Sound Barrier came up out of Los Angeles in 1980. Bernie K. on vocals. Spacey T. tearing up the guitar. Stanley E. holding down bass. Dave “Skavido” Brown behind the kit. Bernie K. and Spacey T. first crossed paths grinding in an R&B funk outfit, then decided they wanted something heavier, louder, meaner. So they chased it. Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, even a little Rush in the DNA when it came to musicianship. This was real metal, dual leads and all, not some watered down crossover thing cooked up in a boardroom.

Picture the Sunset Strip back then. Hairspray for days. Marshall stacks stacked to the ceiling. Spandex and bad attitudes everywhere you looked. Sound Barrier walked into that circus with chops most of those Aqua Net bands couldn’t touch, and they looked sharp doing it. They had the sound. They had the stage presence. Spacey T. could flat out play, fluid and nasty in the same breath, the kind of guitarist other guitarists nodded at from the side of the stage.

Then came the part that should have changed their lives. MCA signed them in 1982. A major. Real money, real distribution, real machinery behind the music. Sound Barrier became widely credited as the first all-African-American metal band to land a major-label deal, which in 1982 was no small thing. Their debut, Total Control, dropped in 1983. Nine tracks, melodic where it needed to be, blistering where it counted. By every measure that mattered on paper, these brothers had arrived.

So what happened? The record moved around twelve thousand copies and MCA dropped them. Twelve thousand. For a band with that kind of talent and that kind of shot, that number doesn’t tell a story about the music. It tells a story about everything wrapped around the music.

Here’s where it gets real. A radio programmer in 1983 gets a press photo across his desk. Four Black faces. What does he assume before he even drops the needle? R&B. Funk. Soul. Anything but a band that worships Priest. So the record never sniffs the rock format that would have loved it, and it sure isn’t getting spun on the urban stations either, because it’s loud guitar music that doesn’t fit their lane. No home anywhere. Caught in the gap nobody built a bridge across.

And the label? Marketing a metal band means a specific playbook. Get them in the rock rags. Get the video in rotation. Push the single to album rock radio. Now imagine the promo guy whose whole job is selling to programmers he knows are biased, who maybe carries some of that same baggage himself. Does he fight that fight, or does he let the record die quiet and move on to the next sure thing? Sound Barrier got the deal. What they didn’t get was anybody swinging for them.

You want to talk MTV while we’re here. In those early years, MTV kept a nearly all-white playlist and gave very little space to Black artists. We all know the stories. It took muscle from a major label and a guitar solo from a white rock god before “Beat It” helped crack that wall wide open. A young Black metal band with a modest budget and no leverage? Forget it. The one place a wild looking, hard charging act could have caught fire visually was a door bolted shut from the inside. So the look that should have been an asset never reached the eyeballs that needed to see it.

Genre boxes did the rest of the damage. The industry loves a tidy shelf. Put the artist in a category, hand the category to the right department, collect the check. A Black act gets filed under urban almost on reflex, no matter what’s actually coming out of the speakers. Sound Barrier made heavy metal, full stop, but the system kept trying to read them as something they weren’t. When the box doesn’t fit the music, it’s always the artist who bleeds, never the box.

They didn’t fold up and quit, though. That part I love. After MCA cut them loose, they put out the Born to Rock EP in 1984 on their own Pit Bull imprint. Do it yourself before do it yourself had a name. Then Metal Blade came calling and they cut Speed of Light in 1986, even flipping a Thin Lizzy tune in the process, which felt like a wink to anybody paying attention to where their hearts lived. By then, the original all-Black lineup had already shifted after Stanley E. left and Emil Lech joined on bass. By 1987, the band itself had broken apart, and the music world barely noticed a thing.

Now watch the timing, because it stings. A year or so later, Living Colour walks through a door Sound Barrier spent the decade pushing against. Vernon Reid had the Black Rock Coalition behind him, a movement built specifically to drag this exact conversation into the light, plus a co-sign from a producer with a household name. “Cult of Personality” hits, the Grammy comes, and suddenly the mainstream acts surprised that Black folks play rock, as if Chuck Berry didn’t invent half the vocabulary. Sound Barrier had been saying the same thing years earlier into a room that wasn’t ready to hear it yet. Right message. Too soon. That’s the cruelest spot to stand in, knocking before anybody decides to answer.

The talent never went anywhere, by the way. Spacey T. kept eating. He joined Mother’s Finest and helped make a record literally titled Black Radio Won’t Play This Record, which might be the most honest album name in the history of the format wars. Later he ran with Fishbone for years, touring and recording, putting that fluid menace to work for a whole new crowd. The man’s fingerprints are all over the alternative and funk metal lineage, even when the casual listener never connected the dots back to where it started.

The story gets a little redemption, too, which I needed. In 2017 a reunited Sound Barrier played the Whisky a Go Go under a banner that read Metal Has No Color, and the room was thick with believers. Tom Morello showed up and produced their new single. Corey Glover from Living Colour was there. dUg Pinnick from King’s X stood in the building. A generation of Black rock musicians who came after, paying respect to the cats who took the early shots and ate the early losses. That night the truth finally got said out loud to a crowd that already knew it in their bones.

So why does any of this matter now? Because the thing that buried Sound Barrier was never the riffs and never the songs. It was a machine that couldn’t read a photograph without flinching. The sound was there. The look was there. The chops were undeniable and the major-label shot was real. What failed was an industry that built its shelves before it built any imagination, and a country that kept acting shocked at something it had been told a hundred times already.

