No Life 'til Metal - CD Gallery

Speed metal band from Milwaukee, USA.

Realm - Endless War (RC Records/Roadrunner) 1988

1. "Endless War" (3:26)
2. "Slay the Oppressor" (3:40)
3. "Eminence" (5:23)
4. "Fate's Wind" (3:42)
5. "Root of Evil" (5:05)
6. "Eleanor Rigby" (1:58)
7. "This House is Burning" (2:22)
8. "Second Coming" (4:33)
9. "All Heads Will Turn to the Hunt" (4:23)
10. "Mang" (0:46)
11. "Poisoned Minds" (4:16)
12. "Theseus and the Minotaur" (4:19)

I searched and searched for this disc after picking up the band's second album "Suiciety." I can't even tell you how many times I bid on it on eBay only for the price to go much higher than I was willing to pay. Argh!!! Neither of Realm's two cds have seen re-release yet so both are high sellers on eBay, consistently selling for no less than $40. OUCH! My good friend in Germany found me this copy for $18 used and traded me for an equally rare thrash cd, Powermad. Thanks Olaf.

Realm play "Bay Area" thrash metal with soaring clean, yet aggressive vocals, not unlike Anthrax, Violence, or even Agent Steel. (Realm is actually from Milwaukee.) The cover of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" is awesome, and reason enough to own this disc by itself. On top of this, however, the entire disc will kick your butt and send you into spastic fits of spontaneous moshing. Can't even imagine why these guys didn't become a much bigger band. As usual with good American metal, this band was more popular in Europe. I'm not even sure that either of their albums were given a proper U.S. release. I am also quite intrigued by the band's lyrics. Check out the two songs below.

SLAY THE OPPRESSOR
The Battle is over we've won the war
By evil no longer abide
Remember The Lamb, The Life Covenant
As you're strapping a sword to your side

Slay the Opressor
We must stand against the Legions of Hell
Slay the Oppressor
We must stand against the Legions of Hell
Slay the Oppressor
We must no be victims to his...

...evil plost against man
scouring with hate
knows the Lord
that they'll soon be destroyed!
Satan will be set free
To deveive the nations of the world
He will bring them together for battle
And surround the City of God
Fire came down from Heaven
And destroyed them
Satan was cast into the Lake of Fire
Tormented Forever.

EMINENCE
My heart pounds with fury
Nightmare cease to exist
Oh Lord give me strength
I must face the beast within
All my life something's been calling
Who has filled me with this longing
Why is the world so cold
The sun shines but I cannot smile
Something deep inside of me had died
I don't know how long I can carry on this lie
Awaken by the pounding in the distance
Relentlessly it shook my soul
Where does it come from, why do I only hear
I ran to witness what I knew I would see
Blood red skies engulfed the hill
I could not hold back my tears
There he was on the cross
He was dying yet nobody cared.

Realm - Suiciety (Roadracer) 1990

1. "Cain Rose Up (Scream Bloody Gore)" (4:05)
2. "Fragile Earth" (3:40)
3. "Energentic Discontent" (3:50)
4. "Gateway" (3:29)
5. "Final Solution" (3:46)
6. "The Brainchild" (5:00)
7. "LaFlamme's Theory" (5:04)
8. "Dick" (3:41)
9. "Knee Deep in Blood" (3:17)
10. "Suiciety" (9:43)

This was one of those impulse buys. I saw it sitting on the shelf for $3.99 and decided to give it a try based on the year (1990), the label (Roadracer) and because the cover art look as though it belonged to a technical thrash band. Well, my assumption was correct. This is EXCELLENT technical thrash that is reminiscent of Powermad, Laaz Rockit, and early Anthrax. I love the speedy riffs topped with the clean high vocals that was common of the thrash scene at the time. The lyrics are interesting also as they focus on political and social topics such as the idiots who drink and drive ("Dick").

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