Disclaimer:
Please don’t unleash years of suppressed anger and throw a hot cup of coffee in your dog’s face if you don’t see (insert name of band) at (insert position) or any such situtation. This feature is based on the opinions of an author that writes, primarily, based on experiences and makes no claims that the collection of releases you’re going to be reading about is certified by God, Satan, Rick Moranis, or any other extremely prominent deity. Enjoy.
no gods, only Zuul
Intro:
We’ve covered 1985, so now, logically, we’re moving on to 1986.
Formulating a list in the style of The Top 25 Releases of 1985 proved, ultimately, to be impossible. Cutting the entire pool of material produced in 1986 to 20 albums would have been an insult to so many great bands that would have been muscled off the list by the likes of the Iron Maidens and Metallicas that were dominating heavy metal at the time.
Going forward, the years will be broken down based on demos, EP’s/Splits, and full-length albums. The late 80’s/early 90’s was too big of a eclectic surge of weird musical energy to pigeonhole into small vague lists, it would be a disservice to not shine a light on some forgotten gems. We all know who Iron Maiden is.
Examining the list, it’s fair to say that thrash and speed metal had become a global language in a matter of a few short years. The thrash and speed metal formulae were well-established at this point, and in paradoxical manner, very few bands attempted to experiment with the formula, as you’ll see here soon. The traditional black metal “sound” was only a stir at this point, more an atmospheric concept and not so much as a musical thought process in this time period. Punk, crust, and metal were performing odd, somewhat awkward, pairings with one another that ended up producing some serious material. Death metal, or the proto-death metal concept, was present. It’s only warming up in 1986 in terms of demo material, but the nuclear war of American death metal in it’s early glory was yet to be unleashed.
West coast thrash was still beating everything it came across with a tire iron and running over baby seals and leaving beer cans all over the place…but, on the other side of the country; the south, the southeast, and the midwest were scheming up ways to create a more atonal and destructive approach to heavy music. Scandinavia, as a whole, were a totally separate entity when compared to the rest of Europe. South America, as the case in 1985, were still happily puking blood all over the carpet.
Italy is here. Canada showed up for this one. Australia hands over a nice contribution…
There was so much thrash. It was a hard few weeks sitting through some of these demos.
Here it is. I hope your bowel movement is fulfilling.
#25: Outbreak (CAN) – Iron Guard
Label: (independent)
I’m going to have to ask you to just take a second or two to really absorb the cover of the demo. Ladies and gentlemen, what you’re looking at is a one-of-a-kind life experience. A national socialist Goro. Bigfoot is a fucking pussy. You could do hilarious stuff like this back then and banana fuckers at places like MetalSucks were still just testicle sauce and couldn’t cry about it.
Fast, rhythmic speed and thrash metal with some obviously odd political-social themes. Solid studio-quality tape distributed physically in very limited numbers, the production is above average when compared to a lot of releases on this list. This was Outbreak’s final release before hanging it up for good.
What happened, Canada?
#24: Hellhouse (USA) – Burn for Peace
Label: (independent)
An absolute dumpster fire of audio food poisoning. Hellhouse only produced this single short demo and it appears here for a pretty simple reason: It’s delivery is far more over-the-top than practically everything else that came out in it’s respective time period. This is the cave drawing that led to Last Days of Humanity. The songs are spastic bursts of grossly distorted vocals, atonal riffing, and drum machine blasts, with songs occasionally just ending at random.
#23: Poison (DEU) – Awakening of the Dead
Label: (independent)
Running right behind Venom and Hellhammer were countless numbers of new bands that all wanted to militarize the fire the earliest first-wave bands had started. Poison were one of the few that managed to briefly ride along next to those first-wave bands before fading into oblivion in 1987, not to emerge again until 1993’s Into the Abyss full-length.
Awakening of the Dead was a two-track live recording, leading to production much on par with the likes of the early wave of black metal recordings.
#22: Hellpreacher (USA) – Resurrection
Label: (independent)
This is Hellpreacher‘s only release. Javier Villegas puts on a clinic for high-speed double bass technique. Vocals are fairly low in the mix, the drums have a lot of delicious low-end presence, and the riffs are competent and well-constructed. This was thrash on the heavier end of the spectrum and it’s kind of a shame that so little material was generated.