I want you to go find Total Control. Put it on loud. Sit with the fact that this was sitting right there in 1983, waiting for somebody brave enough to push it the way it deserved, and nobody did. Then think about every other name we lost the same way, the ones who didn’t get a reunion night or a Morello cameo, the ones who just faded because the gatekeepers couldn’t see past a press photo.

Sound Barrier wasn’t ahead of the music. They were dead even with it. The world was just running late, and four bad brothers from LA paid the bill for everybody else’s lag. Crank it up. Say their names. They earned that much and a whole lot more.

Staff Writer; Bobby Jackson

This brother is dedicated to covering heavy metal and rock music with depth, respect, and cultural awareness. His writing highlights Black heavy metal and rock artists while also celebrating the genre’s broader legacy, influence, and artistic power.

Contact him at: BobbyJ@TheBRHM.com.

Black Death. Say the name slow and let it sit. These dudes came together in 1977, so picture it. Disco running the airwaves, everybody out on the floor doing the hustle, and meanwhile down in the Rust Belt you got Greg Hicks, Phil Bullard, and Clayborn Pinkins building something loud and ugly and beautiful with no lane to even drive it in. No name yet. No singer for a stretch. Just three Black men making a racket nobody had given them permission to make. Sit with how bold that is. There was no roadmap. Nobody to copy off of. They were drawing the picture and inventing the colors at the same time.

Then Siki Spacek walked through the door, and the whole thing snapped into focus. Real name Reginald Gamble, but the man renamed himself like a comic villain and backed up every syllable. He turned into the voice, the writer, the lead riff machine, the engine that pulled the whole train. And here’s the part that gets me grinning every single time. The fellas he linked up with didn’t really know what they were getting into. Siki had to teach them. Sat them down with Scorpions songs first. Then he dragged the crew to a Judas Priest concert just so they could feel in their chest what he was already hearing in his head. You understand what kind of belief that takes? You’re chasing a sound nobody around you recognizes, and instead of folding, you school your own people until they can hand it back to you.

So now let me get to why I titled this thing the way I did. Ahead of their time. And I don’t mean by a year or two. I mean these brothers were operating in a future the rest of us hadn’t booked tickets for.

Think about the timeline real careful. When D.R.I. and Suicidal Tendencies and that whole crossover wave finally taught the hardcore kids how to bang their heads, when speed and punk officially shook hands and the magazines acted like somebody had split the atom, Cleveland’s finest had already been smashing those worlds together in sweaty little dive bars for years. The self-titled record didn’t even land until 1984 on Auburn Records, which is its own kind of perfect. But the songs on it were older than that. Road-tested. Beaten into shape on stage long before any tape rolled.

And what does that record actually sound like? It runs. It runs hard. You hear thrash before the word thrash was on everybody’s lips. You hear speed that’s about to trip over its own feet and somehow never does. You hear punk in the snot and the swagger and the way the whole thing refuses to be polite. The production is rough as a gravel road, no budget, no studio gloss, like the tape itself was a little scared of them. And honest to God that’s the magic. That dirt under the fingernails is the point.

Reach for a track called “The Scream of the Iron Messiah” and brace yourself, because that’s the four-piece at full sprint, riffs tumbling over each other with Siki’s voice clawing up out of his usual deep growl into something almost feral. Then you got “Streetwalker,” which is where the lyrics earn their keep. That ain’t dungeons and dragons fantasy fluff. That’s life on the corner, the grind, the hustle, the stuff Siki could see right outside the window. Long before a lot of these subgenres pretended to discover that you could put real street truth inside heavy music, this Ohio crew was already doing it without making a press release about it. “Night of the Living Death” and “Fear No Evil” round it out, and the whole platter holds together like one long fever.

Now I can’t tell this story honest and skip the heartbreak, because there’s a heavy one. Their first bass player, Clayborn Pinkins, got murdered in 1979. Shot dead. The man went to pick up his lady from a chicken spot over where Broadway meets Union, and that was it. Gone, right at the start, before he ever got to watch what they’d become. That kind of loss could have buried the whole project. Folks have quit over a whole lot less. Darrell Harris eventually slid in on bass and locked down the lineup you hear on the album, but you best believe that shadow followed the music.

And here’s a thing that knots my stomach a little. For all that vision, for all that fire, they never really busted out of their hometown. They opened for cats like Rick Derringer, Anvil, and Helix. Real rooms, real crowds. But the bigger stages, the major label money, the world tour, none of it came knocking. They watched other acts who looked a little more familiar, a little more expected, walk right past them and grab the deals. You want to talk about a tax that doesn’t show up on any receipt. Being first and being unfamiliar at the same time can cost a man everything but the satisfaction of having done it.

You’ll catch some debate about whether they were truly the very first all African American crew in the genre. Sound Barrier, another pioneering all-Black heavy metal band, released a full-length record, Total Control, in 1983, one year before Black Death’s 1984 album. Fair enough. But Black Death’s roots go back to 1977, and most heads who know the history still give these Cleveland boys the crown for arriving on the scene first. Siki himself never made the whole thing about color anyway. He’s got this great line about how being all dark skinned wasn’t some plan they cooked up in a back room. To him it was simply how the lineup turned out, and a coloring book stays a coloring book no matter what shades you fill it with. He just wanted to build the ultimate heavy band, the kind that could hit every emotion the way Hendrix and Sabbath and the rest hit theirs. Race was real, he knew the world made it real, but the mission was the music first.

