PUSHONE
Metallica keeps on truckin': L to R: James Hetfield, Jason Newsted, Kirk Hammet and Lars Ulrich. Photo Ross Halfin.
The black tar smelt of hot oil.
Sweat ran down the faces of
passers by. The temperature
rose with each passing minute.
The humid air stuck with a sap-
py sickness. And there in the
dark corner, hidden from the sun,
in the shadows of a towering
brick building, lay a man. Not just
an ordinary man, but a man
draped in a shelter of cardboard.
Stained cardboard that showed
the effects of age and mildew.
and stunk of urine. This man was
dirty; every inch of his body was
covered with filth. He smelled
putrid, a combination of rotten
body odor and despair. This man
was a drunk. He lay there, half-
conscious, in a drunken stupor,
sheltering his eyes from, any
bright light. He let himself get this
way to escape every-day life and
the lay-offs at the plant, the loss
of his house, the bankruptcy, the
panhandling that didn't prosper.
He found good times behind the
bottle while he forgot about it all.
He lost himself in alcohol. People
stared when he talked to himself
or danced by himself in the mid-
dle of the street. He didn't care.
He was in his own world now, one
that they didn't understand and
couldn't bear to smell. He just lay
there, on the pavement, gum
sticking to his cheek, slowly
entering a conscious state. A
sharp scream came from across
the street. Someone was in trou-
ble. He didn't care; it wasn't his
world. The scream came again
and echoed in his head. It
disrupted his brain. It was a pain,
a pain he didn't like. Anger came
over him. Adrenalin pumped
through his body. He focused in
the direction of the commotion.
He saw a girl being molested by
a large man. A feeling came over
him unlike any kind he'd ever had
before. He never cared in the
past, but for some reason, he
had to help. Still in a half-drunken
state, he got up and stumbled for-
ward. He grabbed at his shirt and
ripped it apart at the buttons. His
strength was phenomenal. As he
pushed his hair back over his
head, he looked up for a trickle
of sunlight to splash upon his
face. He thought he was a super
hero out of the comics, and his
mission was to save this girl. He
turned around, walked back,
then turned again and faced the
scene of the crime.
the north side of the set. "That's
a wrap!"
"Great stuff," the producer
said, "very touching."
The camera panned across
the set and along a theater, in-
ching up a vertical marquee. E,
N. O, Z, S, U, P. The letters focus
ed, then became a blurr, as the
day of shooting ended.
Time once again for another
Puszone, where the music is
what matters. For Puszone
sticker and list send 3 22¢
stamps to Pushead PO Box 701
S.F., CA, 94101, USA.
Except for the sensational new
bass player, Metallica needs no
introduction here. Jason New-
sted makes his first recorded ap-
pearance with the band on their
latest release, and thump a few
things he does. This 12" Ep en-
titled The $5.98 Garage Days Re-
Revisited Ep features six storm-
ing cover songs that are delight-
ful teasers to that fourth Lp we
are all awaiting. What we find
here is strong Metallica work-
manship. It's full of variety and
crafty riffs, which show that
Metallica has wide-ranging.
talent and the guts to display it
on someone else's material.
James, Lars, Kirk and Jason all
deliver fine performances on
material I'm sure not too many
are familiar with. The run-down
is: the long-awaited covers of the
Misfits "Last Caress," a rare
track off the even rarer BEWARE
12", and the high speed "Green
Hell," which is a kick to hear, as
Metallica plays this hardcore
classic so fast. A heavy version
of Killing Joke's "The Wait".
riles the blood just right. And the
metal deposits check in with
Diamond Head's "Helpless,"
Holocaust's "The Small Hours"
and Budgie's "Crash Course In
Brain Surgery," all raging with
that classic sound. Kirk throws in
some great, stylized leads that
beef up these already powerful
songs. With a band like
Metallica you're guaranteed
"Father," the victimized girl excellence, and when they pay
hommage to some of their
favorites, the results are amaz-
"Not today, slimeball!" he yell-
ed and ran as fast as he could,
preparing to dive into the air. He
leapt forward and dove head on
into an oncoming car. A loud
blare from the horn startled the
assailant. He dropped the girl
and ran. The car skidded to a
halt, the driver ran over to the
drunk, and so did the girl.
He lay there, blood flowing
over his face from a deep cut in
his forehead. Barely moving,
groggy from the impact, he
opened his mouth to speak.
"Wasn't I super?!" he spat
out. "I finally came back, finally
came back to reality!" His head
tilted forward and he fell
motionless.
cried.
"Cut!" fired the director from
ing. A great record, one of the
best in 1987. On Elektra, 75
Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY
10019.
Those guys at Alchemy are
wreaking havoc on the indepen-
dent record label market. From
out of nowhere they startled us
with three brain blastin' releases,
and now they fire out three more.
