THRILLER - GERMANY

THRILLER - STREET METAL - FUCKING KILL!  
These guys used to be glamsters? Rolling and pounding drums kick off the album and it is off to the races of a heavy, power and speed metal tour de force. Thriller’s debut album, handled independently at first and then released through the Fucking Kill! Imprint, is everything a fan of timeless metal that originated with the sounds of Accept, Killer, High Tension, Crossfire and Faithful Breath in the 1980s and to this day has torchbearers such Eliminator and Skull Fist would want. Add the German quintet Thriller to that list. This may scream 1986 loudly and proudly, but is not a parody. Rather, it is a great album, bereft of a false start, that continues the spirit and style of real metal with actual riffs, demonstrable songs, hair-raising solos, gritty teutonic backing vocals and punchy singing. Let the girly boys and their shrivelled (former) nuts shake their (man) tits to symphonic/keyboardic/synthetic garbage. The mid to high-pitched vocals here deliver on the recommended daily dose of power.
Iron Goddess is a smoothly delivered and executed belter. That riff is galloping and heavy. This is the closest to what Skull Fist fans would recognize. Aiming For Freedom has the thundering drums, high screams, tight rhythms and the tremolo-crazed whacked guitar solo. The exuberance and energy of the dual solos, guitar harmonies and trade-offs stems from molten metal. Days Are Gone really reminds one of Cobra’s Denim Attack. Both are great songs and this one ventures into speed metal territory. The drummer does not lack energy and the guitarist’s right hand is non-stop. It is tight and the chants help. Bring Me The Light introduces a guitar tone change and its own tempo change. It slows down, but the higher vocal register raises the devil’s horns. Thriller’s knack is that the catchiness never comes at the expense of the metal and, despite being overly melodic, this could have been an Accept song from 1985. City’s On Fire, which is a couple of songs down the line, may be the album’s nominal title track. Either way, Street Metal, a title that makes even more sense given the cover artwork, delivers on hot asphalt from start to the end.
There is obviously quite a bit to like here. The dual guitars and soloing, the driven energy reminiscent of older bands, the themes of freedom and heavy metal, the singer who cuts it at all registers and the band completely skews non-metal sounds, keyboards, cellos, girlfriends crooning on tape and all the stupidity that the poser acts of today burn us with. None of that crap is here. With all of that said, the sound may be acceptable and clear overall, but there is a bottom-heavy aspect to this with the hissy toms and clicky bass drums coming across as a bit of a mess. That is where Thriller could improve. No matter, Thriller thrills with its hard and coarse street metal with Proud To Be Different and Days Are Gone being favourites. - Ali “The Metallian"