They went quiet around 1988 and stayed mostly silent for two long decades. When the dust finally settled there was even a little family feud over the name, Siki running one camp and Greg another, the way these old stories always seem to fracture. Spacek’s version eventually rolled on as Black Death Resurrected. But the part that warms me is what happened to that lone old album. Hells Headbangers got it reissued, put it back in physical form, and all of a sudden a new generation started catching on. Decibel wrote it up. Kerrang gave it ink. Collectors started chasing the original pressing like buried treasure, because that’s exactly what it is.

So when I say they were ahead of their time, here’s what I really mean. The blend they were brewing in 1977, the way thrash and speed and punk attitude and honest social truth all got thrown in one pot, became the recipe a dozen famous outfits would later get rich and celebrated for. These dudes were the prototype. The proof of concept nobody acknowledged. They showed it could be done, and then the spotlight swung over their heads and landed on the folks who arrived after the door was already open.

And maybe the sweetest part, for somebody like me, is what their whole existence quietly says back to that uncle at the cookout. Brothers absolutely do rock. Brothers helped build the thing. Black men were in the engine room of heavy music from the jump, sweating and bleeding and inventing, whether the history books bothered to write it down or not.

Go put that record on. Crank it loud enough to annoy your neighbors. Then ask yourself how something this raw, this fearless, this far out in front, ever got left in the dark this long. Black Death earned their flowers a long, long time ago. The least we can do is finally hand them over.

Staff Writer; Bobby Jackson

This brother is dedicated to covering heavy metal and rock music with depth, respect, and cultural awareness. His writing highlights Black heavy metal and rock artists while also celebrating the genre’s broader legacy, influence, and artistic power.

Contact him at: BobbyJ@TheBRHM.com.

This was an album I saw in stores as a kid and thought it looked cool from the artwork. I used to draw a lot back then and stuff like comic book and album covers were an influence.

Mind you didn’t, I didn’t hear the album until a decade later. When I finally did listen to it, it was something entirely new. By that time I was listening to hip-hop but mainly stuff from the South.

It was 2005 and 1992’s Body Count was the first I’d heard any Ice-T project. This album piqued my interest and is the reason I enjoy Power and O.G. Original Gangsta now.

The Vision for Ice T and Body Count

Body Count made its debut on O.G. Original Gangsta. This likely contributed to the band being labeled rap rock tag. If it needed a new title, “street metal” or “hood metal” would’ve done it. Ice T doesn’t actually rap on the first album.

It’s more of a mix between singing and spoken word. Growing up, Ice T took in all kinds of music and had friends who played rock and also enjoyed metal. Ice T’s hip-hop career definitely allowed for exploration of different styles.

What Ice T and Ernie C wanted to achieve with the band was rock and metal with hip-hop energy and storytelling. As a long-time fan of rock and metal, I can agree with his view that the lyrics do tend to lean more towards fiction depending on the band.

I believe the intent was to merge rock and hip-hop together merging content that is usually addressed in politically aware hip-hop with the technical side of rock.

This mix should’ve been massive in rock and resulted in more artists from a hip-hop background or who grew up in the trappings discussed in hip-hop telling their stories in rock. Professionally, it brought Ice T into households and on radios that didn’t entertainment hip-hop.

What happened with this meeting of styles was more like bands taking the technical aspects of both and making of rap rock or rap metal. Stories—about a part of America that the mainstream usually ignored until something bad happened—were still being told.

However, for the most part they were more aggressive versions stories we’d heard for decades in same genre. They were just faster, louder, and often featured rapping.

Influences of A Pioneering Band

That brings us back to how the idea of Body Count came about. Ice T and Ernie C rocked with Black Sabbath as well as the thrash metal and hardcore punk bands of the decade prior. Crossover thrash was also an influence and was ultimately the direction the band ran.

In 1992, there were hip-hop artists and groups that made darker music while still staying firmly in the realm of reality. The goal was to use the dark sound of rock they enjoyed and address issues Ice-T did in his hip-hop career.

On paper, it was simple. Bring the dark mood of Black Sabbath, discuss real life social issues as they relate to the artists, and make it loud, fast, and intense. Body Count nailed that on the debut album.

The Debut Album

What I liked most about the debut album is the experimentation from Ice-T. A lot of songs feature shouted spoken word from the lead singer. Then you get a track like “The Winner Loses” which is a dark song about a crack abuser.

A song like this one and “Cop Killer” have warnings and messages amongst the guitars and drums. That’s another thing; the other members were on top of it. Guitarists Ernie C and D-Roc the Executioner, Mooseman on bass, and drummer Beatmaster V all brought it on the debut.

When listening to rock for a while, it can become easy to overlook other members of a band unless they do an exceptional job. It’s also hard when you’re like me and put a greater emphasis on singing performance and lyrics.

The entire album is dark but not dark to the point of being bleak. It’s a mix of metal and hardcore punk on the sound side and the album structure from hip-hop with interludes being used regularly.

You know, the skit track that you might skip over on an album. Some of them are placed really well and sets up the next song. Allof the interludes were placed for a specific effect on the listener.

However, the overall flow could be impacted at times. You had some interludes that result in a tone shift between songs as was the case in listening to “KKK B****” then getting into “Voodoo” which is a horror-themed song about a run in with voodoo.

I definitely recommend this first album if you’ve wanted to hear Ice-T in a different but familiar environment. It’s also always good when an artist has love for a genre that isn’t what they’re known for, pursues a project, and have it end up successful.

