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Nuclear
Assault - Third World Genocide - SPV
Records
13 Songs
Running Time: 40:31
Anthrax, Overkill, and Nuclear
Assault made up the frontlines of the NY scene
in the battle against the Bay Area in the '80s, predating the Eastside/Westside
hip-hop wars by nearly a decade. As big a fan of hardcore as Scott Ian was, it
was only Nuclear Assault that injected any of the early-mid 80s hardcore (Discharge,
Broken Bones) into their music with any regularity. This brought us albums such
as Game Over and the classic NY thrashfest of Handle
With Care. Also, the hardcore
ethic went a long way in establishing Nuclear Assault as most politically-minded
of the Big Three, John Connelly hurling invective through 'Critical Mass' and
the timely even in these days 'When Freedom Dies'. Fast-forward to the early
'90s, and original bassist Danny Lilker's one-time swansong, Out Of Order. On
Out Of Order, the hardcore element of our beloved Nuclear
Assault was heaved
to the forefront, in my opinion paving the way for a legion of Biohazards to
follow. The forgettable Something Wicked followed, and Nuclear
Assault had for
all intents and purposes turned in their key to the executive restroom at Metal,
Inc....
Until 2002, when a mutual friend convinces the Jersey-ites
to reform for a couple shows. You know the drill. Amicable
feelings and sweaty manhugs ensue, most likely over too
many beers, and talk of reuniting bears fruits of an album.
In this case, Third World Genocide. The
album is very much a case of "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.",
the air-raid guitars of Connelly and Burke slicing through
the near-tribal pounding of Glenn Evan's drumming and Lilker's
fluid bass lines. The vocals of Nuclear Assault also set
them apart from their own NY scene, Connolly's glass-gargling
yet clear vocals being neither as faux-classic rock as
Joey Belladonna, nor as chaotic in delivery as those found
in Overkill. 'The Price Of Freedom' seems rather standard
for NA until the solo, where Eric Burke effortlessly lays
down a couple of the best solos on the album, bleeding
emotion rather than flaunting technique. It's with the
breakneck delivery of 'Human Wreckage', though, that Nuclear
Assault truly lights up for the first time, proving that
they could and still can plow through the thrash like few
before and not many after. Not that all is grimace and
growl with NA, 'Whine And Cheese' being the best punk rock
song DI never recorded. It's catchy as fuck and will have
pits the world over in pogo mode for at least a few minutes.
The downtuned groove of 'Discharged Reason' bursts into
frantic hardcore, dispeling the myth that the fury and
angst of hardcore is only for those with the dreaded screamo-hair
and wearing their sister's pants. It's back to the metal
(and political) arena with 'Eroded Liberty', then into
the Delivrance soundtrack outtake 'Long Haired Asshole',
banjos and washtubs replacing Marshalls and moshpits, again
showing that it really is ok to smile from time to time,
even when you're a Heavy Metal band. The album ends with
'Glenn's Song', which does indeed push the raging drums
of Evans to the forefront, putting a nice groove-oriented
cap on Third World Genocide.
While it won't save the world, Nuclear Assault has struck
a solid blow against the trend-hungry musical culture with
Third World Genocide. Albums like this remind me why I
got into metal in the first damn place.
www.nuclearassault.us
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