Evil Bitch - Sin and Pleasure (2015)

   Evil Bitch's "Sin and Pleasure" demo which was their second one, originally came out in 2014, but in the following year it had a CD release. And this version also includes a live song attached to the end of the album.
   The female duo basically sounds like an early '80s nostalgia band mainly inspired by Motörhead, but the influence of the that time slowly awakening darker perspective of metal also could be sensed in their music. Their simple, basic themes referring to the core essence of the genre, and some riffs quite reminding to bands like Hellhammer and Venom. Even though demos nowadays could sound pretty good, Evil Bitch seemed to prefer the old school way, even by sticking with poor sound quality. And this had two advantages for them. First, this way the amateur '80s garage band feeling could be reached effortlessly, while most bands trying to recreate vintage sound in studios and many times they're still able to fail. And second: poor sound quality could also cover their mistakes both on guitar and in the vocal performance. Like in case of a raw, amateur sound, not many would bother if the band also playing as amateurs. In total, their music reminds to Oral, a short lived, also Motörhead influenced female band from the UK. But while Oral (probably not surprisingly after their name) focused on pleasure-based '80s rock'n'roll dirtiness, Evil Bitch is all-round dirty in a bit darker way. Their music is mainly recommended for those who are enjoying the feeling of live music experience in already intoxicated state in small rock pubs where hygiene is an unknown word, the toilets are in ruins, the floor is covered with the mix of beer, dirt and piss, and the air grew heavy from cigarette smoke.

Holy Moses - Redefined Mayhem (2014)

   Despite being one of the earliest thrash metal bands in a scene that gained wide international attention, Holy Moses was never one of the best known or most popular names in the genre. This is partly because their music was also not the easiest to go into, and partly because their performances were far from being stable, like switching from impressive albums to completely forgettable ones. For this the main reason could be that their songs always sounded like they were edited on some design table. Theoretically great compositions, but what looks good on paper, not always sounds so cool in practice. 
   Fortunately "Redefined Mayhem" counts as a wave crest in their discography - unlike for instance their following and farewell album "Invisible Queen", that could serve as a guide for how to end a band's career the most inglorious and disappointing way as possible. In fact, "Redefined Mayhem" could have been a way more worthy final album, not only because it's simply better, but also cause it sounds like a summarizing life review of the band's past. Catchy themes with the same "not too revealing" character that have been typical to their early period could be found the same way like songs with the more aggressive tone like on "Strength Power Will Passion" for instance. The returning reference to dogs also showed up in the lyrics  like in the old times (probably a strongly dog lover band), and also male vocal (not only in secondary supporting role as usual) could be heard in the last short song. And after getting used to Frau Classen's legendary voice an album length, it does effect the same way surprising as back then. For those who missed Holy Moses' early period, this record is definitely a potential favorite, cause it really shows the old school energy of the late '80s / early '90s. In fact, by the nearly complete absence of speed/thrash metal in the past 3 decades, Holy Moses was the few remaining bands who kept going (with a longer break) since the golden age of the genre and barely changed in the meantime. A nostalgic and entertaining album indeed, just the way how it was 3 decades ago. 

Hellhammer - Demon Entrails (2008)

   Hellhammer needs no introduction for the fans of extreme genres, but still it took a very long time until the predecessor of Celtic Frost earned the release of a compilation that collects all their works.
   On the side of early Venom, these demos and rehearsal room records (on the side of the "Apocalyptic Raids" EP) representing the very basics of all extreme metal styles. And even though Hellhammer didn't reach so wide attention like Venom, still they reached a cultic level, and became a main inspiration for many bands in the followings. Even thrash and speed metal were just about to born in the early '80s, but Hellhammer was already pointing forward with the darker tone that was swolling from their simple and characteristic themes. This exact feeling was recalled only decades later by newer old school styled bands, but back than it proved to be as fruitful ground that opened new perspectives for others. And even for themselves under Celtic Frost as they later showed, but in a completely different way. Their themes and sound became an icon and were incomparable in their time, even if most part of the main impression came from the result of their poor recording circumstances. "Demon Entrails" commemorated worthily the beginning of a new era in metal music.

