I'm not a stylish man. I don't really follow the latest fashions. I am influenced by others though. Usually people who I think are cool. And the people I usually think are cool are musicians. However, I'm acutely aware that not every style would suit me. I'd look ridiculous if I tried to look like L.A. Guns or The Quireboys or even The Exploited. I did steal some ideas from some band members though.
Kurt Cobain was influential. Nirvana changed everything musically when 'Nevermind' was released. He was super cool yet seemed normal. His scruffy style seemed achievable but also seemed like it would suit me. The images which burned into my consciousness were the ones where he was wearing cardigans. Cardigans suddenly became my thing. My school uniform was amended with me replacing the navy sweater with a baggy navy cardigan instead. None of the boys in my school were wearing anything similar. Some of the girls wore cardigans but they were more fitted. Mine was a kind of scruffy chic and I felt unique and for once in my life a little bit cool.
Some time later, I saw a picture in Kerrang! of Dark Angel. Their drummer Gene Hoglan was wearing tracksuit bottoms along with his metal shirt and again, this seemed like a look which I could rock. I had some Adidas trackie bottoms that suddenly became what I wore to gigs and rock clubs. This was a couple of years before the advent of Korn when Adidas tracksuit bottoms became really fashionable in the rock scene. They weren't paired with Nine Inch Nails t shirts, plaid shirts and Pepe deck shoes though which is how I used to wear them.
Plaid shirts were something I discovered a couple of years earlier. I know they're more readily associated with grunge but it was thrash that made embrace them. I saw a poster of Acid Reign in Kerrang! magazine and one of them (I think it was Kev) was wearing a plaid shirt. I knew my dad had some in his wardrobe and again they looked like something I could wear. If thrash musicians wore them then that made them cool in my eyes. I started wearing plaid shirts immediately and never stopped. I wear them practically every day and I wear them to every gig I go to. I'm wearing one this evening!
Helgrind are the first band I catch tonight. 'Forbidden Lust' is uninspired Slayer-esque thrash and their singer certainly has a Tom Araya style vocal delivery. The final track has some nifty Iron Maiden guitar melodies and the climax sounds like Motorhead's 'Overkill' but generally this is passable thrash, which is a real shame as they can really play.
Enquire Within initially sound impressive with technical modern metal in the vein of Machine Head. 'Remorse' has a Jag Panzer or latter day Maiden touch whilst a new unreleased song is pretty pacy Slayer style thrash with a more thuggish breakdown chorus. As the set progresses, the cracks appear and they no longer seem as impressive. The vocals are too gruff and don't seem to match the music. The phrasing of the vocals seem a little off too. The band don't seem as tight as they could be and some of the drumming doesn't really suit the music either. They do finish with a reasonable cover of Power Trip's 'Executioner's Tax (Swing Of The Axe)' though.
Acid Reign open with 'The New Low' and they are very dynamic right from the start, sounding like 80s Anthrax. The drums sound thunderous and singer H has a Joey Belladonna edge to his otherwise Britpunk vocals. H is absolutely everywhere and he definitely brings the fun they were always known for. 'Humanoia' is really tightly played thrash which is much more powerful than the studio version and a decent portion of the crowd sings along. Everything is more powerful than the studio versions. 'Goddess' sounds like the prime piece of 80s thrash it always should have been, like Anthrax meets Metallica. The furious 'United Hates' also a strong 'Among The Living' influence. 'The Fear' lumbers along to start with but once it starts galloping along, it is pure gold. The guitarists even find some time to do some barndancing during the midsection. 'Life In Forms' is a great crossover stomper. I enjoyed novelty thrash covers when I was a teenager but not so much now. However, 'Hanging On The Telephone' is much more fun than I expected. The punk metal of another cover, Suzanne Vega's 'Blood Makes Noise' is great and has fantastic energy. Overall, an enormously fun return to my teenage years.
Acid Reign ****
Enquire Within **
Helgrind **
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