Posts Tagged ‘the metal files’
Motorpsycho – Wrenched (1992)
Sorry, this is not the Norwegian rockers, so carry on.
I found this in the same record store at James Madison University that drunken weekend that I visited Kelz. 1992. I 
think it was $1. I figured I had nothing to lose by spending a buck. Fortunately I got something enjoyable. Motorpsycho hailed from somewhere in California and some of the Cali skate rock influence is to be heard in this, especially in the vocals. I’ve listened to this album a lot over the years and it always takes me back to that fun weekend at JMU and also of good times of that following summer in my 82 Trans Am.
Now don’t get me wrong, this whole album isn’t great. There’s some goofiness on here like Fuck It Up, which really is a tribute to the skate core influence. Thunderhead…Drunktank is pretty weak as well. The final track, not really a song, is Barstool Philosophy. Not really interesting at all.
Overall this album gets a 3/5 if nothing else for carrying on the “Thrasher” spirit of SoCal. Don’t Wait, Scarred for Life Some Kinda Friend are worth the price of the album alone, even if I had paid full price for it. So if you’re into that old skate rock stuff like JFA, Los Olvidalos etc, you’ll like this, even if just a little bit.
Hittman – S/T (1988)
Now here’s a closet classic! I first heard the track Dead On Arrival on The Metal Shop in 1988 and I am pretty sure I 
taped the song, if not the whole show (wish I still had those tapes!). I let Kelz hear it the next day or so and he hated it. Doofus. Of course today he’s all about it, or so he says. He’s such a liar sometimes. hahaha. Kidding. Ok, not so much.
Anyway, I promptly went to the Music Man and picked up the cassette. I loved it! Mainly the dude’s vocals. He had a cool range. Good riffs on the album and some smooth drumming. Unfortunately the drums were severely under-produced much like the drums on Megadeth’s Peace Sells or Sanctuary’s Refuge Denied. Very muddy. I loved that tape. This album was just good classy US metal with some Geoff Tate type vocals but music not as progressive at Queensryche.
Lyrically this album could be better but I can overlook it. The one track I don’t dig is their version of Secret Agent Man (Secret Asian Man!). I never liked the original so I didn’t want to hear a cover version of it either. We jammed on this album a lot. We always cracked jokes about the song “Backstreet Rebels”; usually make jokes about some chick…”Backstreet Nikki” or whoever. Silly dumbasses we were, but the lyrics needed to be joked on. All in all this was a fun album to play drums to. The double bass work was straightforward enough that my feet could keep up with it.
In 1991 or 1992 I went to Cleveland to see my friend Bronwyn and hit a great string of record stores up there. One of which had this CD import for $3! This one store had a ton of metal for cheap on vinyl and CD. The manager said “I don’t like metal and just want to see this stuff out of here.” I easily dropped $200 in that place on some cheap metal. Glad to be of service, sir!
So, I highly recommend this to you as some really good 80s US Metal. Again, very out of print so I don’t mind uploading it. I do not recommend their followup album, Vivas Machinas. It was pretty bad.
Cemetery – Reborn (Japan)
This is another Kelz turned me on to as he is the king of Japanese metal. These guys weren’t of the typical Japanese 
metal caliber. They are a little more anthemic style. While I still prefer classic Loudness and some other bands as far as Japanese metal goes, this album and their subsequent EP are really good.
I used to correspond with one of the guys quite often and he was always very excited that someone in the USA knew who they were and liked their music. I think it was their bassist, Yoshi, but my memory has faded as it was about 10 years ago. I think he died shortly after the subsequent EP “MRI” came out. I was pretty sad when I read the news about his passing.
It was so very cool as one day I came home from work and there was a small package from Japan in my mailbox. They had sent me a copy of the MRI EP. To my surprise both Kelz and I were thanked on the back cover. That was pretty cool.
The song Reach For The Sky is absolutely incredible. It has a great feel and it’s pretty sad.
hold my head up high, i will be alright
my soul will fly higher and reach for the sky
always i’m looking for the answer
never seem that i find what i am looking for
i was walking on the empty land
i could not recollect my reason to live
This CD is way out of print and I doubt there were more than a few hundred of them pressed to start with. It’s worth sharing and worth you checking out.
Vis Vires – Inside the Hate
Odd little band that I found through Denis Gulbey of Sentinel Steel Records. They hail from somewhere in Georgia but 
don’t really have an American sound. The album is mildly progressive ala Fates Warning (middle Alder era), euro thrashy and gothy in other spots. Occasional screamo vocals which normally turn me off, but they seem to work in this instance. There are some tasty guitar and drums parts and I really dig the singer. The album is a little sloppy in places but it doesn’t really detract from the sum of the whole.
Based on the lyrics, the singer is pretty unhappy with stuff, mainly God. “It doesn’t matter if you rise again cuz you are dead in me forever.” Ouch. His vocal style is very loose and even out of pitch here and there but it works.
If you’re into metal I recommend giving this a listen. Such a pity they split up after this. Another album would have been interesting.
And sorry, no personal quip with this one, just an album that I like.
If the download expires, leave me a note and I’ll upload it again.
Tyton – Mind Over Metal
So back in the day there was this great music store at Military Circle Mall called The Music Man. That’s pretty much 
where we spent our allowances and paychecks in the 80s as thy typically had the coolest selection of metal. The Music Man was pretty cool and had a really cool staff. They also offered a replacement guarantee on their cassettes and CDs if they became defective. We knew the staff there pretty well and if we bought something we didn’t like, they would typically let us trade it in for something else. I was fortunate to work there for a year or so, an experience that I will never forget.
One of the cassettes I bought in 1987 was Tyton’s Mind Over Metal. I didn’t know anything about them but they were on an Enigma sub-label which usually meant you had a pretty good chance of buying something listenable. I played this cassette quite a bit. They weren’t over the top awesome but this album had some pretty good songs on it like Destiny Calls, Will You Follow Me (wimpy ballad but not too bad), and the title track. They were sort of mid-paced swords and shields style metal. I listen to it about once or twice a year still. It takes me back to some fun times with some former friends riding around Churchland trying to find a party or someone to buy us beer. Those were fun days and I am amazed that the 3 of us are even still alive. Come to find out years later that they hailed from Houston, TX and some people I know here in Austin knew those guys and even did a show or 2 with them. Living here in Austin and getting to spend time with guys that are metal legends (to me) is pretty incredible. Our metal round table discussions are pretty amazing.
I’ve attached the download to the album. It was never officially released on CD but some Euro label bootlegged it a few years back and I ripped the tracks from the CD.
The Metal Files 
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