Here’s hoping Denzel Curry takes note and pursue rock as well.

Staff Writer; James Swift, Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

That doesn’t take away from the musicianship or songwriting, I’m into faster, aggressive, energetic music. Of course, there are bands such as Electric Wizard, Lucifer, Acid King, Witch Mountain, and Doomsword that are staples of my rock listening.

This brings me to Black women singing doom metal. Now, there aren’t a ton of them singing doom metal. Hell, Black men aren’t even threatening a monopoly in metal, however Black women are there and the two singers we’re going to focus on are crushing it.

One singer might be familiar to TheBRHM readers—Kayla Dixon—but we’ll get into a brief intro of Cammie Gilbert and her singing ability as well.

Back Up…What’s Doom Metal?

In simplest terms, doom metal is a slowed down version of traditional heavy metal—Judas Priest, Iron Maiden-period metal.

While Black Sabbath created heavy metal and the guitar sound so closely associated with the genre, a sizeable chunk of their first Ozzy Osbourne era stuff is doom metal.

So, Black Sabbath presented two genres of metal during its early years and some bands went the slower doom metal direction.

The slower, deeper playing of doom metal comes adds to the music’s atmosphere with lyrics often being centered on themes of emotions, life, dreams, horror, drug use and dark literature.

Basically, if it could be made dark and possibly moody, doom can and most likely will do it. That said, not all doom metal is dark and depressing. Just any form of metal, the lyrical content can be about anything but the music itself is performed with that atmosphere and tempo in mind.

If a doom metal band wanted to make an album about kittens, pandas, and fries—or chips for our readers in the UK—a band can do that. Metal is flexible like that.

A more musically trained person could explain the intricacies of doom metal better but this is the gist. In the same way that speed metal is faster old school metal, doom is old school metal thrown in reverse at core.

Cammie Gilbert of Oceans of Slumber

Getting away from the genre lesson, we have Cammie Gilbert of Houston, Texas band Oceans of Slumber. Formed in 2011, the band plays progressive and doom metal but their album The Banished Heart was a really a mix.

More on that album in a review. Cammie Gilbert joined Oceans of Slumber in 2014 and made her debut on the Blue EP in 2015. It was her vocals on the band’s cover of Candlemass classic “Solitude” that impressed me.

With the release of the band’s sophomore release Winter in 2016, we got to hear Gilbert’s singing put to the gauntlet of an hour-long doom and prog album and she doesn’t budge.

Her singing performance doesn’t sound better on some songs than others. She’s just consistent throughout. What also rocks about her singing style is that Oceans of Slumber puts it at the forefront of the band’s sound.

Even with the 2020 self-titled album, she’s still the vocal focus despite having bass player Semir Özerkan and guitarist Alexander Lucian providing backup vocals and doing a damn good job of it.

Check out the tunes below to experience Gilbert’s singing.

Recommended Songs: “Solitude” (Candlemass cover), “Winter”, “A Return to the Earth Below”

Kayla Dixon of Witch Mountain

Dixon and Witch Mountain have been mentioned before. Hailing from Washington D.C, Kayla Dixon has a background in jazz, musical theater, ballet, musical theater, and acting. A true polymath of the creative arts.

She joined the Portland-based Witch Mountain in 2015 and made her full-length debut with the band on their 2018 self-titled album.

The sound Dixon brings to the band is similar to what Cammie Gilbert brings to Oceans of Slumber. When the music has this darker or more occult vibe or atmosphere to it, you want a certain voice or tone.

It doesn’t have to be a female singer but going back to Coven’s Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls from 1969, you had Jinx Dawson heading up a dark band and her vocals just fit the music.

Dixon has that the same kind of energy to work with WM and her background in stagecraft adds to live performances. She doesn’t come off as an overly technical performer but as one who enjoys what she’s doing and believes in her band’s talents.

Even though I discovered Dixon in Witch Mountain, the song “Remnants of Stars” stands out to me mainly because of her performance but also because it’s her plying her craft in a power metal band.

The faster, bombastic stuff will always win me over and Dixon with Helion Prime impressed the hell out of me. Her classical background was a perfect fit for the band and I’d like to see her return to the genre in the future if possible.

For now, get a load of Kayla Dixon’s singing chops with these recommended tracks.

Recommended Songs: “Remnants of Stars”, “Midnight”, “Nighthawk”

Black Women in Doom Metal

I’d love see more Black women singing doom metal or playing whatever instruments. Black women playing straight-up metal is something I can get behind. It would add something not just from a performance standpoint but there’s a lyrical benefit there.

Who are some Black women you’d love to hear perform metal? Be sure to let us know in the comments below! Drop some names and we could get into them in future article.

Staff Writer; James Swift, Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

However, the California offerings beside Hirax don’t get that much of a mention. I sum it up as not having that big of catalog or a strong output across decades. We’re looking at what I feel is the better introduction to Sound Barrier of its two full length releases: 1986’s Speed of Light.

Side A of Speed of Light

The first five tracks of Speed of Light make for an extremely strong A-side. It was as if Sound Barrier was expecting this album to be a breakout project for the band and they went all out on the four original tracks and the Thin Lizzy cover which closes out the side.

The opening/titular track kicks things off with some speed metal that wouldn’t be out of place on a U.S power metal release of this period such as Omen’s Battle Cry or Jag Panzer’s Ample Destruction. This song gives a sampling of what to expect for the rest of the album as for the band’s sound and approach.

