VIO-LENCE — Eternal Nightmare (review)

VIO-LENCE — Eternal Nightmare album cover Album · 1988 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Kev Rowland
When people refer to Vio-lence these days, it is normally to say this was the band Rob Flynn was in before he formed Machine Head, and that it was where he and Phil Demmell started working together. What is generally missed is that this was an important band in its own right in the Bay Area thrash scene, with their debut album being a milestone in that area’s musical history. The band originally formed as Death Penalty in 1985 with Jerry Birr (vocals), Phil Demmel (guitar), Troy Fua (guitar), Eddie Billy (bass) and Perry Strickland (drums). They soon changed their name first to Violence and then Vio-lence, and after some demo recordings Demmell and Strickland were soon joined by Sean Killian (vocals), Robb Flynn (guitar) and Deen Dell (bass). This line-up recorded three albums before breaking up, of which this is the debut and widely regarded as their finest work. It has now been remastered by Patrick Engel and contains the same additional tracks as the 2005 Megaforce reissue – a live recording taken from their set at the Thrash of the Titans benefit in 2001 where they reformed to raise money for Chuck Billy and Chuck Schuldiner with early guitarist Ray Vegas replacing Robb Flynn for the night.

I did not hear this album when it was first released, so am coming to it quite new, which probably means I have a very different view to what those who grew up with it do. To me this is heavily influenced by Anthrax in particular, and while there are many who feel Killian is a wonderful singer due to his different approach to many others within the thrash scene, I actually find his vocals quite annoying and not up to the standard of what is going on beneath him. Already there is incredible understanding between Demmell and Flynn, something they continued in their lengthy partnership in Machine Head (15 years until Demmell left, who has now reformed Vio-lence with Killian). Strickland and Dell have a very solid platform indeed, with Dell providing a key interface to the guitars which are often locked as one, with fast interplay of complex riffs and styles. They were doing far more with their guitars and interaction with each other than many other thrash bands, having much more of a band feel as opposed to someone going out on their own and having what at times is almost a soloist and a backing band.

This band certainly deserve to be much more than just a footnote in Flynn’s history, and it is nice to see this being made more widely available again. If you want to catch the band in concert then they are undertaking a heavy touring schedule and these days even include Christian Olde Wolbers (Fear Factory) in the line-up, so would be well worth checking out.
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