Anvil Bitch - Rise to Offend (New Renaissance) 1986
1. "Rise To Offend" (3:30)
2. "Lie Through Your Teeth" (3:19)
3. "Vengeance Of The Sword" (2:28)
4. "Life After Death" (3:46)
5. "Time To Die" (2:52)
6. "Argue With A Sick Mind" (3:15)
7. "Maggot Infestation" (4:05)
8. "Neckbreaker" (2:20)
9. "Arsenic & Cyanide" (2:40)
10. "Fight For Your Life" (1:40)
11. "Shark Attack" (2:54)
12. "Anvil Bitch" (3:50)
Anvil Bitch are one of those bands people have been telling me I am missing out on. Apparently, despite only releasing this one album and a handful of demos, they still have a heavy underground following. Well, I finally scored a copy of "Rise to Offend" on CD and I must confess that this is a style that I like quite a bit. Anvil Bitch are typical of East Coast metal in the mid-80's. They play primitive speed metal with vocals that are mostly high-pitched wails and falsetto screams. My guess is that they were equally inspired by the fledling thrash metal scene at the time and the raging power metal of bands like Queensryche (EP) and Mercyful Fate. There are a couple songs that have a punk influence as well, especially the anthem to all things crawling and flesh eating, "Maggot Infestation". (Well, geez, what did you excpect when the name of the CD was "Rise to Offend") Unfortunately the guitar sound here is very thin, which takes away from the overall heaviness of the band. Also, don't expect any mind blowing songwriting here. I mean, these guys aren't going to rival Testament or Watchtower. Still, for a bit of nostalgic metal mayhem, "Rise to Offend" is a fun listen and a reminder of a time when metal wasn't about pristine recordings. It was about that heavy metal spirit, which is certainly apparent here. New Renaissance finally officially released this to CD in a hand numbered, limited edition CD. Mine is number 861/1000.