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VARIOUS ARTISTS - "Eastern Front 3 Live at Ruthie's Inn" 1986 (Restless)
THE SKINNY: Cast your mind back to a time when words like "Available on high quality Cobalt CS-1 cassette" or "Free EXCITER patch included" sent you scurrying out to the record store. This two-lp set was an absolute dream come true for a mid-80s thrashaholic seeking anything musical with the words "satan", "death", or "hell" used abundantly. Only the first lp includes actual recordings at Ruthie's Inn, the infamous East Bay speakeasy that fanned the flames of bands like HEATHEN and LAAZ ROCKIT (both included here). The second one is a collection of demo tracks from the bands that frequented Ruthie's at the time, and putting it on really takes you back to the old tape-trading days, as we're really talking about some pretty hissy, primitive recordings. For $10.98, we couldn't complain.
We've got a tried and true melding of different heavy assailants here. The levels jump around all over the place, guitars fade in and out, basslines are either overpowering or non-existent, and everything just kinda bleeds together in a swell of flying hair and twisted cables. Italy's RAW POWER checks in with a spastic and hateful version of "Fuck Authority". The drums sound muddy as hell, but it's got attitude.
The version of SENTINEL BEAST's "Dogs of War" featured here is equally scorching, female vocals and all. Both the TYRANNACIDE and FORBIDDEN tracks (listed here under the name FORBIDDEN EVIL) hit hard as prime illustrations of the influence SLAYER already had on the scene back in '85 when these were recorded. Any "Hell Awaits" fan would just drool over this stuff.
One thing about this record set that always annoyed me was the unlisted tracks. What was the logic, if any? In the pre-downloading, pre-internet world, all the money we could scrape up from mowing lawns or working at Roy Rogers went to records like this. The scene at Ruthie's at the time was largely an all-ages sort of affair, with many kids in the 15-17 year-old range attending these shows, so I can't imagine I was alone in my frustration. Any kid outside of the Bay area scene (I was in Baltimore) that picked this up probably spent hours to finally figure out that the third song on the first record is actually STONE VENGEANCE, not listed anywhere in the sparse liner notes. There's an unlisted track at the end of the side 2 as well, and it is excellent, but I never deduced who the band is to this day. Somewhere between the TYRANNACIDE and the MORALLY BANKRUPT track, I get lost every time. Not sure whether it was just sloppiness in putting the package together, or if some bands wanted to remain unnamed. But since our only way of finding out the scoop back then was to hope that our local RITE AID had a copy of last month's AARDSCHOK, things like this kinda tweaked the nerves. Even the crappy thrash tape-trading I did back then via mail usually had more accurate tracklistings than this.
The second record is neither live, or at Ruthie's, but there's some excellent heavy nuggets and bona-fide East Bay weirdness present. ANTI-MOMB's catchy "So What's Up" featured John Dougherty on bass, who also played in the legendary punk band FLIPPER. The version of DEATH ANGEL's "Mistress of Pain" from the original demo is hands-down the heaviest thing they ever recorded. It just pulses with youthful venom and spite. Speaking of youth and venom, it's hard to believe from the high-pitched vocals and Mustaine-ish crunch of MESSIAH's "The Tempter" that some of those guys went on to play in sludge legends NOOTH GRUSH. And the whole thing ends with a STEELY DAN-ish hootenanny from AFTERMATH entitled "Win, Lose, or Draw". I guess they were probably bummed that the name GOLDEN GATE RHYTHM SECTION was already taken.
THE "RAISE YOUR LIGHTER MOMENT" : "On the edge...OF DEATH! What else?" screams Dan Bryant of HEXX in his trademark Ronnie James Dio-flavored holler. The band then smashes its way through the track in arguably the tightest and best-recorded offering on the whole platter. The boys move surgically, occasionally stopping on a dime to switch gears from gritty E-chug to twin guitar gymnastics not unlike prime MERCYFUL FATE. But you guys already know how much we love those old HEXX records. 'Nuff said.
MP3 SOUND SCRAP: SENTINEL BEAST - "Dogs of War"
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