SSA - Deal With It (Assbackwards Music, 1994)

These guys from Ohio weren't exactly known .. well, I can't tell, but I guess. SSA put out their one and only full-length Deal With It in 1994 on their imaginary label Assbackwards Music. The fun fact is that SSA literally means Ass backwards. It made me chuckle a little.

But now to the music. The album starts off with a wah-wah guitar sound not expecting me all too great things. However, this turns out to be pretty great. Decent thrashing, good vocals, nice acoustic middle-part. And it goes on that way. Only anomaly has to be the last track called Sunshine, which is some sort of ultra-soft poppy grunge .. That end of the album left me somehow confused, nevermind. While I must admit it certainly isn't the most creative output, in 1994 and years after even big players in the game put out pantsy releases - Deal With It can certainly persist against, say Stomp 442 or .. Load.

Deal With It is as rare as obscure thrash can get. Well, I don't know this record for all too long but I only seen it once on auction sites, and that was the copy you're seeing here.

Critical Mass - Unholy Wars (Vampire Records, 1992)

Not much to say about this one. It's the only full-length release by Critical Mass. Just great Aussie power metal (yes, power metal for once) with hints of thrash from 1992. I really like the vocals here. However, the production is very thin (drums don't get through really, and guitars and bass are way too quiet) and hence the result is unfortunately too passive and somehow harmless.

Unholy Wars appeared on Vampire Records, a small label which only had three releases. A black metal record, a death metal record, and this one. The one shown here is the hardest to come by as the others can be bought several times on auction sites right now. I strongly suggest hunting this down however, even if it should be a hard thing to do.

Creeper - Creeper (indie, 1992)

Ladies and gentlemen, here's what could be America's best kept secret in thrash metal. And a hell of a rarity too! Creeper from Arizona, Florida did one full-length in 1992 (they were never heard again afterwards) play a midpaced type of thrash metal with some cool, refreshing ideas here and there. That being some jazzy drum fills or the vocals of the song Enslaved being sung through a guitar amp.

Musically and also vocally could be considered Metallica-worship, even though some of the riffs here are definitely heavier. I don't really like the production though. The drums sound way too polished and machinesque. Nevertheless, it's a interesting addition to your collection. Come on, hunt it down!