The
notion of thrash, metal, punk and grindcore always conjure up images
of unfathomed revelry, late nights around out of control fires,
gasoline and sweat smelling rooms, and the thunk of palm muted guitar
riffs. When DRI released The Dirty Rotten LP in 1983, a new
way of perceiving headbanging and speed drumming was born, and the
well calloused club of lightening fast percussionists and completely
out of control shows was born. Suicidal Tendencies, Stormtroopers of
Death, and punk greats The Dead Kennedys all shared one thing in
common: they seemed more than a little unhappy with the system, had a
middle finger extended towards society in general, and were always
pleased to pierce the air with amps turned up so loud you were gonna
feel like you lost a fist fight with three people the next day.
I
settled in to listen to Beaver Damage's “Spread Eagle” album with
a bit of a vision in my head of what greats Slayer and Pantera had
become: not just bands, but an entity out of control, that hundreds
of thousands of people now worship for their precision, volume, and
unfiltered power. At first listen of the track “You'll Never Make
It” the drums caught my attention right away: very precise, crisply
miked up, and well earned prestige on the double bass. The guitar
riff wanders a bit like The Dead Kennedys' “Holiday In Cambodia”,
then the vocals remind me of the anger and junk yard scorch of
heavyweight grind core contenders HateBreed. An obviously jaded
number about someone who was once told they were worthless, it scoffs
defiantly through with quite the unmodified diesel formula: complete
stops, good breakdowns, and plenty of sinister snarling.
The
next track on the list was “Cowboys and Lycans”, and it began
with a much more calculated approach: palm muted lead, soaring barre
chords on rhythm, and came out of the assembly line sounding much
like what Prong or Valient Thorr has on tap: palm muted dribbling of
the ball that easily graduates out of beginner's class with the
syncopation. A few well placed pinch harmonics, the same angry voice
and the middle breakdown had me thinking about another one of the
most underrated thrash bands of all time: The Accused. This track
reminded me a bit of the heavy jumping around and boisterous air of
an album that any true thrash fan should check out: “Martha
Splatterhead's Maddest Stories Ever Told”. Just an all out assault
and mind blowing display of skill, it still carries much weight in
the thrash community.
The
third track “Cro-Magnon Man” immediately had me drawing parallels
to one of the greatest moments I had experienced over the last two
years: seeing Clutch at Riott Fest. The delivery of this song, the
way the vocals switch it up to an almost playful sneer, and the
simple notion of a primitive being and straightforward chorus with
the drum sound I appreciated in the beginning still rang true, and it
was my favorite track from them yet. Last on the list for my sampling
was “Derailed”, and even though the timing and writing leans
towards the mathematical, I was reminded of pioneers Motorhead, just
due to the sheer haul ass factor and swagger. At 53 seconds there is
a sweeping guitar solo that fits the tune perfectly, with some nice
hanging notes and a few harmonics, minus the unnecessary waltz
through some flashy sweep picking that scores of metal solos fall
prey to. This 12 song album will be available from Beaver Damage
during their next live show with shock thrash kings Gwar, and will
surely stoke more than one patron where the notion of thrash itself
begins: into the circling pit.
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