bidhardcore.com

Here’s my numero uno pick for 80’s Crust-Metal hybrids, or UK Crust Metal… Sacrilege “Behind The Realms Of Madness”.  A bit of a no-brainer really, get a band full of guys that used to be in the Varukers ripping of Slayer, Onslaught, Metallica, Celtic Frost, etc. but filtering through their UK82 sensibilities. Then get this tall chick with charged hair and a super rough voice on the mic and wah-lah, a classic. Most of the songs work mid paced thrash type riffs against powerful epic mosh parts, kinda comes off like if after Hear Nothing, Discharge had got into Kreator instead of Van Halen. 

The music is great raw thrash style, with enough hardcore and crust in the mix to make it really stick out, I guess it’s similar to the Antisect lp, English Dogs and Amebix Monolith, but every track just nails the sound so well that I think it surpasses those. I think vocalist “Tam” contributes a lot to the songs being so catchy, she’s one of the best female punk/metal vocalists I’ve ever heard. Really gritty and expressive sounding, stronger than most male vocalists actually. The guitar solos that color a lot of the sections are of the sub Kirk Hammett variety, semi melodic but basically all variations on one theme. The drumming is crunchy and has a lot of cheap echo on it, but that’s part of the sound for these kind of bands, and so with that in mind it doesn’t disappoint. The bass is basically inaudible under the thickly layered guitars which I think are in D-Flat and make the most of the riffs with lots of accents. I dunno, just imagine some punks trying to copy Ride The Lightning and you’re pretty close.

I don’t know why this copy is going to high, maybe some sketchy bidding is going down. I’ve never seen one go much over $50 before so I’d be wary of that. There’s also a pressing on Pusmort, and a blue vinyl version on COR.

Naked Raygun - Flammable Solid 7″ is a contender for the best packaging award. Always just looked super cool to me with the full sized Flammable Solid sticker on the front and lyric sheet on transparent paper. Only 500 were ever made, a one time pressing on Ruthless, and although all three tracks later turned up on the Throb Throb lp in rerecorded versions, this is still probably the most collectible Naked Raygun release for scarcity and overall coolness. The versions of Surf Combat, Gear and Libido are a little faster and maybe sound like a demo session for the album. Raygun were often poppy, but sometimes pretty angular and fractured sounding for a band with a rep as a punk/pop band. Surf Combat, the first track on side A is a pretty good example of that with a garagey drum beat that guitars crash into and then cut back out of intermittently.

You should really check out the seller’s other listings too because there’s plenty of A-list material like the first 2 Meatmen 7″s, Urban Waste E.P., Dangerhouse colored vinyl, Electric Deads, Chiefs…