Thursday, January 6, 2011

Sample Review: Aggression

Aggression (Montréal, Canada)
Éric Langlois/"Botcher"/"Butcher" (lv), Dennis Barthe/"Sasquatch"/"Death" (g/bv), Bernard Caudron/"Burn" (g/bv), Yves Duguay/"Dug" (b/bv), Gaëtan Bourassa/"Gate" (d/bv)
Aggression (September, 1985): Blaspheming at the Altar / Evil Pox / Metal Slaughter / Torment of Death
Live 1986 (1986): Intro: The Heretic / Evil Pox / Frozen Aggressor / Poseidon / Circle of the Tyrants [Celtic Frost cover] / No Sympathy [Nasty Savage cover] / Forsaken Survival / Metal Slaughter / Blaspheming at the Altar / Fight Till Death [Slayer cover] / Brain Damage / Torment of Death / Exodus [Exodus cover] / The Final Command [Slayer cover]
Demo II (April, 1986): Beware the Scarecrow / Forsaken Survival / Bloody Massacre Carnival / The Final Massacre
Formed as Asylum on Halloween, 1984 (with Langlois originally on bass), these thrashers changed their name at the urging of Voivod manager Johnny Hart. Their 1985 demo (recorded at Studio Prise Un in Chomeday) is hampered by a muddy production, but consists of mostly fast thrash full of crunchy riffing. Reviews at the time noted a heavy Slayer influence, but I don't hear it much, other than them being about as heavy as Show No Mercy. They got much heavier on the soundboard live tape, upgrading to brutal thrash/death with meaner vocals and lots of energy. Even though the guitars aren't loud enough and the tubby sound is heavy on the drums, their brutality shines through more effectively. They fuck up the lyrics to "Circle of the Tyrants," but otherwise the covers are good. Besides a couple of 1986 comp appearances, they managed to record one album in 1987 before splitting, though they came back with a revised lineup in 2004. They did record an unreleased album in December of 1986 (originally announced as The Final Massacre) for the bankrupt label Facemelt, which was finally released as Forgotten Skeleton in 2004. Langlois went back to bass with Cryptopsy, while Barthe (who also spends time with Cradle to Grave) and Duguay reformed the band in 2005. Sadly Bourassa died of a heart attack in February, 2009.

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