Obnoxious

For most 'Obnoxious' is the hardest Acid Reign album to digest. Although I agree it is their least accessible album, it still is a mostly strong effort with a few shortcomings. However, discarding the album because it has a pink cover or introvert/self reflecting lyrics instead of singing about swords, satan or nuclear threats would be too easy.

A lot of songs are simply great. Opener 'Creative Restraint' is catchy as fuck with very enjorable lyrics. 'Joke Chain' is a more varied, diverse composition but has enough really fast moments to keep it interesting and energetic. Same goes for 'My Open Mind'

However the band misses the mark on especially some of the very long songs.

'Thoughtful Sleep' (7:22 minutes), being by far the worst song of the bunch. The riffs are not that strong, vocal lines not all that impressive. Halfway through the song they pick up the pace but it's too little, too late. What we're they trying here? Some kind of nineties version of Fade to Black (Metallica) or Anthem to the Estranged (Metal Church)? Whatever it was, it isn't working. Also because H hadn't really found the melodic side of his voice yet, making it all sound 'not entirely convincing'. Flotsam & Jetsam's E.M.T.E.K. (released one day after this album) did a much better job at it.

'Phantasm' (9:28 minutes) falls flat on its face after 3 and a half minute of excellent fast paced thrash. Why? Because Phantasm is actually two songs. 'Running Scared' is the fast song and 'The Tall Man' the other, meandering one. Possibly it could have worked better if they had been kept apart because only the lyrics connect them but the music does not. 'The Tall Man' is just bland.

Best of the 'long bunch' is easily 'Codes of Conformity' (9:10 minutes), musically and lyrically. The song could have been cut of at the 4:15 and no one would have noticed. However! It goes on with a fast paced section filled with flashy guitar solos. And at the 6 minute mark the band go full Mordred mode. Funk! And it's not even done so badly. Whereas it took Sacred Reich an entirely seperate song (released two weeks after this album, what are the odds) to show their love for funk and address artistic fundamentalism in metal, Acid Reign simply put it right after 6 minutes of pure thrash metal. And guess what, that is what the songs lyrics are all about. So yeah, point made and taken (The song could've done without the minute long outro though)

Arriving only 14 months after 'The Fear' this album took a few steps forward and sideways too hastily for some fans as well as themselves. Perhaps the band should've taken more time to let some of these songs mature and balance out the album more properly.

If you ask a casual metal fan “Which is the best British thrash metal band of all times?”, the answer in seven out of ten cases would be “Sabbat”; the other three would most likely be “Xentrix”, or eventually “Onslaught”. Some serious head-scratching will follow if the fan is asked to come up with at least one more name from the old timers; he/she will by all means know Evile from the new guard, but acts from the old days would be hard to be recalled. Which is sad since classic British thrash is so much more than those three/four names. Let’s have a look at this list: Toranaga, Slammer, Deathwish, Seventh Angel, Hydra Vein, Sacrilege, Satan/Pariah, Detritus, Virus, Acid Reign, Hellbastard, Xyster, Lawnmower Deth, Holosade, Cerebral Fix, Re-Animator, Blood Money, Wolfpack, D.A.M…. Holocaust as well with the progressive weirdness “The Sound of Souls”. And these are only those who managed to release a full-length; not to mention the hordes of underground stalwarts who never managed to rise above.

A major reason why the British thrash metal scene is relatively obscure is that it was completely overshadowed by the German and US ones on which the focus has always been. Another one is that The Isles have largely been revered for the existence of the Holy Three of heavy metal (Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden) who were still going strong during the 80’s; and just when thrash over there was about to show up its head above ground some time in the middle of the decade, appeared another holy triumvirate: Bolt Thrower, Carcass, and Napalm Death to brutalize the world with the new “atrocities” grindcore and death metal. So thrash metal’s thunder was stolen again... Anyway, the world learnt about Sabbat’s ambitious pagan motifs, Xentrix’s Bay-Area worship, Onslaught meanderings through the thrash metal spectre; but not about much else.

