HIRAX · Raging Violence | CD

Jewel case CD.

Background information about 'Raging Violence'

Some debuts don't just announce a band, they kick the door clean off its hinges. "Raging Violence" is exactly that kind of record. Back in 1985, Hirax came tearing out of the L.A. speed metal underground with something that refused to sit still, too theatrical for the punks, too feral for the trad-metal crowd, and absolutely perfect because of it. Frontman Katon W. De Pena doesn't sing so much as detonate, a high-voltage shriek that rides the riffs like a man clinging to a runaway train. The Pushead artwork alone tells you everything about the world this album lives in: skulls, chaos, and zero apologies.

What still hits hardest is the sheer velocity of it. Tracks like "Demons - Evil Forces" and "Blitzkrieg Air Attack" blur the line between crossover thrash and full-throttle speed metal, all razor-wire riffing and drumming that sounds like it's trying to escape the speakers. There's no filler, no ballads, no breathing room, just one sprint after another with the occasional stomp to remind you these guys could groove when they wanted to. It's the sound of tape-trading culture at its most electric, passed hand to hand in dubbed cassettes and photocopied zines, a secret that a whole generation of metalheads shared.

Nearly two decades out of print, this reissue finally drags a genuine cult classic back into the light where it belongs. If you've only ever heard "Raging Violence" through a grainy YouTube rip or a battered secondhand copy, hearing it properly is a revelation. Raw, fast, and gloriously unpolished, it's a snapshot of a scene at its most hungry.

For fans of: Slayer, Exodus, Kreator, D.R.I., Dark Angel, S.O.D.

Other Versions

CLEAR LP · 27,99 €

Track listing

1. Demons - Evil Forces
2. Blitzkrieg Air Attack
3. Guardian Protector
4. Bombs Of Death
5. Defeat Of Amalek
6. Raging Violence
7. Call Of The Gods
8. Warlords Command
9. Suicide
10. Executed
11. The Gauntlet
12. Destruction And Terror
13. Destroy
14. Bloodbath

Manufacturer: 375 Media GmbH, Schlachthofstraße 36A, 21079 Hamburg, Germany, Contact: www.backonblack.com