Krush, Kill, Destroy

Once you get past the classics of any genre, the progression as you begin to delve deeper naturally heads to the second-tier bands, then perhaps the third-tier bands, and eventually hits demo-only bands who have not so much as a remastered compilation to their name and have been forgotten for decades by all but a few diehard collectors. It's at this point that you might encounter, in a thorough search of 80s USPM, something like Intruder's one and only release, the 2-song EP entitled Krush, Kill, Destroy. What we have here is passable, at times even competent, blue collar USPM in the vein of early Metal Church or Nasty Savage. The vocalist has a pretty good range and a gritty sneer comparable to (though nowhere near as good as) David Wayne's, but he's not especially charismatic, and while the riffs are pretty good, there aren't quite enough of them and they're not quite good enough to make any aspect of this release especially memorable. The production is fairly rough, though by no means unlistenable, and nothing about the songwriting jumps out at you in the way that, say, your Omen, your Jag Panzer, or your Liege Lord songwriting would. Overall, hardcore fans of traditional metal and/or USPM will enjoy it, but probably not feel the urge to come back for multiple listens. This is a band that might have been second-tier with some time to improve, but, like so many other bands, was ultimately left to rot in obscurity when their debut release failed to get the attention of anyone who might have given them a chance to fulfill their full potential.