A Higher Form of Killing

If there is one thing that is surprising, it has how little change actually occurs within this mostly blue sphere that we've all been riding our entire lives. Whether it's the 1960s, the late 1980s, or even the times of late, there will be no shortage of human atrocities to feed into the news machine that tends to keep people paranoid about the world beyond their own neighborhood. But as with all things, there is always an upside, and it comes in the form of plenty of material for yet another impressive notch in thrash metal's ever-expanding belt. In this particular case, the area of birth is that of Tennessee, in the form of a highly flamboyant and technical power house of a band in Intruder and a truly impressive sophomore studio outting, taking after roughly same mode of shred happy speed thrashing as fellow southern thrashers Watchtower, though with a bit more of that power metal tinged character that was exhibited by Toxik on their debut World Circus.

While the late 80s was saturated with bands taking on various political causes, A Higher Form Of Killing opts to concentrate on the aesthetic of terrorism, more than a decade before it came the central obsession of domestic American politics. Like an Orwellian nightmare within every living room of the U.S., things kick off with a montage of news clips detailing the carnage across the globe in the name of some abstract cause, which is followed by one of the more impressive barrages of riffs and attitude heard out of the style. "Martyr" is one of those truly massive songs after the mold of epics like Slayer's "Hell Awaits" and Anthrax's "Among The Living" where the listener is repeatedly built up by a succession of punchy riffs for about a minute or so before the speed fully kicks in and the lyrics commence telling what all the fuss is about. Coated up with high-flying vocal gymnastics that shift between an upper-mid ranged shout and glass-shattering banshee fare, not to mention an array of wild guitar solos, this song basically exemplifies everything that was truly magical about 80s thrash.

As the rest of the album cycles through, it becomes evident pretty quickly that Intruder was a band working from a paradigm of constant speed and flash that was starting to tapper off a bit by the time this was released, though wouldn't truly exit in favor of the slower, groovier sound until about a year later. Comparisons could easily be made to the crazed riff madness of Vio-Lence's Eternal Nightmare and Toxik's World Circus, and would still come up slightly short in doing justice to the heavily indulgent presentation heard on songs such as "Genetic Genocide" and "Killing Winds". If there is any legitimate criticism that could be thrown this album's way, it is that the format of the songs maybe a tad too similar, as with a few exceptions, they cycle through the same sort of epic structure that was codified on "Martyr". The exceptions are a comical cover of The Monkees' "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone", which is naturally fast and punk-infused in much the same way as Evildead's remake of "He's A Woman, She's A Man", though the vocal work sounds way different, and a shorter thrasher in "Mr. Death" that skips up on the slower sections and introductory material and just speeds away from start to finish, though with plenty of impressive guitar tricks.

Perhaps it's the fact that metal has gotten so much darker and more extreme since the end of the 1980s, but there is a certain irony to this album given how fun it listens next to the largely cynical subject matter that permeates most of these songs. Part of this could probably be due to the vocal factor, as singer Jimmy Hamilton all but sounds like he could have been a potential stand-in for Bruce Dickinson, but when put alongside the likes of Slayer or even Testament, this sounds just a tad closer to USPM than most of what was passing for thrash metal in the late 80s. It's appeal is definitely geared towards an older school oriented thrash metal audience that wants something that is as accessible as Metallica, but without the stereotypical gruff style that was being done to death at the time. So enjoy the fancy riffs and high flying vocals, and pay no mind to the bodies all around from that suicide bombing we mentioned a short while ago.