Eliminator - Breaking the Wheel (2008)

   Before Eliminator caused an intense "WTF?" reaction with their late not really unified experimenting albums, they've recalled the feeling of the '80s with a very nostalgic speed/thrash debut.
   The recipe was exactly the same like 20 years earlier, and even in sound "Breaking the Wheel" may fit well on the side of the most famous Bay Area thrash albums. The difference is that Eliminator's music was more complex and sounded like the speed/thrash bands after many years of routine and development. Extreme speed in themes and solo parts and higher diversity. Blast beats and frequently returning cawing/growling-like vocal pushed their music further to a more aggressive level, so all together the album isn't far to be called as experimenting. Still it keeps staying between the borders of the style. It was almost like a band that probably many old school metal fans were looking for since a while, except... The frequently returning problem with bands who are musically so skilled at the beginning, that they can reproduce the highest quality of a style with no sweat is, that they will probably switch style very soon (like what actually happenned in the case of Eliminator). They're seeking further challenges in progression or/and in experimenting, or just starting to play something more popular if they didn't find the previous style enough profitable. In both cases they're losing most of their audience, so it's like a complete restart for a band.

Witchery - Don't Fear the Reaper (2006)

   As it was previously mentioned, there are plenty of bands in Sweden who are dedicated to refer back to the style of the '80s with their music by playing something that is somewhere between Venom and Bathory in style.
   The same mix of heavy, speed, thrash and black metal is reflecting back from the music of Witchery who were formed in the late '90s. "Dont' Fear the Reaper" is their 4th full-lenght album in line. There are plenty of catchy songs and riffs to find on the album, that count as real heavy/speed metal gems, and thogether with the excellent sound, they are very effective. Blackened vocal style is narrating the lyrics, that could sound very nostalgic by their typical '80s touch. For some it might seem that the band was a bit hasty with making the album, cause some songs sound incomplete by leaving a feeling that something's missing.  That's partly because of the effectiveness of songs like "Stigmatized", "Draw Blood" or Damned in Hell", and als because the band probably wanted to band focuse more on thrash influences at other songs. Of course a more balanced mix would sound better, but "Don't Fear the Reaper" offers enjoyable entertainment for the fans of old school influenced metal.

Holy Moses - Strenght Power Will Passion (2005)

   Sabina Classen is an iconic figure not only in thrash metal but also as one of the first women who growled instead of singing. And even though her name cannot be seperated from Holy Moses, the last year of the band passed without her. On their last album before their split-up, her ex-husband guitarist Andy Classen did the vocals too.
   After a long break the band returned in 2000, and fortunately without the unwanted line-up change. "Strenght Power Will Passion" was their second full-lenght album after regrouping, and Holy Moses didn't seem lost without Andy Classen at all, since Sabina proved to be the essential part of the band. Somehow they always sounded harder to go into and less catchy, so Holy Moses was never sorted to the "elite" of thrash bands, even though they were between the very first ones. Compared to the old albums, their music changed a bit too thanks to the new line-up, and on the side of the harsh wildness there are plenty of catchy themes to find. The new members meant different influences too, and wider diversity. While many old bands usually turning softer or more generic with time, at Holy Moses things seems to go to the opposite way: they sound more energic and intense than before, and even Sabina's growling is like more aggressive than ever. Big returns and style changes are mostly not welcome by the old fans, but Holy Moses didn't change too much, and only for their advantage, so the legend was successfully resurrected.

Paganizer - Deadbanger (1999)

   Paganizer beceame known as a death metal band, but their debut was quite different from their late style.
   "Deadbanger" had an old school '80s-like style that is frequently appearing in the Swedish metal scene. This is usually a mix of heavy, speed and thrash metal with some black metal influences. It's like a reference to Venom, but this style is more genuine and far more intense. To balance on the borders of those genres may also give wider possibilities, but similar bands prefer to create a unified style. The lyrics may sound immature like old heavy metal lyrics, and including a doubtless sympathy with the devil, but that just serves the old school feeling. The themes are showing plenty of heavy metal references, but for the intensiveness and the aggressive attitude the speed and thrash influences are responsible. The touch of black metal appearing only in the vocal style and in the lyrical concept. The demo versions of the songs had a vocal style closer to death metal growling. Albums likes "Deadbanger" could leave a dejavu feeling in the listener. However the '80s have passed without similar bands too, but still these are excellent nostalgia albums, filling a long time missing part in the main scene and are party compatible the same time. Hails for the "Deadbanger"!

