Pyracanda - Thorns (1992)

Though there was little if any buzz surrounding Pyracanda's solid debut Two Sides of a Coin, that can't really be attributed to any fault of the band. Thrash metal had been in overdrive by 1990, very nearing its saturation point and about to explode into disinterest as the legions of snorting, disheveled mongrels cut their hair, founded or hired off to Booming corporations and start-ups, their musical interest turning towards chaff like Pearl Jam and Use Your Illusion Part what-the-fuck-ever. I'm not bitter. Apparently, neither was Pyracanda, who decided to give it another go with their sophomore Thorns, transferring over to the obscure but fairly well represented Aaargg Records imprint, home to Calhoun Conquer, Sacred Chao, and Mekong Delta among others, with the full line-up from the debut intact and ready to improve upon itself.

Sadly, that is not exactly what happens here. From a proficiency standpoint, Thorns does seem like an incremental advancement upon its predecessor. The riffs are a little more thrash here, often a little more technical, and consistently moving at slower, mosh-oriented paces. The production simply doesn't have the body of the debut, with a thinner but crunchier tone to the guitars. As a result, Hansi Nefen is perhaps more clearly heard, and his performance rivals that of the previous effort, with the added benefit of less retarded lyrics (even "Shut Up!" isn't terrible, and the majority of what they've written here is even, I dare say 'thoughtful'). The real issue here is that, despite an honest effort to progress, the songs have little to no impact, each note thundering in and out of the ears in short order, leaving me with the impression that, while what I just heard was digestible and had the seasoning of a good idea or two, I just wouldn't ever desire to order from this particular bistro again.

It does being on a strong note with the creepy clean guitars and flutes of "At the Abyss" that collide into a writhing guitar line, but as soon as the Master of Puppets-like thrashing gait storms in after the minute mark, the potential seems to plateau and then you're just left with some average riffs, and Nefen doing his best to suckle some character out of the experience. "The Dragon's Cult" likewise begins with a fair enough set of riffs, also pretty Metallica, but nothing of note ever happens anywhere else in the song, unless you count the heightened presence of the bass during the forgettable solos. "Shut Up" picks up the pace, a rampant thrasher with some clinical guitars and a fine, eerie resonance to the vocals, but still not memorable, and then the album really falls off the turnip truck with the groove/rock infested "Two Sides of a Coin" (one of those too-late title tracks for a previous album)" or "Soulstrip", which truly sucks.

The latter half of the album first attempts to compensate with the creepy, progressive overture "18 Degrees", but again, there is nothing of interest outside of Nefen himself. "Montezumas Revenge" is a fairly riffy mid-paced thrasher, with a pair of catchy guitar parts that soon enough off themselves as they too fail to pan into anything worth saving. "Bad Conscience" is brief and mean with some pumping bass and driving anger, but it comes up a little too short in the riffs, and though "Senile Decay" thrashes with a little more complexity, the note patterns once again elude the memory. Thorns ends appropriately with "Thorns", a slower thrash piece with a good variety of riffs, and though it's hardly a saving grace, it is at least one of the stronger pieces on the album, with Nefer having schizoid conversations with himself and the gang shouts.

Ultimately, the sophomore is like going into the local brothel expecting you'll achieve some major erection and fornicate your brains out for as long as your wallet can support you, and then at the last minute realizing you left the iron on at home, gaping impotently and embarrassed at some strumpet who has seen it all before, could care less and simply wants you to hand over the cash. Pyracanda had all the intentions here of besting themselves with a slightly darker and more modern appeal, but ending up with a dull slog through material that had already fared far better under the tutelage of a Mekong Delta. Thorns isn't as disappointing, as say Deathrow's Life Beyond, because these Germans had not quite built up expectations with some prior, flawless masterpiece beyond the boundaries of comprehension, but it's got all the bounce of a flat basketball. The band brought out a Zippo when they needed a flamethrower.

