Dead Heat Elimination

When I was in the Metal Blade shop picking up the new Armored Saint, I was surprised to see that they had a new Dead Heat album for sale as well. I mean, I know that I haven't been paying attention to discover new releases, but still, I thought that I might have heard along the way that Dead Heat had a new album out last year.

The new Dead Heat was an instant buy for me. I didn't bother to preview the album first... nope, just drop it in the cart and check out. Shortly after making my purchase, I queued the album up on Spotify, and my first thought was that maybe I'd made a mistake in jumping to buy it so quick. That initial listen was very underwhelming. It felt flat and lifeless and I regretted buying it. I didn't bother to listen to it again, and the record has been sitting untouched in a pile of new vinyl for the past two months. I figured that I'd give it a spin this week, so that I could write about it here and move on... but you know what... this record is actually great! I don't know what my problem was when I heard this back in March, but I'm so glad that it is clicking for me now.

I've previously compared past Dead Heat records to the crossover style of Suicidal Tendencies album Join The Army, but listening to Process Of Elimination right now, all I hear is straight up thrash. Had I picked this up last year when it was released, it would have easily made my Best Of 2025 list. This album rips.

Armored Factory Reset

I'm not gonna lie... it has been a bit of a struggle with new metal records this year. Hell, it feels like it's been a slow year for new music in general... but for metal especially. Here we are now seven months deep into 2026 and this is only my second new metal release that I've picked up. Has the year really been this dry, or am I just stuck in the past listening to old 90's hardcore records and not doing my homework on new shit? Whatever it is, there was no way that I was going to let a new Armored Saint album slip by me.

I know that I can always count on Armored Saint. They do what they do and they deliver every time without fail. Traditional metal fired straight down the barrel and it always hits the target for me. They have been releasing an album every five years or so since 2010, so it was good to see a new Saint album, Emotion Factory Reset land this year.

Man, John Bush doesn't age, and his voice still sounds strong on this latest record. It always amazes me when bands that were releasing their classic albums back in the 80's, can still release something as fresh and as exciting as this so many years down the road. Respect.

Sacred Surf

Growing up with thrash metal through my teens, it really helped to set the foundation for a lot of my core beliefs. While there were certainly those bands that focused on more fantastic themes of violence and satan, there were also a large number of bands that were more grounded in reality... pushing back on expected norms with more progressive lyrics around questioning authority and social justice issues, such as environmental concerns, attacking big business, class and race issues, as well as general vibes about a more peaceful world. For every Slayer that was screaming "Do you want to die" there was a Nuclear Assault and Testament singing about handling the earth with care and the greenhouse effect... and while I loved the satanic stuff, the songs that called out real world problems had the most impact on me.

One of those bands that was big for me in the late 80's was Sacred Reich. Their lyrics on Ignorance, especially Administrative Decisions, hit me hard, and I remember a video clip of them on Hard n' Heavy where they said they hated George Bush, and I was just like "fuck yes" this band gets it. As a young kid, they just seemed so smart and wanting to make a positive impact on the world around them. Honestly, stuff like that was a huge influence to my jump over to hardcore and punk around 1990.

Anyway, yeah, Sacred Reich were a huge band for me, and I clearly remember listing to their Surf Nicaragua tape in my car a lot on the drive to college or between classes. With a song about the problem of US intervention in Central America and One Nation fighting against prejudice and bigotry, it just seemed important. We need more bands like this in 2026.

I've been wanting to pick up the vinyl for this EP for a long time now, so I was very happy to grab it from Tim's collection.

Predator Or Prey

Clearly this record is problematic, but look, I'm a sucker for cheesy 80's metal, and when I saw this in Tim's collection I knew that I needed to own it.

I rembember seeing this album cover in metal magazine ads in the mid 80's and being struck by it. To me it was just peak horror movie vibes, and I didn't really pick up on the sexual assault intent here... and yet while I was always interested in this record, I never came across it at the stores that I'd frequent each week. Years passed and I forgot all about that Predator record, but seeing it in Tim's collection it all came back to me an I needed to finally get my hands on it.

It's really no surprise that this record isn't going to blow anyone's mind. Some of the lyrics are cringeworthy, and the second half of this record is kind of tired and boring... but there are some moments of 80's metal gold, especially with Masters Of The Night. For me, the record was worth it for that song alone.