Death SS - ...in Death of Steve Sylvester (1988)

   Death SS is probably one of the oldest and most underrated metal bands from those who were inspired mostly by the horror genre and occultism.
   Their main influences were probably Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper because of their theatrical stage performances and appearence. They are active since the late '70s, so they could be an interesting example to see the development from hard rock to '80s heavy/speed metal. Of course it wasn't a plan. Stefano Silvestri only wanted to express the classical horror feeling of old comics and movies by their music, which is dedicated on this album to the most common classic characters of the genre. Similar to Exorcist, Death SS is filling a missing temporary period in metal music, and sadly they are similarly less known too because of their label's bad distribution. So they couldn't had huge influence on the main genre outside the borders of Italy, but their music could always cause exciting moments for the fans of horror based heavy metal.

Holy Moses - Queen of Siam (1986)

   Germany had a very strong thrash metal scene, and the remains of that scene can produce great bands even nowadays. Nowadays, when the whole genre is forced into the background. Holy Moses was one of the first bands of this remarkable scene, but still a less known one.
   Their music didn't had so a lot of fans like Destruction, Kreator or Sodom, but they were more unique and had a musical approach that was far different from the others. Some kind of weirdness that is hard to describe, but it's involved into their themes. In lyrics they also had interesting ideas. By the way they were not between the first ones only in their local thrash scene, but they had the first female vocalist (Sabina Classen) who preferred growling instead of singing. And she really did her job well, because most people that time didn't even believed that the voice of a woman they heard. The "Queen of Siam" album is probably their most intense one in their early period, it has simpler themes and songs, but the freshness of a debuting band could be heard through their noisy thrashing.

Exorcist - Nightmare Theatre (1986)

   Not only the attention of the restless youngsters was sparked by the slowly growing popularity of extreme music and their darker, unusual topics. Exorcist was a secret project of  the members of Virgin Steele, and by this act they showed some hidden inspiration, wich might sound surprising after their ordinary style.
   After the glory seeking adventures of heavy metal warriors, lyrics about witch burnings and invoking black masses could sound drastical, but this is what side projects are good for. Unlike side projects in general, which are often almost exactly the same like most main projects. The Exorcist was interesting, because their music fills the empty space between the sometimes evil sympathizing cheesy heavy metal bands and the directly aggressive and sick extreme ones. Like a bridge between the two aspects, because it could be same enjoyable for both audience. Classic heavy metal themes upgraded with fast and noisy solos, fast hammering, distorted vocals and occultism is a recipe that always could work, but not many bands made it. Plus it's a great concept album too, the theatrical horror feeling comes down well.

Détente - Recognize No Authory (1986)

   Détente was a short lived, less known and not so successful band which came with the '80s speed/thrash metal wave. Their one and only full-lenght album got lost between the huge amount of similar styled records, even though it wasn't forgetable at all.
   Shortly after the release the band was split up and the names of the members became known from various other fields of the metal scene. For first impression their music reminded to Sacrilege, not only because of the shouting vocal style of Dawn Crosby, but the style was also strongly related to the speedy thrashing of Sacrilege. Of course "Recognize No Authory" was a more complex album, including diverse and very catch themes, common speed changes and ass kicking solo parts. In truth the album had no weak points, it had the same intensiveness and effective features that should be expected form an '80s speed/thrash band, but their music didn't become so influental like the bigger names in that scene. Still, "Recognize No Authory" belongs to the golden metal classics of the '80s.

Bulldozer - The Day of Wrath (1985)

   There were other alternative locations in the early appearence of extreme metal. If we think about Italy, probably we wouldn't name awesome metal music between the 10 coolest and most famous things about the country. Actually the metal scene is quite small there, but musically it was always "fast updated". That means mostly rare, but impressing musical events.
   Bulldozer was musically inspired by Motörhead, Venom and Death SS, and by their occult, bloodthirsty topics they referring more to Venom. And such as them, they could be also marked as a pioneer band of black metal by this point of similarity. Typical noisy '80s thrashing, but they are a tiny step further too. Their music is more intense and sounds more dirty, closer to ordinary thrash metal. So "The Day of Wrath" includes everything why this style could be liked. And as one of the earliest bands in the genre, they had a huge influence on the late scene, especially because their albums were widely distributed.