My personal favorite from the A-side is the follow-up tune “Gladiator” which is right up my alley when comes to more sci-fi or fantasy-themed speed metal. If we’re not in the whipping through the wasteland in war wagons, I like my speed metal along these lines and could’ve taken an album of just this from Sound Barrier.

“On the Level (Head Banger)” and “What Price of Glory?” are both good tracks that keep the A-side just rocking along. They don’t slow down the album or give an early breather but the album as a whole isn’t the fastest thing. It’s very up tempo throughout but we’re talking about a pounder-heavy project. It’s not ripping through tracks like a Kreator or Sodom release.

Closing out the A-side is a clean cover of Thin Lizzy’s “Hollywood (Down on Yours Luck)” . Now, I enjoy the original from the 1981 release Renegade but I really dig the pace of this one. The OG track has a some grit to it, Sound Barrier’s sounds like it has better production for the time in addition to a little more heaviness. It’s similar to the Judas Priest treatment of Joan Baez’s “Diamonds and Rust” that I love.

Strongest Tracks: Speed of Light, Gladiator**, Hollywood (Down on Your Luck)*

B-Side

Kicking off the B-side is “Fight for Life!” which puts us back into something that could’ve been on an early Omen or Jag Panzer release. Or more specifically a number of U.S power metal albums that dropped in the early-mid 1980s. Along with speed metal and thrash, that genre is right up my alley, so this was very pleasing to the ear.

The heavyweight of this side is “Aim for the Top” which could’ve been the opening track. It has more speed to it than the previous track and would’ve been at home on the A-side. This is the 80s metal I love to hear and if Speed of Light had been along these lines from start to finish, I’d say this was an essential listen for the speed merchants.

“Hard As a Rock” is heavy track that straddles between heavier hard rock and a pretty run of the mill heavy metal pounder. It’s not the heaviest of pounders but it’s still a solid tune. It has the misfortune of coming after “Aim for the Top” and would’ve probably been better served as the closer to the stronger A-side.

Thinking about it, this track and the closer “On to the Next Adventure” are the best examples of the overall production of this album. It will remind you of a NWOBHM era album. Other tracks on the album had enough speed and energy to them that production took a bit of a back seat to my observations but these two tunes don’t have that same umph as most tracks here.

However, Sound Barrier didn’t slack on the album closer. It’s a good, heavy song with some get up and go that ends things on a strong but unfulfilling note as there was no next adventure for Sound Barrier. There wouldn’t be a single until 2017 then nothing else.

Following Speed of Light, Sound Barrier called it a day and some members moved on to other bands, notably projects associated with former short-time Sound Barrier guitarist Alex Masi.

Strongest Tracks: Fight for Life, Aim for the Top**, On to the Next Adventure

Strength of the Opener: Speed of Light

As mentioned above, the titular track “Speed of Light” is a strong opener for this album. It does the job of establishing either the pace or atmosphere of the album

Oddly enough, when I first gave this album a listen years ago, I remember not thinking much of the opener. Looking back, I was heavily into my new wave of thrash bag and I preferred blistering fast tracks start to finish. When I got into Manowar, Chastain, and Omen, a gained an appreciation for “Speed of Light”.

So, it’s a great opening track for the album. Alternative opening tracks include “Gladiator” from the A-side and “Aim for the Top” from the B-side.

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

We’ll have to dive into this project as there was no listed demos or other projects before the full-length debut for Three. It simply dropped in March 2023 via Black Mold Records, a label that has typically released sludge metal and doom metal projects.

Now, a label’s usual output doesn’t indicate that’s all you’re going to find. You could look through the catalog of a black metal label and find some old school metal in the mix of album releases by bands on the label.

In the case of Three, the release is in the slower waters of doom but with a late 70s-early 80s metal sound. Not so much Black Sabbath but more like a grimier Cirith Ungol with some healthy splashes of Brocas Helm thrown in.

A major contributing factor to that approach is the tandem of  multi-instrumentalist Corey Bing and guitarist/bass player Bahb Branca. The two are Ohio sludge scene veterans who have played in several acts together—many most with releases on Black Mold Records.

Opening Act of Three

Three has seven tracks across almost 31-minutes. The opener is “County Line”, a track that gives “controlled Brocas Helm” vibes. It’s not a rapid jaunt but it’s not s slog either, we’re talking about a pounder that gives the listener some idea of what to expect sonically. This song and “Red Dragon” have a kind of dungeon epicness to it—especially “Red Dragon”.

That track really piqued my interest in the rest of album because it reminds me of what I like to hear from epic heavy metal or U.S power metal: not too produced or clean but still epic in a Conan or Kull sense.

While “Red Dragon” really impressed, “For Your Love”, the second track on the album is the standout of the opening three songs. The longest track on the album, “For Your Love” is a slower-paced affair but it showed what this trio could do with a lengthier piece.

Strongest Tracks: For Your Love, Red Dragon

Second Act

The fourth  “Missing You” is somewhat similar to “For Your Love” only shorter and heavier. The doom is much thicker here. “Remember” is a longer rocker that could’ve been on Black Death. It still has that cavernous sound and slower-tempo while not being similar to other tunes on the album.

If you like your dark and slow romantic doom then “When Your Love Comes Down” might not be too up your alley. It’s notably faster than other tracks on Three and it gets the thumbs up from me. One thing I always liked about old school doom is that you could get a speeder on a slower-paced or mid-tempo release and it would stand out—sometimes as if it was the star of the show such as “Free Country” from Witchfinder General’s Death Penalty.

