Danish thrash metal!

Terror Squad Artillery-Terror Squad/Fear of Tomorrow (RC Records/Roadrunner) 1985/87

1. "The Challenge" (4:12)
2. "In the Trash" (4:47)
3. "Terror Squad" (5:50)
4. "Let There Be Sin" (3:52)
5. "Hunger and Greed" (5:05)
6. "Therapy" (4:06)
7. "At War with Science" (7:12)
8. "Decapitation of Deviants" (4:38)
9. "Time Has Come" (5:23)
10. "The Almighty" (4:17)
11. "Show Your Hate" (4:54)
12. "Out of the Sky" (3:49)
13. "Into the Universe" (3:48)
14. "The Eternal War" (5:28)
15. "Deeds of Darkness" (6:41)

This 1990 re-release is spectacular. "Terror Squad" has to be one of the finer speed metal/thrash discs I've heard. It's definitely Artillery's shining moment. I'm surprised the band didn't get more noetiety at the time. The band sports tons of mosh beats, great thrash riffs, plenty of speedy solos, and unique vocals that are an equal mix of growl and melody. It's also nice to have "Fear of Tomorrow" as a bonus. To bad two songs from "Fear of Tomorrow" were eliminated because of time constraints of the single disc.

This is one of those discs that I got into a bidding war over on eBay. The bidding got up to around $15 so I waited until the last two minutes and bid $17.50. In the last seconds the other guy beat me out and paid $18 plus a whopping $4 shipping. One week later another copy was posted with the bidding starting at $9. I bid $15, but nobody else ever bid on it so I ended up getting it for $9 plus $2 shipping.

By Inheritance Artillery-By Inheritance (Roadrunner) 1990

1. "7:00 From Tashkent" (:53)
2. "Khomaniac" (6:42)
3. "Beneath the City" (4:48)
4. "By Inheritance" (5:42)
5. "Bombfood" (5:42)
6. "Don't Believe" (4:40)
7. "Life in Bondage" (5:27)
8. "Equal At First" (4:25)
9. "Razamanaz" (3:!4)
10. "Back in the Trash" (6:02)

After getting the reunion disc "B.A.C.K." and being totally into the old school thrash sounds, I began searching for Artillery's older discs. I have seen them several times on eBay, but they always seem to sell for much more than I am willing to pay. Fortunately, Christmas seemed to be a slow time for obscure stuff like this, so I was able to pick up this one for $5 (plus shipping). Not a bad deal. The music is a little less aggressive than I expected, but overall, this is a good disc, albeit not quite as good as "B.A.C.K." "By Inheritance" is Artillery's third album, so the search continues. "Razamanaz" is a Nazareth cover.

B.A.C.K. Artillery-B.A.C.K. (Diehard Music Worldwide) 1999

1. "Cybermind" (4:01)
2. "How Do You Feel" (3:58)
3. "Out of the Trash" (3:58)
4. "Final Show" (5:26)
5. "WWW" (3:53)
6. "Violent Breed" (3:47)
7. "Theatrical Exposure" (3:56)
8. "B.A.C.K." (3:47)
9. "The Curse" (3:15)
10. "Paparazzi" (4:07)

A good friend of mine from Germany sent me this disc 'cause he knew I would love it. Apparently these guys had such a cult following in Germany that the band reformed and released this disc. Well, my friend was right, I love this disc. Artillery play old school thrash metal, and they play it well. I'd put this one the same level with bands like Kreator, which is a high honor in my opinion. Vocalist Flemming Ronsdorf has a unique voice, although at times he reminds me of the vocalist from Cirith Ungol. (Did I spell that right?) The only bad thing about discovering this band, is now I will have to begin looking for some discs from their back catalog, which I'm sure is going to be a difficult task.

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