VIO-LENCE: a new treasure for me

I'm sorry. For years and years I have managed to elude and neglect one of the most well known bands among thrash fans. As for passing up potentially killer albums, we have all done it (especially those who were tied down with a limited budget), but to wait this long to spotlight a little personal attention on such a deserving band is…well, sad, really.

I remember seeing VIO-LENCE tapes and CDs at my local record store, but at the time, my small amount of chump-change was spent on an equal amount of classic rock and "popular" thrash metal. Eternal Nightmare's cover looked cool as hell, but there was always an old Deep Purple or Rainbow album I had to get, not to mention the occasional release by the Big Four and various popular underlings.

So, to sum it up, I just never gave VIO-LENCE a shot. By the time I had a little extra money to spend on music, I was well into death metal and hardcore, leaving what little thrash I had to wait out my obsession with other genres.

What an idiot I was. I don't regret the 90s and early 2000's, buying the ton of non-thrash records I now have in my collection, but why did I ignore my beloved thrash genre for so long?

I recently asked myself that question after I discovered the NWOTM. I bought up some of the re-thrash bands and smartened myself up on my metal roots via the thrash forums and blogs.

Of course, with all the talk of the NWOTM bands, the old-school bands were inevitable topics of conversation. When names like Forbidden, VIO-LENCE or Rigor Mortis were brought up, I would think back to when I would see their covers on the record store shelves as brand-new slabs of metal -- all which I passed up for the next Slayer, Testament, and eventually Obituary and Napalm Death.

Since then, I have scored copies of some of these classic bands, but I want to focus on VIO-LENCE for now.

When I first put on their record, I was slightly taken aback by Sean Killian's vocals. Believe me, I HATE bringing that up, because when folks talk about the band VIO-LENCE, the "strange" vocals always - ALWAYS - garners a healthy mention.

Although I might have been put off at first, I have my iPod set to shuffle and VIO-LENCE would always seem to pop up more frequently than any other band…or at least it seemed that way. Maybe the songs were simply more noticeable than the others, which makes sense because the more I heard them, the more I grew to really freaking LOVE this band.

Now, I can't get enough! Although I want to kick myself for never have listened to VIO-LENCE back in the day, I am happy that I am hearing them "new".

I know that many thrashers out there would love to live vicariously through me as I listen to certain classic albums with fresh ears.

METAL!