Closing out the album is “Mirror of Darkness”, a song that has a similar tempo to “When Your Love Comes Down” and gave me more of what I was seeking from this release lyrically: fantasy or dark fantasy themes. It’s a strong closer and could’ve been a stronger opener.

Strongest Tracks: Missing You, When Your Love Comes Down*, Mirror of Darkness*

Strength of the Opener: County Line

Opening tracks are very important since they can set the pace for the album or give the listener an idea of what they’re getting into. The faster and more bombastic, the stronger the opening, for me. In the case of Three, “County Line” is an opener: not the strongest but not the worst choice to kick things off.

However, tunes like “For Your Love”, “Red Dragon”, and the closer “Mirror of Darkness” are very strong picks to open the album just by being the standout tracks on this release.

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

At the  time of the band ‘s formation they weren’t playing thrash metal but by the time of the 1985 demo Black Metal (featuring a cover of Venom’s landmark song of the same name), the band was delivering speedy metal.

The demo dropped just a bit after the debut full-length albums from Metallica, Anthrax and Slayer and same year that Exodus released their debut album. However, a full-length album wouldn’t come about until 1990. What we’re looking at is the 1998 album To Kill Evil, a reissue of the 1990 self-titled debut sans the four extra tracks.

A-Side of To Kill Evil

Off the bat, the first two tracks slap. They slap hard. The titular track sets up what you think the entire album will be with a strong, fast-paced pounder led by Coffey’s vocal work but then you get the awesome display of speed and vocal ability that is the Starks-led “Time Is at Hand”. Remember the opening as we go through the album.

I’m a big fan of vocalists such Sergeant Salsten from Deathhammer and Stace “Sheepdog” McLaren formerly of Razor where both of their voices have bite and grit to them but they can also fling their voices into piercing, screams. I’ll always mark out for a piercing scream in a song and “Time Is at Hand” has the right amount.

“Pain” slows things down early into the album. It’s one of three slower or mid-tempo tunes on the album but it’s solid. Things pick up a bit with “The Great Controversy” which starts on the slow side but heads into speed metal territory in the second half of the song. The vocals here are more spoken word which works well here.

Stone Vengeance picks things up again with “The Persecution” which is a bit thrashy at points but pretty funky and speedy throughout. I dig this song a bit for the bass and drum heaviness here. We’ll run with this track as the A-side closer since this reissue was on CD and featured a reshuffling of tracks.

Strongest Tracks: To Kill Evil, Time Is at Hand**

B-side

The B-side opens with a short instrumental which is almost inaudible on the iTunes version of the album. It’s an acoustic piece. Following that is “Malice” which returns to the thrash approach of the first two tracks of the album.

I wouldn’t say it’s stronger than “Time Is at Hand” but it has more power and punch than the title track which opens the album. Coffey continues the vocal duties here and a song like this is what I lean into more to appreciate his vocal ability and delivery.

Now, I love my faster tracks but “Higher Now” is a pretty good, slower-tempo piece. Beyond the faster stuff which Coffey’s voice is suited for, something like this works. Following that is another instrumental which is more audible than the first (“Bullfight”). It sets up for what is technically the album’s closer of the original tracks: “Long Live Stone Vengeance”.

Coffey’s vocal performance here features moments where he pops a scream and I could’ve used more of those here. The band as a whole delivers a speedy ride that is similar to very early thrash where it isn’t pure power, speed and aggression. Again, see the first two tracks on the album.

Strongest Tracks: Malice, Higher Now, Long Live Stone Vengeance

Best of the Bonuses

Looking at the four bonus or additional tracks, you have a good cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady” and “The Pill” as the standouts. The cover has Coffey more in his bluesy hard rock bag. He was also in that bag for the song “Chase” which is worth a listen as well. For me, it had the relatability of hip-hop or soul in rock trappings was thumbs up from me.

“The Pill” does the same but in thrashier trappings. It’s as if Rick James did speed metal or thrash without ending up at groove metal or funk metal. Stone Vengeance took Black musical storytelling throughout and kept it well within a speedy approach.

The Best: Foxy Lady, The Pill*

Strength of the Opener: To Kill Evil

With there being a few style and tempo changes throughout the album, the opener did it’s job in getting me interested in checking out the rest of the project. It lets you know that there will be some thrashing going on but it doesn’t let you know about the entire musical journey.

Well, to a degree. You kind of get an idea of the lyrical approach or themed covered here with songs about belief and basically spirituality but it isn’t antagonistic. Had the album been entirely thrash along the lines of the strongest songs on the album with some venturing into “Chase” territory, I’d say it’s a strong opener. However, it’s more of a strong song on it’s own and a solid opener.

“Time Is at Hand” would be the best replacement opener while “Malice” would do alright in that slot. Overall, this was an enjoyable listen and I’m looking for to checking out the available 2000 release The Angel.

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

And rightfully so, Glover is a singer with range and presence. Both are definite thumbs up in my book. Let’s look at another pioneer in Cleveland, Ohio’s Siki Spacek.

Black Death and Early Ohio Metal

The lead singer and guitarist for pioneering Black heavy metal band Black Death, Siki embodies everything I like about open musicians.

Just being open to different genres or bringing in elements from different eras. Black Death was the start and it came out at a time when the Ohio metal scene was getting its first bands such as Destructor, Chastain, and Axe Master. Bands were exploring both heavier and faster sounds and while many didn’t continue or release a full length, some demos show that “This band was on the right track.”

Black Death was no different in their demos with the second and third having songs worthy of full length placement.