Midnight Disgust

Since picking up Midnight's Satanic Royalty back in 2012, I've only skipped buying a new album from them... 2017's Sweet Death and Ecsasty (which I just wasn't feeling at the time, and I've never gone back to check it out again). Midnight have released three albums since then, and I've loved each of them... so when I saw that Metal Blade had a new Midnight record up for preorder, I didn't hesitate to place an order. When it arrived and I gave it a first listen, I was thinking that maybe I should have skipped this one too.

To be fair, I knew nothing about Midnight's Steel, Rust And Disgust when I bought it. On my first listen I couldn't help but think that the songs didn't really feel like Midnight. I wasn't really excited about what I'd heard and then I looked a little closer at the album and realized that they were all cover songs (well, with the exception of two new original songs). That certainly explained why it didn't fully feel like a Midnight record.

After my initial listen, I thought that I could probably just shelve this one, and not concern myself with listening to it again... but as I was just listening to the record while writing up this post, I found it kind of fun. Ten cover songs here, all from Cleveland bands that helped to influence Athenar from Midnight, and they are all so obscure that I've never even heard of most of them... the closest we come is a Dead Boys cover that I may have listened to a handful of times, but I don't really remember it. So overall, this could be a fun record to reach for from time to time because there is some cool shit here when I'm not being too stubborn to appreciate it.

Satan In Crimson

Just when I have hopes that I'll be back to posting every couple of days, the US has an election that shows just how fucking dumb and short sighted people can be, and it immediately crushes any momentum that I had. What the actual fuck? PTSD of Trump's first presidency was triggered and I'm not sure how the fuck I'm going to deal with another four years of hateful bullshit from him and his fanbase. Fuck fuck fuck you.

I'm going to be avoiding a lot of social media and general news for a while, so maybe now that I've shaken off that initial shock, this is the perfect time to focus on records and churn out a bunch of posts.

Satan have been one of those rare New Wave Of British Heavy Metal bands that were able to come back after years of inactivity and just blow my mind with how good they still are. Their 5th album since reuniting in 2011, and Songs In Crimson does not disappoint. I've struggled to stay interested with a few new metal albums this year... like the Saxon and Judas Priest records are good, but I don't find myself wanting to return to them very often... and I worried that might be the case with the new Satan as well. I assumed that I might play it and forget it... but that was not how it went. I started playing the songs as I was working, and quickly lost focus on what I was doing because these songs screamed for my attention. This record is so good, and it is actually quite shocking how great the band continue to be this many years down the line.

700 pressed on "transparent pigeon blue marbled" color vinyl.

Cirith Parade

When Cirith Ungol reunited and released a one song single back in 2018, it took me by surprise. I never expected this obscure 80's metal band to get back together, let alone produce music that approached the quality of their classic albums... but with their first full length in almost 30 years, Forever Black in 2020 proved that they still could deliver.

I didn't even know that Cirith Ungol had a new album on the way until I was in the Metal Blade store picking up the new Cannibal Corpse back in September. Seeing Dark Parade listed for preorder, I immediately added it to the order. This album is just so solid. Traditional metal with a touch of doom. The band has remained relatively intact over the years, with the exception of adding Jarvis Leatherby from Night Demon on bass, but goddamn, they sound exactly like they did back in the 80's. How is it that the singer still sounds the same after all these years? Impressive. For some reason, I don't pull out the Cirith Ungol records very often, but I can tell that I'm going to enjoy listening to this one anytime that I do.

Nice looking "mineral marbled" colored vinyl.

The Tempter

After a steady stream of cheap records earlier this year, I started making conscious decisions to buy records that would make a more serious impact on my collection. Records plucked from the dollar bin for unknown and forgotten hardcore bands is fun, but sooner or later it just gets to the point when I question what the fuck I'm doing. I'd added a couple heavy hitters over the recent months, and it pushed me to actually look at my Top Wants list for the year.

The first four Trouble albums are doom metal perfection. I own the vinyl for Run To The Light and the self titled record, but their first two were missing in my collection. The singer, Eric Wagner, died of covid complications a few years ago, and that loss pushed the first Trouble record near the top of my want list. It has taken me longer than I want to get my hands on one, but it was worth the wait because, other than a crushed corner on the cover, this thing is in fantastic condition. Colored vinyl was not that common when this album was released back in 1984, but Metal Blade nailed it when they originally had this pressed on white vinyl.

