Band's List Thrash Metal Casbah Russian Roulette

This has got to be one of the rarest treats in the history of thrash metal. Casbah may have been the best thrash metal band from the land of the rising sun alongside big guns such as Outrage and United. While the latter two did their stuff the more conventional way, Casbah opted for a more aggressive approach very much in the vein of early death metal. Fast, rough, raw and unrelenting are a few of the synonyms I would associate this wrecking machine with. This single was released way back in 1986, the same year when two young bands namely Dark Angel and Slayer unleashed their storm on the planet and got international recognition. This band however never received too much attention outside Japan unfortunately when the truth is they could have gone on to become a present day legend.

What we have here is a raw slab of early thrash with punk like shouts and death metal tendencies, far ahead of its time. Only Possessed and Slaughter had come up with a similar concept although their approach was totally different as opposed to this. The two tracks that are present on this single are devastating and are capable of blowing the best of competition away. The first song “Russian Roulette”, which also happens to be an Accept release, starts off mid paced but emerges into a top notch thrasher with catchy riffs and vicious vocals. The second one “Death Metal” too doesn’t compromise much and pretty much follows in the same manner as its predecessor with some good soloing and well timed background barks.

Here’s the bottom-line. This is indeed a very rare gem and should definitely be checked out by thrash fans all across the planet. If you like your Morbid Saints and your Tortures, then this is not going to disappoint whatsoever. This could well be called Japan’s first strike in thrash.