Список групп Thrash Metal Acid Reign Obnoxious

With two previous releases « Moshkinstein » and « The Fear », Acid Reign had become one of the main Thrash Metal protagonists of the English scene that was yet to get over the Punk movement; an English scene which was seriously lagging behind its American or German counterparts. Obviously one could cite the excellent Onslaught or the more discrete Virus or even the abrasive Lawnmower Deth but then again compared to the oncoming assaults made in the Bay Area, New York or the massive blows from Germany, Great Britain, just like most of Europe, was kind of looking like Tom Thumb or at the very best like a distant outsider.

I will not go too much into details as to the rest of Acid Reign's discography. Please refer to Fabien’s reviews on the subject. They're real good and well written.

Obnoxious, their last album before they split, will remain the Englishmen’s very best record. Where the two previous releases were more impersonal and a somewhat pleasant and more or less successful re-adaptation of a NY Thrash Metal sound sometimes leaning on DRI's crossover, Obnoxious puts on far more personal colors giving Acid Reign their own distinctive style. A style that is willingly introspective and that puts aside the more festive a la Anthrax side of their previous recordings to explore subjects as various as societal problems on « Codes Of Conformity » or even personal issues like on « Thoughtful Sleep ».

Music did too follow the same path and it sounds more serious than ever. That serious side probably scared away most Thrashers at the time who were more into Thrash Metal for the values it conveyed: be it fun and/or extreme speed. I’ll admit it’s way easier to party or bang your head off on « Among The Living » or « Endless Pain » rather than on « Obnoxious » which requires many plays and attention. This musical aspect is not that far off from the « pre-requisites » that demands Doom Metal and thus no one should be utterly surprised that Acid Reign’s split gave birth to one of the bands (the band?) that is the very definition of Doom: Cathedral. Not less than three ex-members of Acid Reign, both guitarist and the drummer, did join Dorrian and Griffiths to create Cathedral and give birth to Forest Of Equilibrium where that distinct guitar sound may already be heard on Obnoxious.

Still, don’t get me wrong. Obnoxious, though somewhat harder to get into, is and will always be a Thrash Metal record and the musicianship, the genial parts, the numerous breaks and various accelerations should confirm it to anyone who doubted this. Another cherry to this already appetizing cake is the very specific vocals of ‘H’ that seem to be the very essence of Thrash Metal vocals. His voice is rather unique and stands clear from most singers who were either too versed into high-pitched nerve-breaking screaming or too much into pre-growling, the perfect demonstration that they indeed did not know how to sing. 'H"’s voice was clearly designed for Thrash Metal, it’s sometimes soft as silk, sometimes more aggressive and is reminiscent of the qualities displayed by the likes of Osegueda (Death Angel) or Coons (Laaz Rockit).

The « ultra » pink cover, not too ‘Metal’ I must admit, certainly must have pissed the ‘Truest’ Thrashers and without a doubt it did not help the band get a larger fanbase. Marketing faux-pas (well you know pink is either for girls or gays they say) or something more different? Whatever the answer, the bells tolled for the band and despite many numerous qualities, Obnoxious shall now remain the last and ultimate legacy left by the band.

History does not say if THE artwork was the very beginning of the end, if ‘H’ (who never did anything else afterwards) was just calling it quits for personal reasons, if Gaz, Lehan or Wharton were already confirmed in their new Cathedral project, if...
Still today, it seems that real Thrash Metal aficionados have (re)discovered the virtues of this fantastic record especially when you consider the indecent amounts you have to pay for it on a very well known auctions site. Obviously this is no argument for assessing real quality but I can only ask you to try and discover Acid Reign’s last album and give it a fair try, fairer than what it got some 20 years ago. Assuredly that record is in my top 15 of the best Thrash Metal albums of all times and I sure hope that my review will help those guys restore their image.