Spectrum of Death [Import]

This band is easily one of the most undderated American underground metal bands ever. From what I understand, this is just the band's 1988 (or 1989?) demo pressed to CD--I don't know why Grind Core Records chose to release this when they did or all of the circumstances surrounding it (I suspect Eric Greif and a certain Bulgarian living in Mexico had a big hand in it), but I'm glad they did.

From the cover or label, one might think this is generic early '90s death metal. Or from the band photo, one might surmise they're an unknown thrash band from a rinky-dink town. Instead, this is violent, classic death/thrash, in the best '80s tradition.

Since apparently Anselmo-loving aggrocore morons are reading this, I'll be somewhat vague and say the basic sound falls somewhere in between a certain California quartet who fathered death metal and had albums about churches, and a certain group of thrashers from Essen, Germany.

What's so unique is that Morbid Saint is one of the scarce few American bands that play death/thrash in the truest sense. This is not proto-death metal, nor is it plain death metal with a couple solos thrown in for good measure. Nor is this excessively fast or technical thrash where people have decided to fudge with proper labels. This is an excellent blend of thrash and death metal as in the tradition of many fine German and French bands from the late '80s to early '90s. The thrash component of the music has more of a Germanic thrash feel to it. Pat Lind's vocals are very caustic and perfectly complementary to the music. Stylewise, the vocals are pretty similar to what a lot of thrash/proto-black metal bands in the early '80s were doing (think Petrozza, less gruff Angelripper, etc., etc.), but lack the distinct accents that most of the German or Brazilian singers had.

As excellent as this is, it's not going to usurp the position of any classic '80s underground albums as there's nothing revolutionary about it. It's best regarded as a minor underground classic, excellent for what it is. A band of the time that released some great demos/EPs and disappeared with little fanfare. No soap opera nonsense, disappointing style changes, etc.

The way it should be.