Cryptic Slaughter - Convicted LP

I haven’t listened to Cryptic Slaughter as much as I have in the last week since the shop was in Penrith! There’s a certain wart ‘n’ all recording quality here, or more appropriately zits ‘n’ all. The pimples on their 1986 debut ‘Convicted’ are almost audible.

The general atmosphere is a hurricane of unbalanced teenage hormones that ebb and flow between the raging frustration and having a good time thrashing fast with your friends. Maybe their follow up ‘Money Talks’ is a “better” executed album but there’s a unique charisma here. It’s impressively fast, but exciting how close it is to falling apart.

Maybe out of them all, this is the Hardcore Punk / Thrash Metal ‘Crossover’ record I’d put my name to! - Nic