling of his finger finesse was basically the best aspect of the band. This would not be the only change in the band; before the recording of Heresy, the manager and the bassist Roland Stahl also jumped ship. Heresy was released by the same label in 1989 and apparently got very positive press from major publications such as Metal Hammer, Kerrang and Japan’s hard music bible Burrn. At this point the major merit of Paradox is to have crafted a second album that was every bit as good as Product of Imagination. Soon after Heresy was released more line up changes followed and at the end of 1989 the instability eventually caused the split of the band.  Paradox reformed with a new line up in 1999 and released an album called Collision Course. Paradox has a fourth album titled Electrify scheduled to be released in January 2008.

A lot more interesting is the work of Italy’s Bulldozer, who after a botched inception in 1980 finally fully gelled in 1983 in the city of Milan.  Bulldozer signed to Roadrunner records and their debut The Day of Wrath pays obvious tribute to Venom, especially in the Cronos-like vocals of also bassist Alberto Contini. The second obvious influence was Motorhead; that’s the sort of rock and roll side of the band which is pretty distinguishable in the filthy ass rocking and rolling guitars. The Day of Wrath was recorded at Psycho-Studios in Milan by none other than Algy Ward, who did time in three great yet different bands, The Saints, The Damned and Tank, the latter of which Bulldozer were big fans of. This The Day of Wrath reissue has clearly been taken from the vinyl and we can hear some hiss, which is totally fine by my ears. On a side note, the extensive liner notes included here highlight the fact that the British press tore this record to pieces because of the production, which is actually a bit strange considering that it isn’t all that bad. For 1985 anyway.

Bulldozer’s second album The Final Separation came out in 1986. It was produced by the band, a decision that they would only live to regret. Overall The Final Separation enjoys a shittier sound on all fronts. The mix is plain wrong; the drums are way up front and the guitars lacks balls, volume and heaviness. Some of the playing is looser than on The Day of Wrath, this is especially evident in the first cut and title track which has some pretty sloppy drum playing.  On the rest of the album Bulldozer gets back to its Motorhead and Venom worshipping, unfortunately the sound is so abysmally lousy it would be the main reason for Roadrunner dropping the band. Following this release line-up changes would halt the band’s career for a period of two years.

Tröjan was formed in 1982 in Wigan, England and along with Jaguar and the legendary and recommended Satan (especially Court in the Act) would form part of the first wave of speed metal bands. Chasing the Storm was Tröjan’s debut and only release and was unleashed in 1985 following the release of three demos. In a nutshell, Tröjan’s sound definitely tails at the end of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with epic songwriting and grand structures. Its biggest merit is its sped up velocity, a trait that is barely matched by the drumming of Sam Hall. As most releases from that wave Chasing the Storm has excellent histrionic riffs, a fact that is all the more surprising considering Tröjan had only one guitarist Pete Wadeson. The vocals of Greame Wyatt are on the high pitch end of the spectrum, he sounds kind of perfect for a power metal band. 

Death metal has gifted the world plenty of guitar heroes; amongst the brightest and most popular is virtuoso James Murphy who has done time with some of the most influential bands in extreme music history; Death, Cancer, Obituary and Testament. With Disincarnate (pictured above)he found a channel for his most melodic and doom-laden riffs, unorthodox creations that did not fit with the style he had been honing on with Obituary. After assembling the band with two members of a band called Infernus and drummer Tom Viator (he failed to secure a bassist handling those recording duties himself) it was more than destiny that Disincarnate would end up signing with Roadrunner in 1993. Produced by Colin Richardson (Machine Head, Carcass, Fear Factory) in North Wales, England Dreams of the Carrion Kind is a killer technical death metal record. To Murphy’s merit, his chops do not tramp the brutality that all death metal releases must convey and the results are more blunt than a Mike Tyson bite.  Unfortunately, touring did not pan out with two members heading for college and Viator returning to work as an industrial engineer. Murphy would then join Testament and later work with Denmark’s Konkhra. Things would take an unfortunate turn with a pituitary tumor that would cause Murphy memory loss. He has since recovered and plans for a Disincarnate follow-up are up again.

Featuring some of the most hilarious vocals of thrash metal history comes Illinois’ Quick Change. A quick spin to the opening song “Will You Die” will have you scratching your head in disbelief, asking yourself, ‘what the fuck were they thinking?’ The vocals of Dwayne Whitehead are typical of the time, though his minimal man approach is somewhat dwarfed by the competent thrash of his band. Is just the chorus help he gets from a belcher who spews the line ‘will you die’ as if he was shy and not so sure of his place in this competent thrash metal record that makes that song cringe worthy. Quick Change formed in 1982 and following a relentless self-promoting campaign and the release of their F.U.N. demo the band signed with Roadrunner in 1989. The same year their debut full-length Circus of Death saw the light of day.  You know how many of the thrash records of the 80’s sound kind of the same? Well, that applies to this record too. The music is actually great, but Whitehead is such a weak vocalist he sot of brings them Quick Change down. Surprisingly enough this band is still together. The band’s sophomore release came out in 2001 and was titled Money, Lust & Greed.

Cyclone hailed from Vilvoorde, Belgium and the band was worth its guitar playing weight in mustache hair. Like most releases of the time it falters in the vocal department with frontman Guido Gevels offering a mix of normal aggressive and sometimes ass piercing and quite comical shrieks. For that you only have to hear his introductory work to the fluid third cut “Fall Under His Command”, where Gevels seems to be imitating an orgasm of ridiculous proportions. The guitars of Pascal Van Lint basically put the thrash in place with buzzsaw precision and maddening solos. Brutal Destruction is Cyclone’s debut and was followed by several line up changes and a sophomore effort titled Inferior to None which came out in Belgian Justice records. Financial difficulties marred the release of Inferior to None and limited the number of printed copies. Due to the lack of interest following this release Cyclone called it quits.