924. Nuclear Assault / Game Over. 1986. 3.5/5

Perhaps the greatest component about thrash metal - and certainly this is probably more relevant to the early origins of the genre and not necessarily the latter day proponents - is that it is just FUN! What's not to like about drums that are flying along at an indelible speed, careering almost out of control, as the guitars riff and crush along at the same tempo, whilst the front man sings and screams his/her lyrics over the top. And who cares what the lyrics are about? Death? Satan? War? It's not a contest to become the most poignantly relevant band in the world you know! (well, not for everyone). It's about enjoyment of the music and how that music makes you feel when it comes on.

Nuclear Assault grew out of the dismissal of bass guitarist Danny Lilker from Anthrax, and his decision to not only put together another band, but one that wanted to go in a more aggressive fashion than his previous band was heading. Bringing together John Connolly, Anthony Bramante and Glenn Evans, the band released the EP Brain Death before releasing their debut album Game Over two months later.
This is a ripping album. There is no pretence about its origins or the lyrical content. If there was a textbook on how to produce thrash metal albums, this would be the template. The drums are precise, with double kick almost all the way throughout. The guitars fly along at great speed, and emit their highpitched solos on cue. The lyrics cover those topics that are not unusual to bands that wanted to shock in the mid-eighties - the devil, hell, war, death. The fact that opponents to this music always cite the topics of the lyrics as the main reason they should be banned or worse is always the most amusing part. No one takes them seriously, surely, neither the lyrics or the people who form groups to ban such songs/bands. It's all a big game, laughable, and makes the songs enjoyable because the lyrics don't take themselves seriously.
The brilliant instrumental "Live, Suffer, Die" opens the album on the right note, before crashing in to "Sin" and "Cold Steel". Numerous mentions of Lucifer and evil in these first two songs no doubt tickled the fancy of PMRC back in the day. "Betrayal" and "Letter After the Holocaust" continue the ride in glee.
There is no let up throughout the album. Each song kicks in and takes the album back up a notch. The simplistic and effectively short sharp attack of "Hang the Pope..." is a highlight, being as it is so very angry and yet ludicrously silly in the same 45 seconds. "Radiation Sickness" and "Nuclear War" are impossible to avoid your head banging in time with. The short break for "My America" is followed by the scintillating "Vengeance" before the final change up of "Brain Death" brings the album to a brilliant conclusion.

This is another of those albums that I am eternally disappointed that I didn't discover in my teenage years when it was released. I can only imagine that my enjoyment of it now would only have been increased if I had had in during those final years in high school, singing and screaming along to it in the school yard like a madman. The fact that my enjoyment of it today is still so high makes me believe that if it had grown into my subconscious in those days, it would be an almost indispensable album for me now. Despite this, it still ranks highly among those early purveyors of the original thrash metal sound.

Rating:  "All of those who oppressed me, are about to meet their end"   3.5/5