#21: Deathwish (GBR) – Sword of Justice
Label: (independent)
The title track is what really sticks out here. Tight, dialed-in thrash that draws an obvious amount of influence from the English scene of it’s period. ‘Exorcist’ is a direct nod to the influential power of Hellhammer/Celtic Frost and ‘Only Dreaming’ rolls things back to a more traditional form of English heavy metal. Let’s be honest though, some of the clean vocals on the closing track are a bit cringe-inducing but the lead work certainly makes up for it.
Despite a rather soft mix volume, the overall production is surprisingly clear and well-engineered.
#20: Necrodeath (ITA) – The Shining Pentagram
Label: (independent)
The long-standing Italian institution’s first demo. Similar to what Bathory delivered on their 1984 and 1985 full-lengths but with a bit more open configuration in the song writing. At times, this reminds me of The Sun of Tiphareth-era Absu with it’s constantly pounding percussion attack.
The mix is soft on volume with a lot of analog murkiness. The production as a whole is a notch above rehearsal recording quality but the guitars are still relatively clear, the bass is accounted for when the band isn’t in explosion mode, and the drums have a flat, boxy tone overall with a nice push from the bass drums.
#19: Nuclear Death (USA) – Wake Me When I’m Dead
Label: (independent)
Nuclear Death are one of the few bands, right out of the gate, that basically picked up the ideas and concepts of conventional songwriting and threw it into a meat grinder. A weird, endearing quagmire of atonal riffs, wildly unrestrained drumming, and songs that shift both in their entirety and at the individual instrumental levels in chaotic fashion. Lori Bravo didn’t give a shit either, let’s face it, being a female vocalist in early extreme metal was a pretty rare thing, she handles her business well to an extent where she deserves a lot more credit than she’s been given.
Reasonable volume level on the mix, production lacks a lot of power off the drums – especially at the low end – but, in exchange, to fill the low end is a nice heavy bass guitar presence.
#18: Sadus (USA) – DTP
Label: (independent)
Straightforward west coast thrash, no gimmicks; just a constant barrage of riffs and machinegun drumming. Featuring an up and coming Steve DiGiorgio on bass and Rob Moore going apeshit on his leads, early Sadus helped push the thrash line further into faster, more unrelenting territory.
While the production, overall, has a rehearsal tape feel to the sound quality, the mix for the vocals is way too high. Way too high. Darren Travis’ vocal delivery is like having an angry, screeching hawk thrown at your face.
#17: Exodus (USA) – Pleasures of the Flesh
Label: (independent)
With the Holt/Hunolt/Baloff configuration, the foundation was laid for Exodus to claim their spot as part of the iconic early reign of the ‘Big 4.’ Coming off the powerhouse release, Bonded by Blood, Exodus continued to write textbook American thrash while opting for more open songwriting as opposed to doubling-down on the speed game that many other thrash bands were gravitating to at the time.
Studio quality mixing and production with a little bit of overall flatness across the sound.
#16: Sacred Reich (USA) – Draining You of Life
Label: (independent)
Sacred Reich’s 1986 demo did what all the previous thrash bands on this list, up to this point, couldn’t pull off. The previous bands had the speed, the intensity, the songwriting chops, but never managed to achieve true cohesion amongst all the elements simultaneously for longer than a song or two at a time. Sacred Reich manages to not only tame the elements but they managed to achieve a ‘flow’ across the length of the entire demo that plays to the blueprint of what made this music cool in the first place.
Never falling into the same systemic approach for very long, Sacred Reich displayed a knowledge of songwriting that played off of thrash metal’s endgame: fast, heavy music where it’s reasonable acceptable to knee a stranger in the head while listening to it.
#15: Corpse (SWE) – Black Dawn
Label: (independent)
Corpse released one demo in the midst of numerous name changes. Rising Power became Corpse. Corpse became Anguish. Anguish became Grave. Grave became a pretty common name in the discussion of Swedish death metal.
