FULL THRASH ASSAULT '06 REVIEW

As a thrash metal fan, I’d say that I’m not the only one who occasionally hears comments from folk who claim that thrash metal is dead. “It was a trend in the 80’s; it has had its day”. True enough, there are young thrash fans out there who weren’t around in the early 80’s when the Bay Area scene was at it’s prime, who sadly will never know just how good that day was when thrash metal reigned supreme, but the question is are there still enough believers in old school thrash metal to make an underground thrash revival a possibility?

Perhaps this day was part of the proof that thrash metal is alive and well. Perhaps there are metal heads under 20 out there who don’t just believe that Trivium are the beginning, middle and end of metal, and proof that plenty of those who are old enough to remember the genre first time around don’t cringe at the very thought of their old long hair and tape trading days. As small as this festival was in its birth year, people travelled from up and down the country to wreck their necks at a showcase of some of the best unsigned thrash bands the UK has to offer and that to me; if nobody else is proof that thrash metal is ready to push off the lid to its coffin!

By 3PM a crowd of die hard thrashers had already begun to surface, and Hallowed Point got them warmed up and in the mood for some serious head banging. With fast, aggressive riffing and Araya-esque vocals songs such as “Neckbreaker” encouraged the formation of the first pit of the day. Whilst their live performance is still very rough around the edges I would look forward to seeing what they can deliver in a years’ time. There is definitely something missing from their sound, although I am certain that the addition of their new bassist will fill that musical void we have so far heard.

Mutant were next to play. Sadly, their drummer was unable to play due to illness and had Matt (Pitiful Reign) to stand in for him. The band only played for 20 minutes although for what they lacked in length they more than made up for with everything else. These guys are raw and uncompromising, and chug along at a speed that would leave Schumacher choking on dust! From the very second their front man Atom set foot on the stage it was like watching a mad man on drugs possessed by some kind of demon. As well as being a complete scream to watch, and it was obvious they were having fun on stage too which makes all the difference. One message to anyone reading this that was not at FTA’06; if you get the chance to see this band – make sure you do!

The crowd thinned out a bit during Warpath, although this along with the technical problems encountered didn’t deter them from ripping out a good set. Being quite familiar with the tunes which were taken from the Cataclysm E.P, I must say they exceeded all my expectations and the songs sound 10x better live than they do on CD. With well-crafted solos and crushing riffs, “Infernal” had to be the highlight of their performance. I imagine this band have a lot more in them than what we saw today and I look forward to hearing what they come up with on their next E.P.

Well, what can be said about Evile? Perhaps it says it all that this is around my 15th time watching them and I’m still not bored to death of them. Tonight we were treated to yet another killer performance by these Yorkshire thrash metal heroes, as they stormed through all the classics, eventually being welcomed back for an encore by a frenzied crowd, finishing with fan favourite “Enter The Grave”.

Pitiful Reign followed Evile with another awesome set. In The Pit is always a great song to get the crowd fired up before an onslaught of no-nonsense thrashing madness which you come to expect at a Pitiful Reign show; and a highly appropriate song in this situation as the pit looked pretty brutal from where I was stood while the crowd began slamming and stage diving. Pitiful Reign are a band with a bright future ahead of them if they carry on playing gigs like this one!

After much panic due to their train getting delayed and arriving only half an hour before they were due on, Headless Cross took to the stage. With a complete new line-up since their Thrash Till Death tour back in May, Headless Cross played stronger and better than ever. The guitarists all appeared to be on the same wavelength and Silver & co. delivered a tight set which was equally as good as many bands who have 10 years more experience. Their technical thrash may not be for everyone, but there are few unsigned British bands who can match up to them in terms of musicianship.

It was perhaps a strange choice to have the relatively unknown Enemy Unknown headlining the first Full Thrash Assault, although unfortunately due to poor transport links, about half of the audience had to disappear missing most of their set. Consequently, Enemy Unknown played to a small but welcoming crowd. These played a powerful and rather enjoyable set with some definite bay area thrash influence and vocals a la Kreator although with a modern edge to their sound. Enemy Unknown may not have been the highlight of the day, but they are certainly a band worth watching out for and those who stayed and watched their set I don’t think they were too disappointed.

Luci