Ugh. This record is so heavy and Eric Wagner was a force on vocals. He was still touring and recording with his new band, The Skull, at the time of his passing. Such a tragic loss.

Thirty Five Year Plan

Music has always played a big part in my life, and I find myself getting wrapped up in different eras and styles at different times. My obsessions shift all over the place and constantly change, but there is one thing that will always hold true... one of the best feelings is that special charge I get when I pick up a record for one of those classic records from my teenage years. Nothing hits quite like that for me.

Dirty Rotten Imbeciles were a pretty big influence on me in those days. I had discovered Dealing With It when I was 15 or 16, and while none of the other D.R.I. albums came close to matching that ferocity, each one was still vital and important to this teen metalhead and helped shape how I saw the world around me. I remember when I first saw Crossover in the record store. Information was pretty limited in those days, and typically when a new album would show up in the store, it was a surprise. At first glance, I needed to make sure this was the same D.R.I. band that I was familiar with... Dealing With It had 25 songs, but Crossover only had 12... plus, what was up with that slick looking front cover? Right out of the gate something felt different. Still, with song titles like Go Die and No Religion, it had to be the real deal, right?

While Crossover marks a big change from the first two D.R.I. albums... kind of like the change from the first Suicidal Tendencies record to Join The Army... of course I still fucking loved it. It was still fast, snotty and with a strong Us vs. Them fuck you attitude. 17 year old me loved this record, and 35 years later I was just as siked to finally pick up the vinyl for it.

Four Of A Kind

D.R.I. were a huge influence on me as a teenage metalhead, and really helped to push me in the direction of punk and hardcore. Discovering Dealing With It around 1986 was a definite game changer, and seeing the band live on the Thrash Zone tour in early in 1990 helped to seal the deal. That was the first time that I had been to a show where there was no barrier...it was just the band with the kids right there in their face, and it blew my mind when the singer was sticking the microphone into the crowd to sing along. People were stage diving like crazy and to be there in the middle of it completely changed my perspective on what a live show could be like. This was the real deal.

I definitely need to work on my D.R.I. collection, so I was especially excited to pick up Four Of A Kind. I was even more thrilled at the time when I was able to grab this copy off eBay and not have to deal with inflated Discogs prices.

I remember being initally disappointed with Four Of A Kind when it was released. It certainly wasn't going to compare to Dealing With It, and it didn't come across very strong following up Crossover, so it felt a bit weak when I first heard it. I soon came around though, and while it still comes up short compared to the albums before it, Four Of A Kind is still classic D.R.I. with songs like Suit And Tie Guy, Slumlord, Manifest Destiny and Think For Yourself. Great record.

Earth Infernal

Satan were originally a part of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, and they released a stone cold classic with Court In The Act in '83. I still need to get that album into my collection, and with my push to make a run at some serious NWOBHM records this year, I'm really hoping to cross it off the want list soon. Until then, I've got the latest Satan album to keep me warm at night.

After a number of member changes, name changes, and years of inactivity, Satan came roaring back in 2013. The three albums they released after reforming have all made it to the number one spot in my year end ranking for metal. They have to be one of the better bands to come back and record new shit. As soon I saw they were releasing a new album this year, and preorders for Earth Infernal went up, I didn't hesitate to throw some money to Metal Blade.

The band isn't doing anything new here with Earth Infernal...just another solid traditional heavy metal record. This is exactly what I'm looking for in my metal...sounding like the 80's in 2022. Almost 40 years since the classic Court In the Act, and Satan still bring some quality metal.

Strength Of Steel

Anvil were a band that influenced a lot of metal bands in the early 80's. They were outrageous. They were fast. They were heavy. I didn't hear the band until they released their most commercial (and most successful) album, Strength Of Steel, in 1987. I was huge into thrash at the time, and while I enjoyed that Anvil album, it was still kind of disappointing when holding it up next to new releases from Anthrax, D.R.I. and Overkill.

To be honest, Strength Of Steel, isn't a terribly exciting album. There are some fun songs on here, but there are a number of them that are completely forgettable. If the band had amped up the energy and attitude with this record instead of leaning too much on mid paced rockers, things may have gone differently. While it is a fun song, in the end, Mad Dog just gets steamrolled by what bands like Metallica and Megadeth were doing.

The seller had this listed for a low price, so it was too easy to add it to my cart when I was picking up a couple of other records from them.

