I have to admit that I know more about Dead Head's ugly cover artworks than about their music. This compilation from this Dutch thrash/death metal squad, 'Come to Salem', with its icky crucifixed mutant fellow, has been sitting on my record shelves for years and years, and I listen to it every now and then. Perhaps it's just that, that I haven't come across the band's releases, really.

This collection starts with the 1990 demo 'The Festering' (well, the demo's outro is placed as the final track on this CD; the cover art was influenced by the demo's). It is aggressive and evil thrash metal in 1980's style, pretty heavy at that it is, too. It is a mixture of German and US thrash styles; sometimes there's frenzied Kreator-ish riffing and guitar soloing, then there's ominous, eerie melodiousness in vein of Testament, for example. Dead Head's taste for melodiousness wasn't quite as versatile or elegant as their countrymates Thanatos and Pestilence had on their first outputs (well, there's half amont of songs here, go figure!!! And there an acoustic guitar interlude as well, which is fine to my ears). However, this demo sounds better than those two band's first albums with its meaty and well-balanced, clean-ish production. With loads of heavy-handed palm-mute riffs and fast strings sawing accompanied by speedy thrashing beats and hefty double kick drumming, the band easily fluctuate in tempo; it's a familiar recipe, but a very effective one when succesfully utilized. And here it is. Plus, there are several small extra bits and parts in the songs, so it is not too simplistic at all. Guitar solos sound rather insane, in vein of Kreator or Slayer; fast and whatever note is the next is what comes next type fretboard runs... Barking and rabid throat voice is what the vocals are about. In all, this is a very tight and attacking demo indeed.

Two demonstrational songs from 1995 are next. Known as 'Shark Demo' (referring to the record label the band tried to work with), the style is more groovy and more mid-paced and definitely more mid-1990's, even though there's still some insane guitar work here, as well as rabid vocals. The band put it "[the label] seemed to be looking for another Channel Zero." So, this was too tame and sophisticated for the band who wanted to rage. Definitely not bad songs, but on the contrary I find them interesting and memorable, with some weirder time signatures happening.

'Slay Your Kind' is a 4-track rehearsal from 1991, and to my surprise, does not sound bad at all. It's clearly a continuation to 'The Festering' demo, made out of same elements. A cassette demo titled 'CD Tracks'? Yep, but these next two songs featured on 'Metal In Rocks Volume II' compilation CD. 'Rites of Kandar' and 'I, Tormentor' are fervent pieces on the brink to fall apart, but the band handled them well, and they aren't inferior at all compared to 'The Festering' demo. Definitely the most impetuous material here. Slayer cover 'Die by the Sword' (recorded in 1998 or 1999) ain't fucking lame, and shows the band feverish hunger for thrash metal. Another well-made 4-track rehearsal recording from 1990, 'The Road not Taken', was originally written for guys' old band Lethargy, and is indeed very much like a Slayer song.

The booklet includes lyrics to five of the songs, as well as short background information about every recording session. More extensive liner notes would have been grand, because now we only got a short "letter", but after all, it is the music that matters! I have seen much worse compilations or reissues with more lacking notes etc.

Dead Head have been alive for over three decades now, so there is no excuse for my ignorance about them; must begin the familiarization in about... NOW! Anyway, this is a fine repertoire from a full decade. Hammerheart Records / Unveiling The Wicked have reissued some of the band's older albums, too, and that's what I call a real cultural favour. Now where's me wallet...

Rating: 9 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
09/25/2021 19:25