Acid Reign appeared at the time when most of the listed acts did and took part in a thriving, albeit for a very short while, movement. They entered the arena in 1988 with the “Moshkinstein” EP, which was in truth a full-length with its running time of 32-min. From the very beginning the band showed a penchant for a more complex song-writing with lengthy compositions and more elaborate arrangements mixed with humorous, goofy lyrics (check the EP title) and fast-paced outbursts of impetuous thrashing. “The Fear” was released less than a year later and showed their fans that they had “nothing to fear”: the guys carried on with their staple, less ordinary antics by notching up the aggression which on the less restrained material bordered on proto-death with ease. Things looked well set for the band to join the growing death metal cohorts with their next instalment…

Well, not exactly. The band have voted to continue with their thrashy infatuations, and also to show to their colleagues how some really awesome progressive/technical thrash could be played. The complexity of this album can come as quite a surprise to the fanbase since it goes well beyond the several quirky experimental touches encountered on their previous opuses. This is a “beast” produced for the first time in the UK, with no “creative restraint” like the title of the opener suggests. That same opener thrashes rigorously, but not very fast, marching forward with a steady pace until it hits the more quiet interlude in the middle which is superseded by excellent technical thrashing in the second half. A great way to start this stylish opus which also wins a lot of points from the presence of “Joke Chain”, a virtuoso combination of intense thrash and quirky technicality. Something new in the band’s repertoire sneaks in after that, a balladic lead-driven motif which grows into the 7.5-min “Thoughtful Sleep”, an eventful semi-ballad somewhat ruined by the hoarse, not very emotional vocals; the riffs later start jumping up-and-down to a dizzying effect reaching Watchtower-esque hecticness. The guys speed up later on by preserving the jarring riffage to ensure this is one of the most impressive progressive thrashers in British metal history, and not only.

“You are Your Enemy” is a short brutalizer raging hard for about 2.5-min, recalling the less controlled histrionics from the preceding album; and “Phantasm” is another lengthy saga, a 9.5-min amalgam of very fast thrash, sudden time and tempo-changes, avant-garde, almost jazzy breaks, and short spastic lead sections. “My Open Mind” is a disorienting piece with random technical build-ups which turn into more linear speedy moments those replaced by more bewildering technicality near the end. “Codes of Conformity” is exactly the opposite to what its title implies: nothing like “conformity” here, the band open with some moshing , headbanging riffs to shatter your senses by increasing the technicality bit by bit without going down on the speed making this cut one of the most interesting 9-min in the annals of British thrash; some may frown on the eccentric jazzy section in the second half, but others will praise the band’s strife for weirdness. “This is Serious” is the obligatory joke track, a crossover non-sense which still has a couple of unnerving, scratching guitars to bemuse the listener.

Progressive/technical thrash metal is very sparsely covered on British ground, if at all. There’s the more jocund, crossover side of the genre (Lawnmower Deth, Hellbastard), there’s the references to the Bay-Area (Xentrix, Slammer), there’s the dark , brooding atmospherics (Seventh Angel, Deathwish), there’s the less speedy, steam-rolling swagger (Sacrilege, Cerebral Fix)… But really complex, progressive metal works are quite a rarity, unfortunately. Sabbat’s folk/pagan tactics can hardly pass for anything too elaborate although Detritus did manage to capture some of Metallica’s intricacy from the “Master/Justice” era on their two efforts later in the 90’s. However, this behemoth here remains unsurpassed; what makes it even more commendable is the fact that it doesn’t really have a prototype to cling to. It does have moments from the works of Watchtower, Realm, and even Deathrow, but they blend so well with the more orthodox, more aggressive thrashing that one may as well not notice them. There’s this jarring, hectic technicality which was later covered far’n wide on the Meshuggah efforts; the Swedes may have taken some serious notes while listening to this recording. At the same time there are these fabulous, hyper-speedy passages that would cut one’s head off throwing a bridge over to the more headbanging-prone side of the fanbase. It covers a fairly wide ground providing “food” for all walks of thrash metal lovers although the more level-headed ones may not have the patience to sit through the whole album due to the numerous, not very easy to swallow, moments.