I don't know what's on their
minds, but fast powerful music in
on their vinyl! First, the long
awaited second album by RKL
is a sonic overdrive of quick riffs
paced with heavy rhythms, that
explodes with a no-holds-barred
approach. Not really a crossover
effort but a fiery inferno, stoked
by a variety of styles and a strong
and effective attack. This album,
entitled A Rock N Roll Nightmare,
proves that the delay between
Lps was worth it. Well written
material, speedy guitars, boom-
ing bass vibrations, well
smashed drums and a gruff
vocalist combine to form a sound
that shows their hardcore roots
are still intact and are supple-
mented by other influences.
Secondly, Alchemy introduces
us to the latest from Portland's
very own Poison Idea, this time
with the new line-up of Tom,
Jerry, Chris, Steve and Eric. The
word was that these guys were
going metal, but their music is
still chock full of that aggressive
behavior you've come to love
them for. War All The Time shows
Poison Idea is a barrage of
chaotic hardcore assaults, con-
tinually driving and dueling with
twin guitar ferocity. Tom is still at
the forefront, slinging strings with
a wicked sound. Jerry's vocals
are intense, thrusted out in
wrathful tones, piercing the ears
with threatening words. This
band plays tough, combining
speed and power with the
rawness of punk and a touch of
metal, a mixture that splits the
brain in two, though both sides
enjoy every minute. Even a sharp
rendition of "Motorhead," a song
Poison Idea has played for
years, has this quality. This Lp
mixes some old material with
new and should, therefore,
please all fans.
The third release from
Alchemy is the debut Lp from
Neurosis, a newer band that
mixes into the crossover realm
with a potent slab called Pain Of
Mind. Tough, harsh vocals
dominate a slugfest of driving
drum whacks and continual
guitar surges with their raw, gritty
sound. The result is a total
onslaught of vigorous speed and
crazed mayhem. A speedcore
delight from a band that shows
a lot of promise. Three quick
looks into the world of Alchemy.
the label. Write them at PO. Box
597004, #428, S.F. CA 94159.
The self-proclaimed "world's
fastest band," England's
Napalm Death, gets too fast for
their own good on their debut, Lp.
Scum. Twenty-eight songs fly by.
busily working themselves into
each other, differing only in the
slow, heavy sections, which are
the highlights of this wax. As
much as I love quick hardcore
and Napalm Death's debut
demo, an album just isn't the
right dose when each song's fast
part sounds just like the last. If
you walked away and came back
ten minutes later, you wouldn't
know the difference. But there's
also a side to Napalm Death that
brings this band to notoriety, and
that's the lyrics. Critical words
about today's society go for the
throat. Strength and sincerity are
the true power of this band. If
Napalm Death is trying to insult
people with their music-so that
it can't be a passing fad for the
new trendsetter to destroy-they
are succeeding fully; a true cult
band. The speed is chaotic,
mayhemic, and definitely not
pretty. The talent exists in this
band, especially in the song-
writing department. But sadly,
this blurr went in one ear and out
the other, leaving the brain
tormented inside. But can this be
big? On Earache, PO Box 144,
Nottingham, NG34GE, UK.
Ray Cappo, a man with a
cause: to bring back a sound that
made the heyday of 1981-1983.
Namely that East Coast power
hardcore grind that brought
smiles to all our faces. Youth Of
Today is Ray's band and do they
rage. Lightning fast with a New
York sound like Agnostic Front
or Cause For Alarm and
perhaps a bit of S.S. Decontrol
in there, Youth Of Today pumps
out the goods that made those
hardcore bands popular. Ray's
vocals roar in the deep-end of his
range, like an angry, caged
animal. He flies about the stage
as the beat drives, gains momen-
tum, then spirals downward, only
to thrust back up into a wall of
sure-fire mayhem. The band pro-
חרות
Frantic Scratchings: Dancing in the detail work by Bart Powers of Munster,
Indiana.
vides backing vocals to har-
monize with Ray's meat-throat
growls as this Lp, Break Down
The Walls, rushes forth with
twelve smacks of positive think-
ing, but, time-wise, it falls short
of being a full Lp. Still, what is
here blasts off, with Porcell and
Richie axing away the chords,
Craig keeping a direct bass beat
and Drew constantly smashing
the snare drum. Tracks like
"Make A Chance," "Positive
Outlook," "Stabbed In The
Back," "Standing Hard" and
"Honesty" all show the nature of
this band's mental outlook. This
is meaty with no bones to choke
on. It's classic, like the stuff.
Youth Of Today loves. On
Wishing Well Records, PO. Box
9417, Fountain Valley, CA, 92728.
PUSZONE
S.O.B.-Don't Be Swindled
12"
Fratricide/Mission Of
Christ-Ep
Deathside-Ep
Stench-Ep
Active Minds-Ep
Alternative Attack-No
Turning Back Ep
S.C.A.-LP
Bad Dress Sense-Lp
Civilized Society-Violence
Sucks Lp
Sons Of Ishmael-Lp)
Ground Zero-Gate Of Death
12"
Brain Death-Ep
Prong-Lp
90
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