Verdict: Indifference [5.75/10]

Pyracanda - Two Sides of a Coin (1990)

A face that only a mother could love. A beautiful, feminine, plastic visage staring dead eyed, its monstrous jaw harnessed by further fangs of rusted steel. You've got to love those Golden Age thrash bands and their imaginations, whether their album covers run away from the actual contents or not, especially when the musicians can actually back up their iconic artwork with savage, lethal hymns of unapologetic speed and undeniable potential. Pyracanda's cover girl (err, thing) here may or may not be the fiancee of Rage's more famous 'Soundchaser' mascot, but Pyracanda themselves were yet another in a large pool of German talent, one of the few bands on the No Remorse Records roster alongside Wardance, Grinder and the now famous Blind Guardian.

You might be able to guess that Pyracanda played a brand of German thrash metal, but they're not quite as raunchy, aggressive or biting as the Big Three (Destruction, Kreator, Sodom). Better comparisons would be early 90s Tankard, Accuser, Living Death, or Vendetta, though the material manifested here would also be of interest to fans of Rage, Risk, and possibly the great Scanner's debut, seeing that the band incorporates just enough melody to straddle the power/speed metal sect. The charging, thick rhythm guitars used often on the album also remind me of Artillery, or perhaps Metallica circa Master of Puppets, though they are nowhere near that quality and you won't hear as many dynamic shifts. Two Sides of a Coin was a worthy debut, with a slick and clean production courtesy of Armin Sabol (who also worked on a few of Rage's great albums like Reflections of a Shadow), rendering it rather timeless in the headphones even if the songs themselves do not rifle through the memory.

"Top Gun" is a rather interesting piece to start the album, with some bass pumping across the steady escalating of the guitar mutes and then one of the most straightforward thrash anthems reminiscent of simpler Metallica or Megadeth, though the thundering power metal bridge and vocals of Hansi Nefen place it firmly in the Germanic camp. Nefen sounds a little like Daxx of Vendetta with some Mike Howe (Heretic, Metal Church) thrown in, with a little uncouth and unnerving decay, powerfully sinister when the role demands it. Most of the songs hit a full on, charging gallop in which muted storms part ways for soaring, simple chords as the band splices in their chorus segments, but they'll usually incorporate some sort of interesting bridge centered on the solo, like the clinical chugging that bisects "Democratic Terror", the chugging backdrop to the lead in "Delirium Tremens", or the melodic bridge supporting "Don't Get Infected".

However, the band breaks pace enough that I'd consider this a well rounded effort. "Dreamworld (Good Bye, Mary Ann)" features a somber acoustic intro similar to some of those used on the Artillery masterpiece By Inheritance, and then some simpler, old school, uplifting hard rock rhythm guitars before the verse. "Welcome to Crab-Louse City" would be the most ambitious epic on the album at 7 minutes, also with a clean prefix and a melodic bridge that create this ambiguous irony with the very silly lyrics. Yes, this is perhaps the greatest thrash/speed metal song ever written about a man's revenge against the head lice that once infested him...and it's not the only one here! "Challenge Cup" also deals with the vermin! Unbelievable! Other tracks that are also unintentionally funny include "Don't Get Infected" with its (obviously) AIDs-related lyrics, the drunken seduction/rejection cycle of "Loser", and "Rigor Mortis", which is apparently about being a thrasher and then...being dead?!

You used to slam and thrash around but now you're lying underground
your blood runs cold, your flesh decays you must have witnessed better days

Goofy, English as a second language lyrics aside, though, Two Sides of a Coin is quite competent and consistent. The riffs throughout the album are rarely the type to invoke salivation or the instant desire to re-listen, but they're integrated well enough with the vocals and leads to provide 42 minutes of nostalgia, that is, if you close your eyes and think of German underground metal from the days when it still felt somewhat new. It's not really a 'grower', but it hasn't lost much steam thanks to the powerful, resonant mix and the cloying fact that too few of these bands managed to break out into the next level of success.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (the streetbattle is in progress)