What I dig about Siki’s vocals on this release is that there’s a lot of grit and soul to it. It gives some tracks such as “When Tears Run Red” and “Streetwalker” a different air than pounders like “Scream of the Iron Messiah” and “Here Comes the Wrecking Crew”.

Now, I’ve been listening to interviews to fill myself in about what happened with the band and Siki Spacek post-debut album. A lot occurred in metal worldwide after 1984—in Ohio metal alone—where’s like “Siki’s vocals would fit this.” I have the same thoughts about contemporary Guy Speranza of Riot. It’s a very “what if” scenario where you can plug an artist into different genres, bands, and on particular albums.

For those with long memories, think about that period where Rob Halford being interested in doing black metal was of note.

The Iron Messiah Returns

Decades later and with the band Black Death Resurrected, and Siki delivered The Return of the Iron Messiah. It fit some of what I figured Black Death would’ve grown into in a follow-up—only with modern production and a lot more experience playing. Similar to going through UK thrash veterans Onslaught’s discography—where the band got faster and even more aggressive with modern releases—Black Death Resurrected was a faster, darker BD.

The approach of this band was rooted in the original but it sounded how the band should sound almost 30 years later. That is, if we had 30 years of releases in that time to see the band grow. It was a familiar sound with new energy that delivered a new release filled with pounders.

With that said, The Return of the Iron Messiah dropped in late 2015. Where did Siki ply his vocal talents after?

Three

I touched on the Ohio metal scene of the 80s, the 21^st century of the scene saw a faster breed of bands such as Midnight and Vindicator. It also saw some solo projects and projects from OG acts such as Winters Bane, headed up by vocal veteran Tim “Ripper” Owens.

Eight years after The Return of the Iron Messiah, Siki Spacek returned with his vocal and guitar stylings. With the power trio Three, you see Siki in the mix of a darker, slower metal. There’s a 70s-early 80s doom sound with a lot of cavernousness, it also sounds like straight up late 70s metal from the period at the same time. It’s a change in pace if you’re familiar with some of the stuff Siki’s voice has been involved in but his voice fits this sound.

Ultimately, Spacek is a singer I wish there was a lot more from, heavy metal, doom, speed metal, blues, funk—straight up hard rock—the guy’s voice could fit in with a couple different genres and add an old school “street metal” sound.

If you’re familiar with the work of Siki Spacek, what are some of your favorite releases? Also, if you’re into the Ohio metal scene, share some of your favorite bands.

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

While I was really enjoying the stuff that didn’t feature heavy blackened or punk influences in the production and sound—the blackened stuff was intriguing. You had bands where the blackened element came in the instrumentals and production and less from the vocals. This worked for me and I was discovering bands such as the disbanded Baphomet’s Blood, Dismantle, Children of Technology, and Mortifier.

Basically, bands on the “Slayer-Sodom-Kreator” end of the thrash pool including Toxic Holocaust.

Toxic Holocaust and 2000s Thrash Metal

The Joel Grind-founded and led Toxic Holocaust was formed in 1999. This period—late 90s and early 00s—was a period when several of New Wave of Thrash Metal bands would form and disband. Looking at some of the bands from that time on Encyclopedia Metallum, you’ll find that some of those early bands were more like prototype or precursor projects.

Grind honed TH’s early sound across two years of demos and split albums, progressively improving—as were a couple of the band’s contemporaries such as Skeletonwitch and Violator. The 2000s run of Toxic Holocaust produced three projects and we’ll see which one was the best of the decade.

On “Best of the Decade”, we go into a band’s discography for a particular decade and rank the albums. The last one listed is what we consider their best of the decade. The only criteria here is that the band have at least three full-length albums in that decade.

Let’s dive into these early Toxic Holocaust projects!

Evil Never Dies (2003)

I discovered this album about five years after its release and was impressed by the atmosphere and speed on display. Mind you, the deeper you dig into the New Wave of Thrash, you’ll find similar approaches and influences less than six feet down. Since TH was one of the first bands of that wave I discovered, they stood out. It also didn’t help that the band became more varied in lyrical content and sound with time, addition of members, and advances/access in recording.

Basically, Toxic Holocaust became more polished—in a good way. Here, the black metal influences on TH’s sound is still very thick including the very production. It makes for a darker, feral thrash sound which will always work with the lyrical content the band worked with heavily in the first trilogy of albums.

I love diving into early discographies and I’m always pleased when the debut is worth the listen and enjoyable start to finish. END fits the bill will several bangers across 32-minutes of twelve tracks about nuclear war, the post apocalypse, and Hell—all themes I dig!

This album or An Overdose of Death make for a great introduction to the band. Unfortunately, I discovered our next entry before the debut and that provided a bit of a problem when trying to appreciate END.

The Bangers: War is Hell**, 666*, Atomik Destruktor*

An Overdose of Death… (2008)

Of the decade, An Overdose of Death is my favorite from Toxic Holocaust. It was the album I discovered the band through and enjoyed instantly from the opener “Wild Dogs” but was sold with “Nuke the Cross” and it’s hard thrashing gallop. It’s a banger-banger. There are other strong tracks here but the bombs drops came in the first two tracks. Everything else is cannon and shotgun fire because like the two albums before it: TH was about speed and gross power.

However, the 2008 release was the start of a more-polished TH. Personally, I put it down to access to better recording, better song writing, and so on. It was almost a decade since the band was formed and five years since the debut. Bands tend to improve early on before getting into the groove the fans expect.