Stepping away from the sharper, purist approach to the genre we saw from west coast America, Corpse played a dirtier version of thrash that courted notable elements of early death and black metal. Riff delivery moves away from the open, more melodic approach to riff construction and interval relationships common in west coast thrash in this time period and instead used a more single-note heavy palm-muting tremolo mechanic to emphasize a more sinister sound and anxious atmosphere.
#14: Xecutioner (USA) – Demo 1986
Label: (independent)
Xecutioner probably needs little introduction. Later evolving into Obituary, Xecutioner’s 1986 demo showcased what was brewing in Florida during this time period.
With only two tracks on display, Xecutioner essentially removed itself from the common theme of speed and thrash metal and planted themselves into a realm of principally heavy metal music taken into an extreme that few had considered at the time, resulting in being a fixture in the early Florida death metal scene.
#13: Sarcofago (BRA) – The Black Vomit
Label: (independent)
Sarcofago were one of the forerunners of fast, feral black and death metal. In 1986, the intensity on the Brazilian legend’s second demo is near impossible to match in the time period.
These early versions of ‘The Black Vomit’ and, especially, ‘Satanas’ were demonstrations of power that few bands in both this time period and decades after would struggle to achieve.
And as always, if you are false don’t entry.
#12: Holy Terror (USA) – Demo 1986
Label: (independent)
Holy Terror dumped the constant never-ending percussive barrage the majority of thrash bands were trying to pull off and went with a high-velocity version of speed metal with heavy dependence on melodicism and song progression. NWOBHM-tinged rhythm segments ride behind driving Maiden-style melodies and clean vocals that managed to stay out of drama queen territory.
#11: Slaughter Lord (AUS) – Demo 1986
Label: (independent)
Slaughter Lord were an anomaly that belong more on the Sarcofago side of the party than on the Deathwish or Sacred Reich side. Slaughter Lord were a violent, implosive blip in the galaxy of extreme music – something that came and passed in a brief flurry of violence.
#10: Chronos (CHL) – Medieval Tales
Label: (independent)
A true underground gem. Progressive traditional heavy metal with forays into speed metal. This is the demo that inspired making this list in the first place.
Chile. 1986. It’s kind of insane how fast musical concepts spread back then.
#10: Mayhem (NOR) – Pure Fucking Armageddon
Label: (independent)
Listen, we’ll all be okay. It’s fine. It’s 2019. Back then, they had payphones and blank cassettes. They didn’t have the internet and digital recording interfaces. It’s a shitty sounding tape and you probably can’t build a fire.
It’s kind of hard to argue with the legacy of this tape.
#8: Vio-Lence (USA) – Second 1986 Demo
Label: (independent)
Vio-Lence before dickhead crotchpussy Robb Flynn showed up. Vio-Lence, in most aspects, peaked with the Eternal Nightmare full-length and never really rose above that album on future releases. Vio-Lence is back in the news cycle and performing live again, so they have that going for them. It’s obvious where Robb Flynn ended up and it’s obvious how Robb Flynn is going to end up at this point.
#7: Tyrant’s Reign (USA) – Untamed
Label: (independent)
Active at the studio level between 1986 and 1989, releasing two demos and a EP, Tyrant’s Reign wrote catchy speed/thrash metal that had more of a commercial sensibility about it. Where bands started to shift their sounds into less complex, more commercial vessels later into their careers and deep into the thrash boom, Tyrant’s Reign had a firm grasp on the concept early into their demo days.
#6: Nuclear Assault (USA) – Live, Suffer, Die
Label: (independent)
Nuclear Assault’s story goes way, way back to 1983 when John Connelly was a roadie for Anthrax and had befriended legendary bong/bass player Dan Lilker. Like a lot of bands, Nuclear Assault peaked in the 1980’s and never really rode out of the blackhole of heavy metal that formed in the late 1990’s. With each generation of fans that enter the foray, Nuclear Assault always seems to roll out of the dark for a couple shots of old-school goodness.
Dan Lilker is still high to this day.
