Violence

Violence (sometimes spelled "Vio-Lence") was a band that never quite lived up to its potential. After a tremendous debut album, which set the standard for Bay-Area thrash metal, they quickly devolved into a second-rate outfit, mostly due to record company bungling.

Oh yeah, lead guitarist Robb Flynn used to be in Forbidden (before they recorded any albums and still had "Evil" at the end of their name) and now plays in Machine Head.

"Eternal Nightmare"

  1. "Eternal Nightmare" (6:04)
  2. "Serial Killer" (2:56)
  3. "Phobophobia" (6:27)
  4. "Calling in the Coroner" (3:54)
  5. "T.D.S. (Take It as You Will)" (5:01)
  6. "Bodies on Bodies" (5:47)
  7. "Kill on Command" (4:59)

Not much to say here, this is THE classic thrash album. Loud, brutal, and violent (of course!) this CD simply RIPS from the opening chords to the final fadeout.

"Oppressing the Masses"

  1. "I Profit" (7:04)
  2. "Officer Nice" (5:23)
  3. "Subterfuge" (4:38)
  4. "Engulfed by Flames" (3:53)
  5. "World in a World" (4:11)
  6. "Mentally Afflicted" (5:48)
  7. "Liquid Courage" (5:26)
  8. "Oppressing the Masses" (4:58)

This was a highly anticipated CD, but oh what a disappointment. Sean Killian's vocals are terribly whiny, and the music is mostly a disorganized mishmash. About the only interesting thing I can say is seeing their "World in a World" video on the Heavy Harv show (don't ask...) where they misidentified the band as Overkill!

"Torture Tactics" (EP)

  1. "Torture Tactics" (5:18)
  2. "Officer Nice"--live (5:47)
  3. "Gutterslut" (3:22)
  4. "Dicks of Death" (3:39)

The song "Torture Tactics" was omitted from the Oppressing... CD because the record company thought it was too violent and controversial. Sheesh! I've heard Hanson songs that were more disturbing...okay, maybe that's an overstatement. :-) So anyway, this EP finally came out on Caroline records, with a couple extra unreleased songs thrown in. "Gutterslut" is a VERY early song which I have a demo recording of on the Eastern Front 3 compilation (sadly, just crappy vinyl), although this particular version was obviously rerecorded several years later. One wonders, though, why they didn't bother to add the ultra-rare "Paraplegic", a great song that only appears on their first demo tape! (Thankfully, I was able to track down an mp3 of that song & tacked it onto my Digital Puppy 3 compilation.)

"Nothing to Gain"

  1. "Atrocity" (5:02)
  2. "Twelve Gauge Justice" (4:46)
  3. "Ageless Eyes" (4:09)
  4. "Pain of Pleasure/Virtues of Vice" (5:45)
  5. "Killing My Words" (4:21)
  6. "Psychotic Memories" (5:23)
  7. "No Chains" (5:03)
  8. "Welcoming Party/This is System" (6:54)
  9. "Colour of Life" (3:39)

I didn't even know this album existed until several years after the band broke up. The sound is quite different from their previous offerings, much more streamlined and rhythmic with acoustic bits here and there. Still, their trademark backup vocals punctuate every chorus. Not a bad album, really. Too bad it was their last...

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