Speed Metal Freaks

I've been looking to pick up some Rigor Mortis vinyl for a couple years now. I listened to the self titled album a lot last year, and despite having my eye open for a copy, it just never happened. Either they were priced way too high, or it wasn't in the condition that I was looking for...either way, I just couldn't get it done. When I was picking up the Meliah Rage record, and I noticed that the seller had a copy of the Freaks EP, I quickly added it the cart. I've been listening to a lot of thrash this year, and didn't want to fuck around anymore. Just give me the goddamn record.

While it only has five songs, Freaks is every bit the classic that the self titled Rigor Mortis album is. Cattle Mutilation, Chained In The Attic, Worms Of The Earth, the title track... this record rages from start to finish. Top things off with that amazing album cover, and this EP is perfect.

Honestly, I'm pretty damn excited to add this record to my collection.

Szex Witchery At Midnight

It has been ten years since I was first introduced to Midnight, and it blows my mind to think that many years have passed. Christ, I know it was more than a few years, but fuck, ten years? I heard of this band through Sandwell and at the time there was a small group of friends that were blogging about cool records that we'd added to our collection. Not many of us are still keeping up with this nonsense, but I do miss checking in on everyone's blogs. Instagram posts don't hold the same interest. Things change with time and people find other interests, but one that stays consistent is Midnight.

Midnight are five albums in with Let There Be Witchery, and they still have that dirty sound of Venom and Motorhead. The first single from the album, Szex Witchery, even has a nice NWOBHM influence running through it. You know exactly what you are going to get with this band. No surprises...and I love it.

It wouldn't be a Midnight album without a little bit of tits and ass in the packaging. Things are a bit more tame this time around, but still, witches didn't dress like that back in my day.

Clear with black haze vinyl is limited to 200, and was only available through the Midnight bandcamp page.

Let The Vio-lence Burn

When forced to pick my favorite thrash album of all time, more often than not, you'll find me awarding the title to Vio-lence's Eternal Nightmare. It is only seven songs long, but it is a non-stop assault from start to finish. Absolute perfection. When I first heard that the band were back together and recording some new songs, I didn't know what to think. Could the band still play on the level of their peers like Testament, Overkill and Death Angel...or were they going to fall on their faces?

The first single they released was a cover of California Uber Alles, and that song was underwhelming as fuck. The band sounded good...Killian's vocals are great...but, man, listening to them cover that Dead Kennedys classic is just awkward. Plus the video with the slight bullshit slant of the "government is trying to control you with mask mandates" during a pandemic, isn't a good look. You'd think that a combo of Vio-lence and DK would be entertaining, but it isn't. Strange way to come out of retirement, and that they did a video for it, but I'm at least grateful that it didn't make it onto the new Let The World Burn EP. After the initial disappointment I approached the next single, Flesh From Bone, with a bit more apprehension but thankfully the band redeem themselves here.

I really enjoy the five songs on this EP. I know that the band was hesitant to release new material 29 years after their last album, but Let The World Burn is a nice addition to the Vio-lence catalog.

Monument To Nothing

I've been struggling lately to find the time to keep this blog up to date. I've been training to run a 100 mile race in May, and the training lately has been sucking up all of my free time. This is easily the biggest (and dumbest) thing that I'm attempting to run, and I'm fucking overwhelmed by the thought of it, so I've been spending most of my free time on the weekends putting up miles on the road so that I can go into this race feeling like I've done all that I could to prepare. Earlier this year, I was starting to get a little worried that I was going to completely catch up on this blog and have zero records to write about, but then my production here has dropped way off and now I have about 25 records backlogged and waiting for me to write about. Let's try and get this blog back on track.

One of my favorite old school metal records that I picked up last year was the debut from Hallows Eve, Tales Of Terror. I love that record so fucking much, but I also enjoy all of the Hallows Eve records from the 80's, so when I was picking up some other records from a Discogs seller, and saw that they had the Monument album available, I was happy to grab that as well.

The Monument album from 1988 doesn't seem to get the same amount of attention that Tales Of Terror and Death And Insanity recieve, but man, this record is still fun to thrash along to...even the Queen cover song hits pretty hard.

The only problem that I have with this record is that the post office dropped the box off on my steps... in the rain... and I didn't notice it for hours. Water definitely seeped into the package, and while the other records were safe in their plastic sleeves, this Hallows Eve album got hit with some damage along the bottom of the sleeve. Fuck.