After a culmination like this a split-up seemed like the most logical continuation, and the band disappeared from the public eye after releasing a compilation (“The Worst of Acid Reign”) of covers and demo versions of already familiar tracks in 1991. Most of the line-up was recruited almost immediately by Lee Dorian (Napalm Death) for his newly formed doom metal outfit, Cathedral; and the guitarist Kev joined Lawnmower Deth who remained afloat for a few more spells in the 90’s. Only the singer, the famously laconically named H, remained largely inactive patiently waiting for the good old days to return and bring back the vogues when “obnoxious” actually meant “great”. He did live to see those days coming back, and quickly summoned new musicians under the Acid Reign flag early in the new millennium. However, their active participation in concerts and festivals across the globe has been the reason for the lack of any new material save for one song (“Plan of the Damned”) released as a single about a year ago. This new cut shows H and his new gang producing something not very far from the interesting rifforamas presented in the distant past so they may as well sit down one of these days and create another handful of “obnoxious” tunes to pollute the minds of the new thrash generation.

The apple core isn't rotten, but it sure has seen more enthralling days. Acid Reign play pacified UK thrash that sounds like the end result of a drunken and bumbling game of "pin the tail on the standard genre trope," insofar that they certainly brought the riffs with them, but metamorphosed into some aggregate of Anthrax-tempered joviality coupled with proto-rethrash exercises in the cringe-inducting and eyeball-rolling. One look at the garish and shameless cover art should make none of this surprising, but to be honest, Obnoxious doesn't necessarily live up to its name; at least not at the level I expected it to when I first heard it. For a band boasting such audacious back-catalogue entries as Moshkinstein and Hangin' on the Telephone, this album is actually far more straight-faced and in the end, less memorable than it could have been.

Rabid velocity is certainly not the order of the day here, and just like their Hull neighbors Re-Animator, Acid Reign's material features an airy, lightweight backbone infused with incomprehensible bloating via overstuffed riffage and unusual song structure. It isn't really progressive in any true sense, but you can hardly blame these lads for trying to crack new genre codes by the time of this album's release, as the gig was clearly just about up for all included. The cyclic, balanced swagger of the riffs does earn the band some immediate credibility, discounting the lack of poignancy and grace. "Thoughtful Sleep" does not seem promising going in, but for a seven-plus minute thrash anthem, it actually works surprisingly well and is stuffed to the gills with passable riffs. Smith actually performs reasonably well when he tries to sing, and I wish he would attempt this style more often. He isn't a bad thrash vocalist by any means, but he has the despondent tendency to cut his enunciations a modicum short, and it just sounds like spastic barking like on "Joke Chain." It almost sounds like he is out of breath or a split-second behind the rest of the band and trying to compensate and catch up (Out...of..your...minds).

So just like Re-Animator's Laughing, there are some downright fucking stupid experimental moments. "You Are Your Enemy" gets in and out quickly, but sounds like Children of Bodom with the silly keyboard effects. This is also a very unbalanced record concerning its procession. Quick sub-three minute solo vehicles are coupled slipshod with massive, Time Does Not Heal-length pseudo-epics like "Phantasm." I get what the band is trying to do here, and to be honest they actually fire off a few noteworthy ideas on the longer numbers, but it is a very frustrating way to assemble things. You can close your eyes and randomly jump to any spot of this album and have no idea where you really are, as there are very few distinct moments outside of the aforementioned negatives. The architecture of the music might not seem inherently complex or intricate, and it doesn't necessarily need to be to work, but Acid Reign seem to needlessly stretch themselves over stylistic gaps here, and it really leaves them open to downright sucking when the chips don't fall in their favor.

