Indestroy - Indestroy (1987)

Very much overlooked, the debut from this grimy Maryland thrash band has always made me wax nostalgic, as it captured a gritty and raw vibe that few bands could really attest to in the late 80s. Everything from the excellent cover art to the horribly awesome lyrics remains fresh to me even now, when so many bands are trying (and failing) to recapture that fatal energy of this genre's youth.

Every riff on this album is excellent, with a sludgy tone which equates to thrash metal sewage. But not the kind of sewage you fear and poke a stick at, the kind you want to splash around in as it carries you out the river of toxic waste to sea and oblivion. "The Gate" has a dark occult concept which reminds one of the cheesy old movie of the same name, complete with burning solos, and Mark Strausberg's Possessed-like vocals (he actually was a member of Possessed at one point). The song also breaks into this creepy doom riff near the end, which rules. "U.S.S.A." is anchored by an amazing energetic riff, and the song is about our great nation losing its liberties in a sea of warfare and censorship. Sound familiar? I wonder why?

Do What They Say, Just A Slave, Cradle To Grave, U.S.S.A!

"Ground Zero" begins with another of the band's slower, creepy crawly thrash riffs, this song is your pure nuclear annihilation anthem. People were really obsessed with this back then. Next up is the necrophiliac magnum opus "Dead Girls (Don't Say No)" which is as hilarious as you think. "Fatal Sin" has a very cool intro riff, slow and gloomy, but busts out into some sick thrashing. "Brain Damaged" begins with a nice lead before picking up the pace, curiously this is one of those 'biographical' tracks which is singing about metal itself...when a band does this today I can't stand it, yet it was a little more novel back in the day. Plus, this one has some cool lyrics to it. "Justice Sucks" has some grooving bass and excellent guitar riffs, the lyrics are also pretty hilarious.

Justice Sucks, I Spit On Cops
They Lock Me Up, You're Busted - For What
Possession, Interrogation, Of A Dangerous Substance!

Too true, my brother. Too true, the song relates the tale of a man getting busted for smoking a bone. "Shadowlord" is a dark and evil track that will appeal to fans of Venom or Possessed. "A.I.M.L.E.S.S." begins with a cool mutation of grooving bass and guitar noise into a spooky doom part, then proceeds into one of their slower tracks, but still excellent. The album ends with the dirty "Dismembered".

Did I mention how much I loved this? The production is just excellent, very sludgy sounding distortion so the thin leads cut right through. The bass is thick and omnipresent, and the vocals are excellent, kind of a hybrid of Dave Mustaine and Jeff Becera. This is the perfect nostalgic thrash metal album, few have heard of it, few ever will, but to those that love it and live it, I salute you. The follow-up EP Senseless Theories is also quite good, but this full-length truly captures the urban thrasher spirit in a way that most of the silly modern 'retro-' bands never seem to match. Poseurs need not apply.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (she was good and very sweet,
for a lifeless piece of ice cold meat)

http://www.myspace.com/indestroy (fan page)