Metal Obsession

It has been years since I've paid much attention to eBay. However, I've recently found a seller that is slowly listing their collection of metal records that they had back in the 80's, and I can't help by check out what auctions they have ending each weekend. Their records are in fantastic condition, so I keep throwing out the occasional bid and winning.

Obsession were from New Haven, Connecticut, and managed to get themselves onto the second Metal Massacre compilation. That comp is loaded front to back with great songs, but their track, Shadows Of Steel is one of my favorites. That one song was the extent of my exposure to the band, until a few years ago when I finally downloaded the songs from the Marshall Law EP from '83. The four songs on that EP are so damn good, and exactly what I'm looking for when I'm in the mood for some early 80's American Metal. When I saw I saw that my new favorite eBay seller had a copy available, I set my sights on winning another record from him.

This is early 80's metal perfection. From the album cover featuring a group of reapers in front of a stack of Marshall amps, to the photo of the dudes decked out in leather and chains on the back, and then the metal assualt from the four songs on this EP...so good! Owning this record, and seeing how much I'm digging it right now, it just makes me want to rush out and buy more of this stuff.

Generation Aliens

Earlier this year, I ended up watching some youtube video of a few guys discussing American heavy metal bands of the early 80's. Talking about bands like Manowar, Armored Saint, Omen, and Lizzy Borden had me obsessing over this time period and wanting to add some of those records to the collection.

With their over the top image, plus being on Metal Blade, I was totally drawn to Lizzy Borden as a kid. The front man looked like a lunatic as he was wielding an axe on stage and hacking up scantily clad women and spitting their blood. The band was basically Alice Cooper on stage for us 80's kids that missed out on those theatrics from the 70's. Plus, the band had the heavy metal chops to back it up.

I've been lusting after some Lizzy Borden vinyl for a while now, and while I figured that I'd be starting with their first album, Love You To Pieces, when I saw the Menace To Society record for a good price on eBay, I figured that I'd go in that direction instead. Man, I'd forgotten how much I love this record, and I got ridiculously excited when it arrived in the mail. I got a serious wave of nostalgia holding this record, and I had a moment when 80's metal records became a top priority for collecting.

Got to love it when records come with the original merch insert.

Metal Massacre II

Last month I was doing the #febmetalpunk challange on Instagram. I get a kick out of these challenges and it gives me a good excuse to go through the collection and pull some records off the shelf that I haven't thought about in a while. As an additional challenge this time around, I decided to limit myself to only posting metal records that were released during the 80's.

It seems that every record challenge uses the "complilation" category. I was struggling to come up with something new for the challenge this time around, and figured that I'd use it as a good excuse to buy something new so I'd have something interesting to post for this day. I've always been a fan of the Metal Massacre series, and since I only own a few of them, I decided that I'd make a run at one of the early records.

The thing that I like about the Metal Massacre series is that it is full of great songs from bands that are relatively obscure. One of my favorites is Metal Massacre II, as it is loaded top to bottom with some great heavy metal. Armored Saint were the only band here that made much of an impact, but still, the songs from Surgical Steel, Savage Grace, Obsession, and Trauma (with Cliff Burton!) are all killer. Given that this record is almost 40 years old, the copy that I picked up is in great condition. I'm not usually big on comps, but I'm very happy to finally own a copy of this one.

The Throne Within

If you are looking for a true throwback to 80's metal, RAM can deliver the goods. Their last three albums have been solid slabs of metal, so when I discovered that they had a new album due to be released in 2019, it quickly became one of my more anticipated metal records.

The Throne Within was an instant buy. I didn't need to hear any songs from the album, but if you wanted to sneak a peak, the video for Blades Of Betrayal was a good preview.

RAM continues to stick with that 80's metal style that they do best. They are missing some of the hooks that the 80's greats had, but man, they sure have the attitude and conviction to make them stand above most of the newer metal bands today. These guys just want to get you headbanging, and they manage to do that without fail.

The Throne Within was limited to only 100 in the US, and the ochre/brown marble vinyl looks great. All other pressings were out of Europe, so I was happy to get in and get a copy that avoided overseas shipping fees.

The record also comes with a huge poster, which was nice to pull out to check out, and then immediately tuck back into the sleeve never to see the light of day again.