Obnoxious is not a horrible thrash record, nor is it even a disappointment when viewing the UK scene as the average microcosm that it was. Slammer probably takes the cake for the worst example of the region, but these guys weren't too far behind. The production values are decent and deliver all of the snappy, pluggy goodness that characterized late '80s- early '90s thrash records, and a passable vocalist in Smith means that there are no glaring weaknesses concerning individual performances alone. What came together was something uninspired and ultimately forgettable. There's a subtle sense of bruised glory when some of the longer numbers finally wrap up, but there is also a lot of fluff to mitigate in order to get through to the good stuff. I don't know about this one, nor can I say that it meets the requirements as a curiosity piece, since there is so little distinctive about it. Acid Reign were never much to look at, and their disposal to the annals of second-tier thrash history is as deserved as could be.

Now, Acid Reign were fools. Both to themselves and to the public, which led to the misconception that they were a joke band, a band for whom apple-core was a great joke and taking themselves seriously was ridiculous. They played up to this image too, and were thus consigned to a bit-part in the history of thrash. When they split in '92, the sign-off Lp (the worst of Acid Reign) again emphasised this self-parody.


BUT!!!! In actual fact musically this was a very talented band! The UK was not a hotbed of thrash talent, there was Sabbat, Xentrix, Acid Reign and a coupla lesser known bands like Sacrilege and Seventh Angel, and so it was difficult to get noticed/signed. Yet Acid Reign managwed this and produced a great EP 'Moshkinstein' and 1st album 'The Fear'. Thus witht their 2nd LP, expectations were high.


Unfortunately, the album came out to a backdrop of a) And Justice For All b)increased apathy towards thrash and appreciation of death metal. So to stand out as a thrash metal opus, the record would need to be both technically adept, and supported by a commited touring band.

Needless to say, Acid Reign were not a commited touring band, and self-destructed soon after this LP. But the album itself is a tour de force of technical thrash. It is, in my mind, the greatest UK thrash album other that Sabbat's 'Dreamweaver'.

Opening tune 'Creative Restraint' sets the tone with its clever lyrics, insistent riffage and keen song structure. This mood is continued by 'Joke Chain',an insistent bass riff leads into guitar heaven, and some adept, Voivod/Atheist-esque twisting riffs. the lyrics deal with climate change, as does much of the album.

Song 3, 'Thoughtful Sleep' is the record's piece de resistance - a 7 minute ballad recording the trial of a child's neglect from its parents - utterly brilliant. This song should be held up as a paragon of thrash wizardry, b ut clearly the pther elements surrounding this band get in the way.

The final song on side A is a hardcore-tinged mosh favourite - fast and frenetic.

Side B opens with a classical piece, before segueing into the sort of intelligent thrash people thought only Metallica could do - not so! The final song finishes with a cheeky funk piece, again this lays Acid Reign open to criticism of being a joke band - NOT TRUE!

IN short this is intelligent, complex thrash metal of the highest order, and is now receiving a deserved reappraisal in mags such as Terrorizer, who recognise this as a pinnacle in UK thrash - go and buy now!!!!!

Hey metalheads don't be afraid of this pink/purplish cover, here is some decent thrash. Sure this thrash metal was coming from the UK, not Bay Area, but it is still good nonetheless. Acid Reign played along with Reanimator and Xentrix at this time. While listening to this just think Anthrax and everything will be alright. These guys can be like Anthrax on many levels. Like Anthrax the originality of the material lacks, but that is why it is so silly...er awsome! Some of the songs like Joke Chain and Thoughtful Sleep are filled with hillarious Anthrax type lyrics. On the song This is Serious they have this guy talking, it sounds like he is a drunk british dude who is just rampling on! The vocals are definetly like old Anthrax. Unlike some thrash bands who deliever high screaming lyrics, Acid Reign's vocals almost sound punkish, raw and low. They also have a lot of backing vocals like Anthrax does on Among the Living (ie songs like Code of Conformity and This is Serious). Even the bass twangs are formiliar to that era. The riffs are cool, just your typical fast pased or slow yet powerful chord slamming riffs. The main riff of Phantasm screams thrash metal, just one example of great riffing. Plenty of riffs to headbang and laugh your ass off! The drums are also great, thrash style with fast paced double bass beats (ie. You Are Your Own Enemy). If you like Anthrax or Wrathchild America, you will love these guys. Decent thrash from the UK.