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Cherry Red/Dissonance [Release date : 13.10.23]
Despite multiple break ups over the years, US Thrash Metal band, Nuclear Assault continued touring into the new millennium, only hanging their boots up last year.
The band, formed by ex Anthrax bassist, Dan Lilker, and singer / guitarist, John Connoly in 1984, were quickly termed “the most aggressive Thrash Metal band ever”, which in itself explained their departure from Anthrax.
Originally available only in VHS form (and then DVD), Radiation Sickness is a recording of the band’s last gig on their 1987 UK tour, early in their career, supporting Slayer.
At long last, it’s now available on CD.
The bulk of the material comes from the band’s debut album, Game Over (1986), with a few from their succeeding EP, The Plague (1987), released to coincide with the tour.
As is the way with many thrash metal bands, the lyrics of the band’s songs are loaded with social commentary. ‘Nuclear War’, ‘Justice’ and ‘After The Holocaust’ are as much reflections on a world which seems reconciled to having lost its grip on sanity, as they are remorseless assaults on our sensory perceptions.
The darkly humorous ‘Buttfuck’ is a barbed observation on the “lenient” sentence enjoyed by Motley Crue’s Vince Neil, who was found responsible for a fatal car crash in 1984.
Speed is the key. The whole set – especially ‘Betrayal’ and ‘Vengeance’ – is performed with such vigorous animal intensity that the audience must have finished the gig bathed in sweat. And that’s the real “charm” of live music…rawness, realism and dependence on real talent.
There was no subsequent commercial breakthrough for Nuclear Assault, and any Thrash Metal fan will most likely have already discovered the band.
If not . . . ***1/2
Review by Brian McGowan
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