#5: Hellbastard (GBR) – Ripper Crust
Label: (independent)
We’re, finally, starting to step away from the constant barrage of thrash and speed metal and into more rougher, abrasive territories. Cutting down on the speed and delivering an odd blend of an almost juvenile-sounding combination of Hellhammer and Motorhead, Hellbastard inadvertently lent a huge hand in the founding sound of what would later be referred to as ‘crust’.
People occasionally slapfight over the origin of crust and start shouting about Amebix and all those other bands but…oh well…
The demo was recorded in six hours.
#4: Oral (SWE) – Demo 1986
Label: (independent)
Stepping away again from the thrash orgy, Oral were grossly overlooked when it came to a very early combination of hardcore punk, crust, and tones of thrash and early death metal. Lightning fast and sloppier than your mom after five Xanax, two bottles of wine, and finally signing the divorce papers she had drawn up after she found out your dad was blowing the neighborhood stray dog.
Guitar player Alf Svennson later went on to perform in Grotesque and a band called At The Gates, although he hopped ship long before the ultimate Swedish melodic death metal/bro rock album was dropped.
#3: Napalm Death (GBR) – From Enslavement to Obliteration
Label: (independent)
Recorded in a single session lasting between 4-8 hours, Bullen, Harris, and Broadrick went in and dropped one of those few early demos that became part of the foundation of a band that went on and on and on for decades. Early Napalm Death were an undisputable staple in the grindcore conversation, real shame how that all ended up.
#2: Morbid Angel (USA) – Scream Forth Blasphemies
Label: (independent)
The original Morbid Angel. Boasting the Azagthoth/Browning/Ortega/Brunelle line-up, Morbid Angel recorded the very early, rough blueprint of what later would evolve into Abominations of Desolation and one of the God-Seeds of death metal – Altars of Madness.
Rehearsal quality recording that proves, even back in 1986, these guys were foaming at the mouth and ready to completely destroy most of their contemporaries throughout the late 1980’s and mid-1990’s. The vast majority of bands operating in 1986 simply did not have the aptitude in their line-ups to write material in the same class as ‘Chapel of Ghouls’ or ‘Unholy Blasphemies’.
Sailormoon, Quake 3, and FUCKIN’ HOWDY-Y’ALL, CALL ME DAVE VINCENT-free.
#1: Death (USA) – Mutilation
Label: (independent)
After a heap of demos, live tapes, and rehearsal tapes, Death began zeroing in their sound towards the middle of the 1980’s, few as iconic as the 1986 outing between Chris Reifert and Chuck Schuldiner that would later become the Mutilation demo tape.
Giving a glimpse into the blueprinting that went into another monumentally iconic release, Scream Bloody Gore, Death were a pioneering force in actualizing the concept of death metal into reality. Other bands formed and absolutely blew by Death at different points in time in terms of speed and heaviness, but for 1986, this one stands out as the most competent indication as to where death metal’s evolution would begin.
There you have it, random internet person. You made it. 25 demos and a massively decreased appetite for thrash metal later, you’ve made it.
Looking over the list as a completed product, it was a massive, massive struggle to place a lot of these demos. The huge glut of thrash metal was, at times, just difficult to deal with because a lot of bands were just pounding the same formula over and over and nobody was really in the mood to experiment with the source material. Almost all of the thrash bands were place purely on secondary elements – production, mixing, structure – because of it. Groups like Vio-Lence, Nuclear Assault, Exodus, and Sacred Reich were all pretty much dialed into the exact same tones and schematics. Bands like Chronos, Oral, Slaughter Lord, and Hellbastard were serious relief in the listening process.
At the start of the listening process, it was pretty obvious that the proto/early death metal guys were going to have an easy time placing up near the top, considering both Morbid Angel and Death demos (hell, even Grave, Sarcofago, and Xecutioner really…) were already setting standards that many bands would never live up to.
I questioned the absence of Hellwitch, Annihilator, ADX, and Exhorder but, all respect to those bands, it became a battle of the mundane, and breathes of fresh air – Nuclear Death and Napalm Death, for example – were too much to overtake on the list.
Would you have changed anything? Let me know in the comments.
To check out part two and three of our series on 1986, check out one of the links below:
The Top 25 Metal Splits/EPs of 1986
The Top 25 Metal Albums of 1986
AJK
apanthropy 
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