Review by Carl on January 9, 2024.

I think I've mentioned it before, but I'm somewhat of a Wild Rags fanboy. It was one of those labels that for me embodied the spirit of late 80's and 90's underground, being the stupid punk/metal kid I was (and still am, only older and more handsome, hehe). Their output has touched on crossover thrash, grindcore, death and black metal, and I just ate that stuff up. Apart from my nostalgic and because of that no doubt biased feelings about the label, one can not deny their relevance, launching acts like Sadistic Intent, Blood, Internal Bleeding, Sigh and Blasphemy (to name a few), as well as releasing underground gems by acts such as Gammacide, Hellwitch, Anialator, Morningstar, Nausea, Judecca and Mangled. So yeah, enough stuff to let me nerd out big time.

The release I'm going to yak about here is one I had been looking for quite some time, mainly because it had some hard to find tracks on it from Bloodcum and Infamous Sinphony, both crossover thrashers I like a lot. A bit of a weird release this is, though. It has a Spinal Tap-ish black front, with only a small sticker on the cover denoting it as a Wild Rags release. Inside we get logo's and track listings, and enclosed there are inserts with pictures and lyrics. I suspect that this was perhaps more intended to be a promotional thing? Who'll say? Anyway, it makes for a nice collectable for nerds like me to drool over, with some great music to boot! So let's get this show on the road, I say!

First up, Bloodcum! By far my favorite on here, their "Death by a Clothes Hanger" full length was already a total banger. It was an album that showcased a sort of thrash metal/fast hardcore punk combination that scored high on velocity, aggression and intensity, and apart from the opening Black Sabbath cover here, that is no different on these tracks. I'd describe their style as fast thrash infused hardcore punk in the vein of D.R.I.'s "Dealing with It" album, spliced with the early Slayer material. It's uptempo stuff, high on energy and belligerence, with raw shouted vocals complementing the raging riffs, pummeling percussion and dive bomb leads perfectly. The songs are pretty straight-forward, with the riffing keeping it fairly simple, yet high on aggression, aiming for impact first and foremost. This is volatile stuff, and while it may not reinvent any wheels (and would be out of style within a few years as well), it does hit the mark big time. A clear and balanced production, still with a raw edge to it, ensures that the energetic performance stays intact throughout. Perhaps not stellar, it's a sound mix that still gets the job done in a more than agreeable manner. As mentioned, the opening track is a cover of Sabbath's "Symptom of the Universe", and they do a pretty good job on it. It is brought with a tad more punk energy than the original, while the shouted vocals actually add an extra edge to it. It is a pretty cool effort with a bit of the band's personal touch to it, even if they stay pretty close to the original, but hey, it's Sabbath. They achieved perfection long ago, no need to tinker with that too much, right?

Flipping the record over, it's Not-Us doing their thing. They work with pretty much the same ingredients as Bloodcum, being a hardcore/thrash metal hybrid, but in this case brought with way more emphasis on the punk side of their sound. Opener "Maggie" blatantly steals the main riff from "Blitzkrieg Bop" by The Ramones, but also has a bit of an early T.S.O.L. feel to it. This results in a midtempo punk/thrash track with lyrics about a sick dog, complete with yelp-y vocals and a "oohohoo" chorus. It had me thinking of a gruffer Bad Religion, which does work here. Despite the (almost?) plagiarism and cheesy chorus, I can still dig this, it has a certain snotty attitude to it I can appreciate. Following that, we get a more metallic offering, where Fear-like street rock 'n' roll/punk is combined with bursts of Cryptic Slaughter velocity, complete with primitive chaotic blastbeats in the fast parts, making for a rough and ready thrasher that combines punk stomp with thrash rage to great effect. I don't know if this one is sung by another singer, but the vocals sound a tad gruffer than on the previous track, which suits this particular track well enough. After that we get "Dinner in a Glass", a galloping thrasher with simple, uptempo riffing, combined with the punk vocal delivery we heard on the last track. Same as what came before, it offers us more simple yet effective punk thrash, with a sloppy yet not totally disastrous production to it. After these three punked-out thrashcore miniatures, the fun is over, though. "Froggy" is an amalgation of hillbilly impersonations, spoken brainfarts and studio effect, which sucks as hard as Angela White spliced with a Dyson vacuum cleaner.

On disc two, the Infamous Sinphony side opens very fittingly with on orchestra tuning up before giving way to the band kicking in. This band offers up more hardcore colliding with thrash metal madness, but with more variation than Bloodcum, and less punk than Not-Us. The tracks vary between high velocity rage and slower midtempo stomp, as well as surprisingly adequate solo work, making me suspect that the guitarist is not averse to old Kiss records. Mind you, this is still a fierce dose of thrashing hardcore fury, with some truly vitriolic screaming vocals to boot, but the musicianship and compositional prowess on offer have me thinking of late 80's Suicidal tendencies more than once. The interaction between their faster sections and heavier, somewhat slower parts make Infamous Sinphony without doubt the most capable act on here music-wise. Too bad the soft and dry drum sound kinda hampers it all really blowing up, with the slightly unbalanced production doing the total picture no good either. A blazing shame that, because these guys are probably the most adequate act on this album. Still, a banging slice of thrashing hardcore music, even with the somewhat off production job.

And last in line we get Outcasts, the band I also care the least for. I only own their full length album because I'm a Wild Rags fanboy, finding it a pretty dull affair, and that opinion has not changed a lot after hearing their contribution to this split. Opener "Super Cop" does have a bit of a toe-tapping quality to it, with the Wehrmacht-ish high speed parts spliced into the middle and end of the track being a cool addition, but the following "School Sucks" is as stupid and lame as its title suggests. A punk-y, plodding drag of a song with boring vocals that sound as if the singer is on the verge of bursting out in a yawn at any moment. Even the slight acceleration halfway can't shake me out of the drowsy mood this track has put me in. The only thing this reminds me of is what it would sound like if Suicidal Tendencies got force-fed a bucket of Xanax before going on stage, and this goes for "Happy Fucks" as well. If I have to point out one thing I like (besides the first track), it would be the bass-heavy production. Although again not stellar, the heavy, kinda unbalanced sound mix does give the mostly lackluster music a boost in attitude.

So there you have it: four bands, of which Bloodcum and Infamous Sinphony deliver the hardest punch, Not-Us being in the slightly above the middle category, and Outcasts getting the trophy for participating. Most of the music is good to great, while the production is never stellar, but does get the point across well enough in most cases. With this in mind, I'd say that this split should be able to please most into fast thrash/hardcore, but in the end is mostly of interest for people into collecting this kind of stuff.

In other words: people like me.

Rating: 8 out of 10