Condemned to Eternity

The U.K. has never been most famous because of thrash. That honour goes to Germany and the US obviously. However Brittain gave us so much brilliant punk, doom, NWOBHM, death metal and grindcore, but let’s not digress. There have been a few great thrash acts in the eighties from the U.K. However Re-Animator were not one of them. A familiar name? Yes, that they were. Thrashers worldwide in the late eighties and early nineties had at least heard their name. Does that alone make this a classic band? No.

Re-Animator are not about speed, nor are they about aggression. This is not a bad thing per say. Mortal Sin did the same. Testament as well around their third and fifth album. But no matter how many cute little ideas Re-Animator throw into their songs now and then, as a whole their compositions are very mediocre and generic. This together with the lack of energy turns ‘Condemned to Eternity’ into a mediocre tedious experience every time.

Best example would be the 8 minute instrumental title track. There a some nice leads, a decent build-up. But after a few minutes it turns into background metal. Not bad, not good. Just sweet and fun while doing the dishes. Nothing really mindblowing.

Also on the rare occasions Re-Animator pick up the pace they always play syncopated (snare on the beat). There is never a really energetic polka beat and in the end one gets the feeling this is a thrash metal album without the thrashing. There’s not much happening on this album which makes you escape reality and dive into the magical world of thrash metal.

Stand-out moments are rare, the main riff on ‘Room 101’ is entertaining, actually turning this into the best song on the album. Re-Animator are best when playing mid paced. When playing somewhat faster of really slow they just don’t cut the mustard. Additionally the band also tends to borrow to obviously from others. The chorus riff on opener ‘Low Life’ for instance sounds too much like Death’s Evil Dead. And the intro to ‘Chain of command’ probably was written when listening too much to Testament’s Legacy and Exodus’ Pleasure Of The Flesh albums.

Re-Animator have always been Testament fans. On their Deny Reality EP the verses on title track had a lot of similarities with Testament’s Trial By Fire. So no Bay Area worship on this ‘Condemned to Eternity’ album can really come as a surprise.

The icing on the cake are weak vocals. When discussing eighties UK thrash it is often stated a lot of bands lacked good vocals. Re-Animator are a classic example. A weak attempt at singing like Chuck Billy without the melody or high pitched screams. The vocals lack all dynamics and the monotony is incredibly boring. Tedious as well after about three songs.

So if you want to dive into the world of late eighties and early nineties U.K. thrash metal, stick to the early albums by Onslaught, Sabbat, Hydra Vein and Xentrix and you might even try Deathwish (who were nicely balancing between thrash and heavy metal and had a great vocalist!) And if you still haven’t had enough, then and only then shall ye try Re-animator, Acid Reign and Lawnmower Death.