Hell yeah! A classic from 1987, lost in the 'vinyl-to-CD' shuffle and subsequent folding of New Renaissance Records, recently reissued. Fuck Necrophagia - THIS is one lost thrash/death metal gem that we're all happy to have back. This quintet from New Jersey had a penchant for just thrashing it out, and that's exactly what Kill for Pleasure does - 42 minutes of nonstop thrashing brutality. The intensity isn't all that far from either the Bay-Area scene (ala Exodus or Possessed) or the Germanic thrash titans (Kreator, Destruction), but the riffs and songs are a bit more straightforward. Brilliantly chaotic solos (courtesy of Adam Tranquilli and Mike Basden) also add to the thrashiness, and the drumming prowess of Kevin Kuzma is unbelievable - he just doesn't let up! The vocals of Gary Markovitch are a little strange; they're not the typical death grunting, but rather are like 'shouted' death vox, sort-of Schmier-like, but higher and more frantic sounding - but he does have this slightly annoying tendency to sing slightly offbeat, but again in a weird way it sort-of contributes to the overall 'out-of-control' feel the whole album has. Hot spots are the one-two punch of "Menacing Thunder" and the title track, and "The Evil".

Production was pretty good for New Renaissance standards in those days - maybe a little thin, but the guitars are suitably ripping, drums are okay, and the fuzz-distorted bass is rather nicely done. The original cover art was preserved in the reissue, as were all of the lyrics, liner notes, and the de rigeur 'collage' photo under the CD in the tray inlay. Another nice little bonus is that, though the liner notes and lyrics only list nine songs, there are actually TEN on this disc - anyone know what track five on the disc is? Definitely worthwhile in any case.

© 1999 lord vic