Tag: Speed Metal

1985, Music

Spreading the Disease (1985) by Anthrax

I have both come to Anthrax backwards – having heard a later record before this one – and come to Anthrax last among the Big 4. That makes it harder to appreciate them. But worse, I’ve been listening to Seven Churches, a way more brutal, way more innovative metal record, released the same month as …

1985, Music

Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good (1985) by Megadeth

The Bach-inspired opening of this record gave me high hopes that I would be listening to something in the real of Celtic Frost in terms of its willingness to break from the conventions of thrash. Alas, it is the only sign that Mustaine has music ambitions beyond what I think of as Megadeth’s sound. (I …

1984, Music

At War With Satan (1984) by Venom

I don’t know why I skipped Black Metal last year. I may have listened to it once but I honestly don’t remember. If I did listen to it, I assume that I didn’t hear black metal, and read something about how it was more the title and the production values, rather than the music, that …

1979, Music

Overkill (1979) by Motörhead

I have never listened to Motörhead’s debut in part because I have been warned off it by bad reviews. It came out a year and a half before this record but, in the meantime, the much more polished but still fast and relatively rough (for ’70s metal) Stained Class came out. What I’m trying to …