Armed and Dangerous

“…feel the white hot metal, feel it burn your skin, experience the torture, pay for all your sins…”

Easily the rarest of Razor discs, these seven tracks are an early-stage aural portrait of what the four-piece will do for the rest of its existence. Unlike a band such as countrymates Voivod who would transmogrify into something more abstract and otherworldly with each and every subsequent album, Razor’s dial never clicked to a different network, never faltered in their quest for thrash dominance, and…well, no sense rehashing…read my Evil Invaders review for the rest of this diatribe.

These tracks resemble the production value and thinner thrash delivery that's featured on Executioner’s Song rather than Evil Invaders where thickness like swamp water soaks the tracks and the band starts the ascent into their own legendary status. Four of the tracks here are featured on the band’s debut full-lengther, so this ep is more of a hardcore collector’s wet dream, the fan who doesn’t mind dishing out $200+ for two additional songs that will probably turn up on some future compilation/best of release.

It’s easily noticeable that traditional elements in “Killer Instinct” and “Hot Metal” overtake the thrash vehemence that is just clawing to escape, meanwhile the longer title cut possesses one of Sheepdog’s most feeble screams, a mere kitten compared to the masters of the hunt on Evil Invaders that have a tendency to set steel afire.

The first true stroke of thrashmania ignites with blue flame appeal in “Take This Torch” and an opening riff of frantic, flesh-peeling proportion that cannot be overlooked. The chorus fans the flames into a screeching inferno while McLaren unleashes screams more akin to his seminal lungs. It's a quintessential thrash song that (obviously) doubles as the best track on the record and was chosen to punt Executioner’s Song into orbit. Not far off with additional thrash fervor is “Ball and Chain”, meanwhile “Fast and Loud” takes its own advice, pummeling away with a conspicuously insatiable chorus that shoves the track right over the edge. The almost useless “The End” should be tied to it, never to be heard again, but shows up closing their debut nonetheless.

Before the low grumbling on Evil Invaders, Sheepdog’s vocals were more a crackling shriek, amateurish even more so than the additional tracks on Executioner’s Song, and really isn’t all that endearing to him, but a true fan will get over it. Even a non-collector can see the investment value in this. The album’s worth can only go up unless someone finds a glut of them tucked away in the corner of some warehouse. Yeah, I’m not worried either.

"...ready or not, take this torch..."