Znöwhite - Act of God (1988)

Judged solely by its interesting cover art, you wouldn't expect Act of God to be one of the most refined and brutal thrash metal releases of the 80s. Nor one of the very best. To up the ante, Znöwhite is also quite possibly the best female fronted thrash band to ever have existed, at least on this album. All Hail to Thee was a decent if average effort, more like a straight up Midwest street thrash style, but Act of God transformed the Chicago quartet into something so much more.

Of immediate note is the sheer force of sound being delivered with this album. The guitars are chunky and vicious, you can almost hear the rust flaking off them. This is the perfect apocalyptic thrash record, gunning in some doomed bucket of steel across a landscape of nuked cities. Nicole Lee's vocals are simply intense, like blades raining from the burning sky, yet still melodic enough to provide catchy chorus parts. "To the Last Breath" opens the album, a thrashing juggernaut of punctual chords and octave slides which feels a lot like killing someone by smashing their head repeatedly with a blunt object. The leads are frenzied and spurious, the atmosphere created is like no other thrash album of its day (Realm would be close, but their style was focused more on technical flair and hyper melody than the brutal, humble edge of Act of God). "Baptised by Fire" creates a chugging flow of build-ups that converge into a thrusting speed metal riff which cruises beneath Lee's siren-like vocals. The anti-Nazi anthem "Pure Blood" teases us with a slower, somber riff but yet again picks up into the triplet-hammering WWIII thrash that dominates the record. "War Machine" is one of my favorites of the album, the guitars develop a subtle groove to them with punchy, invigorating riffs. And the bridge is performed with subtle melodies, soon consumed by the gang shouts of the chorus.

I am the war machine that stares you in the face
Eyes to the sky and you know the end is near
I am the war machine; I can burn the sun from the sky
Take away tomorrow; bring truth to all your fears

"Thunderdome", the mandatory Mad Max tribute which no post-apocalyptic thrash album should be without, opens with a silly sample before jackhammering your face in with its incredibly brutal grooves and flighty breaks of speed. Simply incredible. Two men enter, one man leave! "Rest in Peace" starts with a slow flow and then the drums break for another of those battering rams of thrusting force. "Diseased Bigotry" is hands down my favorite off the album, because it surpasses perfection. If you could bottle all the aggression of thrash/speed metal, apocalyptic warfare and utmost hatred, THIS is what it would sound like. A fucking orgasmic cycle of some of the best riffs ever created into absolute punishment. The vocals are vicious, and for fuck's sake, this track is as good as anything off Master of Puppets and Reign in Blood... It's a hard one to follow, but "Soldier's Creed" is a bombastic mid-paced thrasher which begs for fist pumping and horn throwing. The album ends with the near 10-minute "Something Wicked (This Way Comes)". Because you see, being Mad Max fans was not cool enough, Znöwhite were also into Ray Bradbury (kind of like this blog you are reading)?!

Molesting famine takes to the land
Molten tear drops from a heart of stone
Wretched injection forged from deception
Souls of wrought iron scorched to the bone

To dub Act of God underrated is not nearly enough. Thus, I demand this band be payed reparations for the criminal neglect of their magnum opus. With the exception of Lee, the remainder of Znöwhite called it quits not long after this album, first replacing her with Debbie Gunn (Sentinel Beast), and moving on to form Cyclone Temple, who were sadly not this good. This may be a good thing in the end, as they had achieved their masterpiece early and thus did not tarnish its good name with their later, mediocre output. If only some other bands had followed suit...

Happy Fourth of July, you old beast.

Verdict: Epic Win [10/10] (let them not see the casualties)

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