Got tipped off to this album in the Amebix thread on ROD of all places. I was expecting dark hardcore stuff, not strange and uniquely dark, evil thrash/proto BM. An English band by all accounts but the album was recorded between France and England across several months in 88/89. Just fucking obscure madness. Truly unique sounding stuff... I'm loving it.
https://youtu.be/8AuaYMizJNw?si=diR9D1cOvYpTkKHm
I thought this looked familiar! I was in a small old record shop in the middle of nowhere in this kinda creepy country town somewhere in New South Wales about 6 months ago and found this on the shelf! I thought it looked interesting so took a photo of it to listen to later but put it back because I was in a campervan and never got around to checking it out, Just listening to it on YouTube now it sounds really cool.
(https://i.imgur.com/ZxXQuCK.jpeg)
I vaguely remember this band from reading about them in Kerrang and the like as a nipper, but I tink that might be the first time I've ever actually heard them.I seem to remember talk being they were kind of manufactured or something? I definitely remember there being ome fairly questionable artwork involving an underage girl.
The artwork is bizarre. Some of it is cool some of it is just awful :laugh: but at a glance it works and the logo is deadly.
I think there's almost nothing known about who the members are. There seems to be very little info anyway, but it's interesting to think they may have been manufactured. A total commercial flop if true seeing as they are even obscure in the underground :laugh: :laugh:
I'll have to see if Mithrandir's lost copy finds its way to me 8)
These guys have to be one of those 'Metalsploitation' bands, right?
Edit: Gotta read the previous messages before commenting 😅
Metalsploitation?!
I'm heading to NSW in a few weeks but just hitting Sydney and I'm guessing that's not the "creepy country town" you were referring to...
ye
Quote from: Eoin McLove on May 11, 2026, 10:32:29 PMMetalsploitation?!
see also Exorcist's "Nightmare Theatre"
Maybe it's 'Metalploitation', that's what they were calling all those made up 80s bands on Metal Enterprises/Cobra records. Exorcist and the likes. .
And no unfortunately nowhere near Sydney, like a few hours away in the mountains, I'll try think of the name.
What exactly is the story behind these made up bands? :laugh:
I wasn't around in the 80s so colour me intrigued/confused :laugh:
Industry plant bands trying to take advantage of metal's popularity at the time. There's been discussion that Infernal Majesty were one of these bands too but never confirmed.
Madness, I can't imagine many were particularly sucessful!
Deliverance photo on metallum does seem a bit daft/off, even for the time :laugh:
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/3/3/133_photo.jpg)
The only one I think that were actually successful was Piledriver.
Quote from: Goosebumples on May 11, 2026, 11:01:10 PMI wasn't around in the 80s so colour me intrigued/confused :laugh:
And just for the records, neither was I :laugh: :laugh:
I never heard about those bands being manufactured. Weird if true in this case as their sound is so unorthodox.
I just went to link a good write up about it from The Corroseum it's shut down?!?
Quote from: Eoin McLove on May 12, 2026, 12:34:40 AMI never heard about those bands being manufactured. Weird if true in this case as their sound is so unorthodox.
Thats what I was thinking, evil friendship has a very off kilter and unusual sound to it. Seems utterly bizzare that if they were an attempt to cash in on popularity that this approach was taken!
Cool record thou, cheers for the recommendation.
Mad theory about Infernal Majesty. Never heard that before and given None Shall Defy is 10/10 and there's no proof, I choose to ignore it. I'd say it must come from them looking like glam fruits on the back of the lp.
I would like to read more about this phenomenon/ conspiracy. It's all new to me.
Quote from: open face surgery on May 12, 2026, 12:05:42 PMNone Shall Defy is 10/10
Quote from: open face surgery on May 12, 2026, 12:05:42 PMlooking like glam fruits
Add in a mascot cover and you have all the attributes of an 80s commercial success...very interesting :laugh:
Yeah, I've never heard anything really substantiated about Infernal Majesty tbh so probably not a good example. None Shall Defy is one of the greatest albums ever.
I think the whole thing about these bands was that they didn't need to sound good, look up Metal Enterprises, they had like 30 bands that are incredibly shit. I think they just needed to look the part in a time when people were blind buying records based on the cover and name alone.
The Virgin Steel guys wrote and played on the Exorcist, The second Piledriver album and the Original Sin album under pseudonyms on Cobra records just to shift records. All completely made up.
Here's a more in depth write up about it from the Corroseum I found on wayback:
https://web.archive.org/web/20251102165554/https://thecorroseum.org/features/metalenterprises/index.php
Quote from: Mithrandir on May 12, 2026, 12:56:18 PMYeah, I've never heard anything really substantiated about Infernal Majesty tbh so probably not a good example. None Shall Defy is one of the greatest albums ever.
I think the whole thing about these bands was that they didn't need to sound good, look up Metal Enterprises, they had like 30 bands that are incredibly shit. I think they just needed to look the part in a time when people were blind buying records based on the cover and name alone.
The Virgin Steel guys wrote and played on the Exorcist, The second Piledriver album and the Original Sin album under pseudonyms on Cobra records just to shift records. All completely made up.
Here's a more in depth write up about it from the Corroseum I found on wayback:
https://web.archive.org/web/20251102165554/https://thecorroseum.org/features/metalenterprises/index.php
Cheers for that. Gonna spend an evening wading through the sewage that is that labels catalogue for the laugh