DEATH STRIKE
'Fuckin' Death'
(Dark Descent Records)
Death
Strike need little introduction to anyone who would consider
themselves seasoned in the realm of death metal, the legendary Paul
Speckmann’s debut foray into the genre has garnered pretty much
cult status now as a genre classic and not without good reason. This
reissue of 1991 album by Dark Descent compiles the debut demo from
’85 together with four other tracks for the rather aptly titled
'Fuckin’ Death', and being brutally honest, could you
possibly have a more suitable description for the sensory
annihilation present on this disc?
It’s
that fact that half this material was recorded back in the mid
eighties that really makes it stand out, death metal was still in its
infantile stages back then with extreme metal making a transition
between the crust influenced filth of Hellhammer and the ilk
to a more brutal strain with bands like Possessed and
Slaughter emerging out of the underground with a significantly
more potent and brutal form of metal unlike anything heard before,
and when you realise it came out at the same time as two monumental
releases by the aforementioned bands you wonder why the fuck it never
got quite as much attention as it was just as influential if not more
so than those classics.
In
case you’re one of the unenlightened still wondering who the fuck
Death Strike are, 'Fuckin’ Death' was essentially
just the first Master album under a different moniker, and if
you ask me, along with Master’s debut and possibly 'On
the Seventh Day' are the only things worth owning by Speckmann.
The first four tracks as previously mentioned are from 1985 and
astonishingly ahead of their time. It’s basically ‘Hellhammer
on crack’, fast brutal and utterly primal death metal with that
huge hardcore influence shining through. Paul’s vocals are a
maniacal and wretched reverbed howl that just add to the chaos
conjured with Kirk’s unbridled leads, the d-beat styled drumming
and thundering, bowel shaking bass. Songs like “Pay to Die” and
“Re-Entry and Destruction” are impossible not to like, it’s
extreme metal heaven (or hell, whichever you prefer),
straight-forward, catchy and downright punishing.
The
next four tracks are noticeably different; “The Final Countdown”
starts off with a doomy dirge and forgoes flat out speed for a
suffocating heaviness that certainly hints at a change in thinking
within the band, also evident in the increased length of the songs.
“Man Killed America” follows much the same pattern while
“Pervert” presses a little harder on the gas while closer
“Remorseless Poison” reverts back to that ominous onslaught of
bass driven death. And if like me you got your hands on the vinyl
copy you also get a bonus 7” of rehearsal tracks which are a nice
addition albeit nothing to write home about.
It’s the lo-fi shoddy execution and production of the whole thing
which adds so much character to this release and so many others from
the same time frame, a character and feeling which is sadly lost on
today’s tech and blast obsessed bands. In my books 'Fuckin’
Death' is pretty much a classic of primitive death metal and when
you consider when it originally was released that makes it all the
more spectacular, and now that it’s finally seen a re-release it
makes obtaining a copy something that won’t cause your bank account
to have a fit. [9]
(Chris Cowgill)
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