1985-1988 were really important years in the development of extreme metal. For a while, the terms now used in relatively precise terms by lovers of our brands of noise were relatively interchangeable. I can recall Megadeth proudly calling themselves “state of the art speed metal” on their T-Shirts, and adverts in the magazines that seemed to pretty much swap at will the descriptors “thrash” and “death” prefixes. There were a number of bands that seemed to straddle these genres and sub-genres of music, including Death, Massacre, Celtic Frost, Possessed., Master…the list goes on. 

Fairly soon of course all this got codified, and as the 90’s arrived and wore on, genre labels became debated and (relatively) settled among the internet metal community, but there was that brief point in time where the naming mattered less than the music. Well, it’s in that spirit that we have Leper Colony, another excellent band housed on the fantastic Transcending Obscurity label. Are they thrash? Well hell, you can hear plenty of ripping guitar solos and Slayer-y riffs on this record, but you can also hear the drumming and bass work of early death metal. It’s bloody fantastic. 

So who are Leper Colony? Well, if you guessed Rogga Johansson (of Paganizer and roughly 27% of all bands on Metal Archives), you’d have had a safe bet. It also features Jon Skare on drums (he of the excellent Consumed and Crossbow Suicide), and Marc Grewe (vocals) – probably best known for his stint in Morgoth, but also for his work with Insidious Disease.

 There’s frankly an embarrassment of riches in the riff stakes here. “The Surgical Endeavours”, for instance, has riffs that remind of the fantastic moments from Death’s “Leprosy”, Deceased’s “Fearless Undead Machines” and Master’s self-titled debut. The closest I can come in approach (but not necessarily sound) would be Gruesome, albeit Leper Colony cast their net wider than just death, and so you can hear the calling cards of Dark Angel and Sadus in that muscular thrash style just as much as the early death vibe. 

While there are only nine gore-soaked tracks on the album, they’re delivered in such a breathless, energetic way that you won’t notice. Whether putting the pedal to the metal and giving it big licks in the thrash department or slowing things down to let the chunky evil atmosphere appear, this is a band that’s really doing a great job of bringing the spirit of the age back to life. I’d say it’s also the case that the production really helps here – it has a slight tendency to make the guitars sound a little thin, which is perfect for the time period it draws influence from, while keeping the rumbling bass and crackers drum playing powerfully presented in the mix. 

Back in the day, these boys would have toured with Noise records, sandwiched between Sabbat and Celtic Frost. As it is, this is an album that will appeal not only to fat old men with hazy memories of a time gone (like me), but also to younger purveyors of top-tier extremity. Another Rogga victory. 

(8.5/10 Chris Davison)

https://www.facebook.com/lepercolonyband

https://lepercolonydm.bandcamp.com/album/leper-colony-death-metal