Artillery - Terror Squad
1987 Neat Records

Track Listing:
1. The Challenge
2. In The Thrash
3. Terror Squad
4. Let There Be Sin
5. Hunger And Greed
6. Therapy
7. At War With Science
8. Decapitation Of Deviants

Line-Up:
Vocals:  Fleming Ronsford
Guitars:  Michael Stutzer, Jorgen Sandau
Bass:  Morten Stutzer
Drums:  Carsten Neilson

Horatio's Rating:  D
Overall Rating:  D

Horatio's Review:
Jock is bored of his thrash collection.  Day after day he scours his CD and tape collection searching in utter futility for anything to listen to that isn't stale.  As he browses he's faced with 'Reign In Blood', 'Among The Living', 'Peace Sells' and 'Ride The Lightning'.  Unable to coerce himself to listen to them one more time he decides to branch out.  He chances upon a copy of 'Terror Squad' at his local second hand record store.  He's taken in by the rough artwork which represents thrash at its crudest.  An alternative to the norm?  European thrash's origins providing a respite to the bloated US classics?  He plays it.  Once.  Skipping every track.  Jock decides 'Among The Living' isn't so bad after all.

I prefer this to Bathory, the thrash is more accessible and melodic, but still lacking the knockout punch of the heavyweights, no matter how worn out their likes are.  Artillery were one of the earliest European thrash acts, Denmark's finest and perhaps only aside from Mercyful Fate.  Some pundits would have you believe this is a classic.  I cannot confirm this.  I've owned this since 1997 and not sat through it once.  I wrote that about Bathory in my 'Return' review which I've had sitting around for a year uncompleted.  No matter how fast Artillery played it, the lack of explosive thrash dynamics are this album's downfall.  If they weren't, I suspect, I might have listened to it more than zero times in eight years.  I'm sure someone will claim that Destruction, Kreator and Transmetal were actually the real thrash originators, but these men must have a taste for being comatose.

What interests me is how I cannot single out or describe individual tracks off a typical 80's Euro thrash album.  I could easily give a blow by blow account for 'Seasons In The Abyss', but like 'Coma Of Souls' and 'The Return', 'Terror Squad' is one endless dirge with repetitive riffs, tempos, vocal work, with nothing that ever grabs your balls like an 'SS-3' or 'Take No Prisoners'.  I always thought speed was the key, but clearly it wasn't.  Artillery's production values are not an excuse, even had they been signed to a major label this would have still been the yawner it has been for 18 years.  There's actually a decent section during 'At War With Science' with blinding speed, but Ronsdorf's one dimensional vocals are a stain.

I hope I've helped out Jock into his journey into discovering some thrash that will spice up his tired collection.  This is the place to start if you want to discover where the fluff lies.  I had to go through this particular journey.  I'm glad I did.  Wouldn't it have been boring not to?
Horatio's Rating:  D