There's
nothing like receiving a new album from a band you thought was long dead and
gone. It's a chance to dig back into the collection and get some of the old
pearls out and given them a listen. In this case, the band is Vendetta, one of
the German thrash bands from the end of the eighties that didn't release much,
but still had an impact on yours truly.
Getting the CD 'Brain Damage' (1987) out and listen to that made me realise just
how much I listened to it back then. I knew almost all the songs by heart once
the disc started spinning! 'Go and live...stay and die' (1988) I only have on
vinyl, so I couldn't listen to it in the car, but I'm sure the same picture
would emerge: these two albums represented something unique in the thrash scene.
They were different from Kreator, Helloween, Destruction, Tankard and all the
other Kraut bands back then.
Vendetta had a slightly different angle and drew upon different musical
inspirations - yes, they dared to be different in a fairly conservative genre,
and for that alone I adored them. If you ever get the chance, check out those
two albums and try to place yourself in 87/88 - it's good stuff!
Anyway, I have now learned that Vendetta put out an album called 'Hate' in 2007.
I had no idea. I apologise, and I have to be honest and let you know that I
haven't had a chance to find the album. So be it.
I have had a chance to listen to 'Feed the Extermination' a number of times now,
however. The good news is that Vendetta still have their hard edge. They know
how a proper thrash tune should be put together. In terms of technicality and
tighness, you can easily hear that these four Germans are veterans in the field.
The bad news is that the Vendetta I knew and cherished is almost gone in favour
of a band that seeks to sound like the bands out there that want to sound like a
new wave of thrash metal. Instead of just being their own, brilliant self, only
the semi-ballad Abuse is a hint of the band that once was.
For all its solidity, good production and fine thrash riffs, 'Feed The
Extermination' comes across as being disappointingly ordinaire - and that,
ladies and gentlemen, is a damned shame, for this is a great band with a lot
more on offer than 'just' good thrash album.
