A Saucerful Of Thrash - Episode I: "Her Majesty's Disgust"
With a historiographic operation on medal that I find quite debatable, some come to group Acid Reign, Sabbat, and Onslaught under the umbrella of a hypothetical "Anglo-Saxon Triad" of '80s thrash medal, to oppose (or, perhaps, it would be more appropriate to say "to accompany") the much more well-known and renowned Teutonic origin one, formed by Sodom, Kreator, and Destruction.
As far as I am concerned, this is a historical error, even before it is a questionable judgment. In the first place because it does not take into account the numerous differences existing between the two musical basins under examination, not only in terms of quantity but also, and above all, in terms of the quality and variety of the discography offered. Secondly, because in this way, the particular space-time contingencies that characterized the very first phase of the careers of the German trio and the personal relationships that linked the members of the respective formations for a long time are forgotten. But, above all, because such reconstruction ends up overvaluing the work of a band certainly dignified, but far from transcendental, namely, the Acid Reign.
Formed around mid-1985, the five from Harrogate (Yorkshire county), sank their musical roots not only in the thrash medal prevailing at the time but also in the U.S.-influenced hardcore, reinterpreted for the occasion in an ironic and crazy key. Thanks to the combination of these two elements, the band managed, within a handful of years, to gather a good success among the local audience, leading to the release first of an intriguingly titled EP "Moshkinstein" (from '88, marked by a pronounced thrashcore attitude and scarred by a guitar sound of rare richness), and then to the actual debut in 1989 with the full-length "The Fear."
"Obnoxious" (released under Under One Flag in 1990) is the second and last album of the band, and can be peacefully considered their discographic peak. Thanks also to the entry of the mysterious "Mac" (bass) and Adam Leah (guitar, later in Cathedral) in place of Gaz Jennings and Ina Gangwer, the band shows greater confidence in their compositional means and increased familiarity with the "tools of the trade." Without giving up an ounce of that sound aggression that characterized their previous productions, here they showcase a commendable, and overall successful, "scratching" work on the classic song form thanks to which the typical thrashcore 4/4 rigidity gives way to more complex and structured compositional architectures, with skillful stop & go ("Phantasm") and a far more varied and sophisticated solo work. The final result is an album where the band partially renounces their freakish and playful component (though not the vice of the embarrassing cover). A dark album, at times very violent, pervaded by a sense of deep melancholy (read, for all, the text of the "One"-oriented "Thoughtful Sleep").
It goes without saying that such a change of course must presumably be attributed to the attempt to conform (within the limits allowed by the band's technical means) to that "new course" that thrash medal was undertaking precisely in those years, characterized by an increase in technical complexity of the compositions, consequently abandoning speed and viciousness at all costs. And it's precisely this observation that brings out the main flaw of "Obnoxious": a pathological lack of personality. Too evident are, indeed, the tributes paid to the protagonists of the U.S. scene of the time, such as Forbidden, the Metallica of "And Justice For All," and Anthrax of Bello and Belladonna. Too evident the derivative nature of some solutions (take, for all, the chorus of the still good "Joke Chain"). Too frequent is the feeling of "already heard" that accompanies the listening to the album.
"Obnoxious" thus ends up representing a dignified but ultimately dispensable product, unfit to hold up the comparison not only with the best international productions but also with the pillars of the Anglo-Saxon thrash medal scene.
If Martyn Walkier's Sabbat were able to develop a personal sound, technically and qualitatively remarkable, exhibiting a compositional depth truly rare for the standards of the time, if Onslaught by "Mo" Mahoney (already dead and defunct at the time of the release of "Obnoxious") had the merit of being among the first to hover on that impalpable borderline between more violent thrash and nascent death, none of this can be attributed to the Harrogate quintet.
"Obnoxious" thus remains the most vivid and appreciable sonic testament of a group that certainly deserves to be remembered in the sparse and slightly shabby musical panorama of Anglo-Saxon thrash, but which certainly cannot aspire to sit alongside the big names of that scene.
Dedicated to the "T'TTD Gang"
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