Having listened to their discography, I’d say they were really ending towards interesting times creativity here. The album doesn’t have the speed of END or Hell on Earth but it does have a heaviness that the first lacked.

The Bangers: Wild Dogs*, Nuke the Cross**, War is Hell*, Death from Above*, City of a Million Graves**

Toxic Holocaust – Hell on Earth (2005)

We’ve gone into the other two albums enough that there isn’t too much to say about the best of the decade here. It has enough of the vocal and instrumental approach and energy from Evil Never Dies but production and lyrical focus-wise, it’s the bridge to An Overdose of Death. It’s the Reese’s Cup of the 2000s trifecta: the best of both worlds.

What I dig the most about this album is that it kept the speed of END and went feral with it. The album clocks in at 27 minutes and change but there are a number of instrumentals here. Normally, I’d boohoo that since I’m not a big fan of instrumental tracks on albums but that atmosphere from END is present here and the instrumentals contribute heavily to that.

Besides, if I was ranking this based on meat on the bone, An Overdose…would get the nod as best of the decade. As far as tracks to check out here, “Thrashing Death” is probably the star of the album for me—but I’m a sucker for thrash anthems—“Ready to Fight” and “Hell on Earth” are definitely worthy of banger status.

The Bangers: Arise from the Grave*, Thrashing Death**, Never Stop the Slaughter*, Ready to Fight*, Hell on Earth*

If you listened to these albums, how would you rank them? Let us know in the comments!

Staff Writer; James “Metal” Swift Jr.

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

It’s different for artists who have been around for years and I pick them up later into their career when they’re an established artist. For instance, I discovered Judas Priest shortly after Angel of Retribution dropped in 2005. Venom was discovered right before Metal Black in 2006. In the case of Venom, I was going through a bunch of the 1980s New Wave of British Heavy Metal and stumbled upon Black Metal, their highly acclaimed album.

Then we have Flint, Michigan artist Mario Judah. While he’s been involved in music prior to 2020, that year was an quite the debut for the young artist as he released several unique, strong singles showcasing a style of hip-hop and rap-rock that took me back to the early 2000s. Obviously, “Die Very Rough” was the viral single that really grabbed my attention.

The thing is, I discovered that song year’s after it went viral and it still impressed me. It held up and that’s a feat because nowadays there’s a push to keep making music—remaining relevant in an industry loaded with talent with more talent being discovered or releasing each month. Tunes that were hot last year could end up buried by other artists’ stuff or even new material from the artist that made said buried banger.

I wrote on 2024’s Endure and went to see if Mario Judah had anything else afterward. While I really dug Endure and the length of the project reminded me of 80s rock album releases, it was significantly brief by hip-hop or rock standards today—or of the decade in general. Seriously, folks release 18 and 20+ track releases and you might conclude “Eh, it could’ve been done in 15 tracks, really.”

“What Happened to Mario Judah?”

So the thought is “There’s gotta be more stuff. An EP, some features, etc” since Endure dropped early in the year. Looking on Apple Music I found that his debut full-length remained the most recent thing. That’s not unusual for artists who have been at this for a five, ten or more years.

For younger artists, that’s somewhat unusual because of they’re still at that stage of establishing themselves and keeping relevant. It’s letting listeners and fans know “I’m still here, I’m not a flash in the pan, and I got stuff bubbling—but I’m working with my contemporaries and peers.”

What I did find in my search were questions of “What happened to Mario Judah?” It’s a question with mixed meanings. On the one hand, listeners remember the artist dropped some heat in the past but they haven’t seen anything out of them recently. Then again, there’s also the sense of the artist falling off. I saw the same question around California artist Remble who had a banger with “Untouchable” in 2021 and RMR who had a banger with “DEALER” in 2020.

Both of them would continue making music after those releases each year and have released material this year with RMR dropping his second album “Tribune” in July 2024.

When fans of Mario Judah are looking for ways to show their support and celebrate his unique style, custom keychains are a perfect choice. These personalized accessories can feature memorable lyrics, artistic designs, or even tributes to Judah’s iconic visuals. Besides adding a touch of personality to everyday items like keys, bags, or backpacks, they can also spark conversations among fans. Consider making your own custom keychain, a fun way to carry the spirit of Mario Judah with you wherever you go!

…and It Better Be Flames

And yes, metal is filled with such bands. In the late 2000s, I discovered California’s new thrash act Dismantle which ultimately had a six-and-a-half to seven-year run of dropping material. Nothing out of them since 2013 but they reformed in 2016. I’m going to do a “Greatest Album Debuts” on them but I’m still interested in new material from them.

On that note, this is a benefit of Mario Judah not releasing anything recently. He debuted in 2020 and released something at least this year. Sure, I’m hoping for more music from him but hip-hop has a more “Go! Go! Go!” pace for younger artists which isn’t exactly a thing for younger metal bands. You can hope for it to be flames but if it falls short, all that artist has to do is keep at it, get some collabs, sharpen their craft and they just might drop some flames again. Consistency makes it something of a numbers game, looking at it.

However, an older artist whether in hip-hop or metal dropping something after anything over five years? It should be flames. I mean rust aside, that’s enough time to put your best foot forward. Ten years after the last release? It better be flames. There’s no excuse for why the release shouldn’t slam.

Ultimately, art takes time to make but a certain level of quality can be expected considering the time. Still in his 20s, time is on the side of Mario Judah and just because he hasn’t dropped this summer—a prime time to drop music—that doesn’t mean he fell off entirely.

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.