A few years back I was so heavily obsessed with early 80ies Hardcore I wouldn’t listen to anything that did not at least sound as if it was recorded before 1986. But after a few years with this obsession I felt like I’ve heard basically all the bands you gotta know. Of course there were still more bands from the early 80ies I found out about, but a lot of it did not make a point because of the musical quality, but only because it was so obscure. Anyway, I felt like there wasn’t anything to explore anymore. All the more surprising it is now when I stumble across bands from that era I never heard of that are really amazing. One of those bands is Executioner (not to be confused with the American Thrash Metal outfit of the same name, which had an amazing record as well by the way). Patac Records just released an anthology CD that compiles everything this Californian band has ever recorded – check it out after the jump!
The reason why I and probably a bunch of you haven’t heard about Executioner until now is simple: they never released a proper record, no EP, no album. The only thing they ever released were a handful of tracks on a skate cassette released by The Faction called Growing Pains. While this record blasts through my stereo I really ask myself why not one label at that time did a record with this band. All of the songs are true killers.
Fast, wild, out of control, with amazing guitar solos thrown in your face and a hyper nervous, crazy singer. Shit fucking shreds. Just like the best bands of that time, namely Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies or Void, Executioner were heavily influenced by the good metal stuff of that time, Black Sabbath might be the most obvious one.
So if I’d sort my records by sound I’d put Executioner just right next to Black Flag, DRI, Void and Jerry’s Kids. Jerry’s Kids because the similar vocal performance.
Thanks to Patac Records for bringing this excellent piece of Hardcore history back to the daylight, fans of the aforementioned bands surely won’t be disappointed.
Listen:
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