Sacrilege - Behind The Realms of Madness (1985)

   Sacrilege was also an experimenting band, and during their shorter active period in the '80s, they tried themselves in different styles like turning from one ending point into the other. Just like at most bands in similar cases, their earliest tryings were the best ones.
   It's interesting to listen this album, because it shows a direct connection between punk and thrash metal. How the first one had an influence on the second, how the basic features changed and became the essential parts of another genre. The heavier sound, the increased speed, and riffs are evident, such as the short, but wilder solo themes. With these features gave hardcore punk and upgrade to ordinary heavy metal. The HC punk styled shouting of Lynda "Tam" Simpson was everything but ordinary that time, because not only the extreme scene, but metal music in general wasn't famous about female vocals or musicians. So in the middle of the '80, when people couldn't even talk about any extreme scene, it was a unique line-up. Sadly they left behind this intensiveness afterwards, their music changed, and their name was forgotten after the end of the '80s, but "Behind The Realms of Madness" became an exciting classic of the decade.

Mercyful Fate - Melissa (1983)

While Mercyful Fate is far from anything extreme or underground, just like Sabbath, they're definitely a pivotal band that undoubtedly deserves a spot on the blog. Mercyful Fate was a part of the first wave of black metal was instrumental in the use of occult and satanist themes. Notable for this band is their unlikely influence of more 70's-like hard or alternative rock. While they were pioneers in the development of black metal, their style was not as much of an influence as other first wave bands and can be more described as "heavy" or "speed" metal. Most of the bands from this movement went on to influence 90's black metal, particularly in Norway. You see a lot of late 80's and 90's thrash bands reference Mercyful Fate as influential as well.
For anyone who is a fan of the occult, you can't pass this album without at least giving it a try. If you need more convincing, in '85 the Parents Music Resource Center labeled "Into The Coven" as one of their "Filthy Fifteen" objectionable songs due to it's content. I'm not gonna lie, Mercyful Fate can be... difficult to listen to. Compositionally speaking, the music is rhythmically catchy and reminiscent of heavy metal, but it's the vocals and the content that really make this album "raised from the grave.. by the dead!" If you can manage to get through the unpredictable pitches of the vocals, this is a truly enjoyable album for any metal head, I don't think there is anyone out there who enjoys metal truly who hasn't at least heard this album. At the very least, go read the lyrics for some creative and disturbing story telling.

Venom - Black Metal (1982)

 Black Metal is the second album by English "heavy metal" band Venom. With only slightly better production value than Welcome to Hell, Black Metal is still 100% straight out of the 80's. As distinct as Venom is with their style and sound and even behavior, it's difficult to stick them in a genre, and continues to be a topic of debate, like most of the old metal albums/bands because of how drastically the scenes have changed over the last 30 years. Nevertheless, this albums lyrics and imagery were a major influence in the early Norwegian black metal scene.

 Cronos insists on calling it black metal (funny, right?) without passing judgment on the genre that flourished out of Norway.
When I first got into black metal as a genre I was introduced to all of the typically associated Norwegian bands like Mayhem and Burzum and the like. I needed more than the almost intolerable noise of trve Norwegian Black Metal; and Venom undoubtedly opened so many doors of black metal- broadened the horizon, if you will. When I first bought this album, I hadn't heard anything of them yet and was just more attracted to the imagery. I knew friends who had always been fans, and I'm not sure why no one directly introduced me to the band. I literally listened to this album for a solid week. You can't put it down and it's unarguably a pivotal album in the progression of black metal, thrash, and speed metal. Fast, raw, blasphemy.

Venom - Welcome To Hell (1981)

   The second big milestone in the development of extreme metal music was performed by Venom. Their appearence with the NWOBHM, which wasn't taken seriously at the beginning, lately had influence on countless bands and led directly to thrash, black and death metal subgenres.
  They went further in "sympathizing with evil", like any other bands before by turning the main view as vile as it's possible. Their lyrics were more deviant, and unlike previous bands who showed sympathy to similar dark topics, they didn't tried to dance back to proper religion like Black Sabbath did, or to ease their blackness with romance ballads. They only tried to show a picture filthy and rotten to the core. Most negative critics they recieved because their music wasn't enough complex and progressive according to the mainstream musical development, and they were judged that they only played so fast as their could to cover their lack of technical knowledge. Well, this noisy sounded, untalented thrashing just formed new possible ways to progress musical minimalism, and the cheap attention seeking of the "trio of buffons" became an icon as well. The dirty sounding and intensity of "Welcome to Hell" is an everlasting old school classic, and except it may not sound so shocking now like in the '80s, it could be the same enjoyable for nowadays metal fan audience, like it was back then.