Blind Guardian - Battalions Of Fear [1988]

And back to some metal; since their inception, Blind Guardian have pretty much embodied everything that is good about power metal. That is to say, not the terrible axis of power metal, your Dragonforce, your Sabaton, your Kamelot, but rather, metal with drive, hooks galore and, well, power. Every song on this is a winner, from the opener 'Majesty' (which is also quite epic in its writing), to the closer proper and title track 'Battalions Of Fear' (although it must be noted that the instrumental outro 'By The Gates Of Moria' is far from worthless). Although I previously made this claim about Somewhere Far Beyond, I've changed my mind; this is Blind Guardian's defining moment.

192 kbps

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Re-upload: Manilla Road - Crystal Logic [1983]

Manilla Road are a perpetually underrated speed/power metal band, with elements of thrash. Throughout their 14 album career, they have not released a bad one, however, this is their best. And their lyric 'I'm lost in necropolis' will always sound to me like 'I'm lost in the gravalax'.

Re-upload notes: I was just listening to this today and it struck me how good it was, and how I should therefore re-upload it. This is essential.

128 kbps

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Accept - Restless And Wild [1982]

I found myself humming several songs from this album earlier today, and it occurred to me that I hadn't yet posted it here on Court In The Act. Initially, I enjoyed the instrumentation on the album but found the vocals nauseatingly akin to AC/DC, but have since got over that and learned to love this fantastic set of songs. Germany really has always known how to make metal; from the excellent trad scene of the early 80s to some of the best thrash ever produced, to rapidly developing death metal and black metal scenes in the early to mid 90s. However, this is quite possibly the most famous album ever to come out of Germany that is actually great (read: no Scorpions), and plaudits for the seamless integration of poppy (everything is poppy, maaaaan) hooks into individual tunes.

320 kbps

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Metal Church - The Dark [1987]

And before someone comes along and comments 'needs moar methulz' on one of pastilhas' Merzbow posts, I'll post this, a wonderful album from one of the less-sung gods of thrashy heavy metal. This certainly takes more influence from thrash than their eponymous debut, and indeed has an entirely different feeling to the whole thing. Fear thee not, however, for the histrionics are still present for those moments when overblown fun is all you need and you refuse to listen to power metal to retain your status as the king of kvlt.

320 kbps

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Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond [1992]

Power metal. Often doesn't do it for me, but I will say that the German variety, which often holds more than a little speed metal influence, and not so much... faggotry, appeases me more often. And I love this album - bombast, speed, choruses, and a cover of Satan's 'Trial By Fire'. What more could you ask for?

128 kbps

Link taken down. Comment to see a reupload!

Impaled Nazarene – Suomi Finland Perkele [1994]

Suomi Finland Perkele is raw, violent, attitude filled Black Metal. However this is Black Metal that people who dont like Black Metal can love. I once heard Impaled Nazarene compared to a mix of Darkthrone and Motorhead, I think this sums them up nicely. There is a strong Black Metal vibe but the riffs are so catchy, you won't be able to resist head banging. This injection of speed metal not only fills the music but also the lyrics and song titles. There's no TRVE KVLT bullshit here that most Black Metal fans lap up like pathetic dogs (the small ones that get carried in handbags). Song titles like 'Steelvagina', 'Ghettoblaster' and 'Kuolema Kaikille (Paitsi Meille)' which translates to 'Death to All (Except Us)', are filled with the punk attitude. This is really awesome, just download it and bang your head.

320 kbps

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Slayer - Live Undead EP [1985]

Slayer's live album offers a fascinating take on tracks previously recorded for Show No Mercy. Any Slayer fan should not pass this opportunity up. Plus, 'The Antichrist' has more batshit-ness on this than any other Slayer release.

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Slayer - Show No Mercy [1983]

This is Slayer's debut, pretty much at the dawn of thrash, and although it incorporates heavy doses of speed metal, it's easy to see why this is considered a heavy influence on the black metal scene. Araya has not sounded so demonic since.

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Metallica - Kill 'Em All [1983]

Debatably the album that started the thrash scene off (depending on whether Venom are thrash or not), I'm not going to directly post a link to this in the post for fear of Ulrich's minions. Post your email address as a comment and I'll send you the link.

192 kbps

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Judas Priest - Painkiller [1990]

Judas Priest's other truly great album, although this came 14 years after 'Sad Wings...', the Priest was truly on top form. The title track is one of the most famous metal songs of all time, and certainly better than their other famous one, the tedious 'Breaking The Law'.

320 kbps

DMCA came calling.

Venom - Black Metal [1982]

Arguably the album that started the black metal genre, if not by nature, then certainly by name, and it's a cracker. Aged well like champagne, yet infused with piss and vinegar, each song on this is memorable. Hark back to the days when metal bands wrote songs.

192 kbps

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Satan - Live In The Act [2004]

I've posted the album that this album's name is a take on, and even named the blog after it... you might be able to guess by now that I'm quite a Satan fan - which I am, I can't get enough of their off-kilter version of the NWOBHM sound. This has somewhat weaker vocals than the studio version, but to be fair, it is a live version and twenty years on.

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Metal Church - Metal Church [1985]

Criminally underrated, Metal Church's debut is, like Exciter, well along the lines of those two classic thrash debuts 'Kill 'Em All' and 'Show No Mercy'. That's not to say it's at all derivative - with indisputable songwriting chops and classic vocals, this is a thrash classic that stands up on its own.

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Exciter - Violence And Force [1984]

Although coming a year later, Exciter's debut bears heavy resemblance to two seminal thrash classics, both of which also bridged the gap between speed and thrash metal: Slayer's 'Show No Mercy' and Metallica's 'Kill 'Em All'. This is a great example of early thrash.

192 kbps

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