Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An overlooked band in a genre run by mediocre bands, October 29, 2005
I was glad when D.R.I. came out with an album entitled "Thrash Zone" because face it, they were a Thrash band. I went to see these guys in August '04 and some little punk rock kid saw I had my Nuclear Assault "Survive" tour tee on and said ever so sarcastically, "Metal, YEAHHH!" All I said was, "Hey moron, what kind of band do you think you're seeing? That's right a metal band. Go wack it to your DK records." (The kid was probably thirteen.) Sure they got the punk rock inspired lyrics and the Hardcore hollering and occasional riffs, but they were definitely in the Thrash genre if you had to pidgeon hole them.
Thrash Zone is interesting for a number of reasons, the lighting fast speed element is almost completely gone except on few numbers like "Worker Bee", the slow parts are really slow, almost like Obituary during their dirge moments on "Slowly We Rot". The production is the best of any D.R.I. album, famed Metal Blade producer Bill Metoyer uses a little to much compression but this ends up giving Spike Cassidy a boost in his awesome riffs. Some of the best guitar riffs of any D.R.I. album here. I was a little bit disappointed in Felix Griffin's drumming because he is an awesome drummer and one of the best in the genre. His drumming here is just too simple, there aren't any of those awesome breaks or tom fills that were on Crossover or Four of a Kind. Still some cool triplets though. Kurt's atonal voice is a little more in the background but still keeps everything together.
This album would then go on to close the most successful period for D.R.I. The later two albums would lack focus and be cast on the dust bin of history. They would also go on to loose a huge driving force in 1990, their drummer Felix Griffin. Their bassist would also get stabbed on tour in Mexico after this album, a further setback for the band. Worth having along with everything that came before. If you like D.R.I. then you should also check out the first two Hirax albums and Nuclear Assault pre-1991. For more underrated Thrash check out Forced Entry, Anacrusis, Coroner, ans N.J.'s Whiplash. They don't sound like D.R.I. but they are all awesome bands.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Standing In Line..., December 22, 2006
The dirty rotten imbeciles better known as D.R.I. had a couple of claims to fame in the 80s. At one time, they were the fastest band in the world, pioneering the use of blastbeats. They were also considered Crossover scene leaders, helping break down a few of the barriers between the once mutually exclusive worlds of Metal and Hardcore. Positioned as they were, receiving critical acclaim from both scenes, `Thrash Zone' could have seen D.R.I. firmly cement their position as underground music legends. Instead, it saw the band fall by the wayside as little more than an interesting side note in the history of extreme music.
First track "Thrashard" starts promisingly enough, but basically just plods at pedestrian pace. And really, it sets the mood for the entire album. Guitarist Spike Cassidy doesn't seem to have any different tunings or effects for his guitar, and there are very few solos to speak of. In cricketing terms, drummer Felix Griffin plays either medium-fast or slow left arm, and there ain't nothing fancy about either. Kurt Brecht's shout is a bit tuneless, but is fairly standard 1980s Hardcore style, and is reasonably easy listening.
There's a social conscience in D.R.I.'s song writing for sure, but it is expressed in very simplistic, almost childish terms. Passages like "Gun control/We need gun control" and "I give a hoot/But I still pollute" stick in your mind hours later, but it's because they are so god awfully clumsy and badly written. The sentiments are noble, but the execution is lacking.
The overall impression of `Thrash Zone' is an album short on good ideas and variety, and of a band which has reached the end of it's creative tether. All is not entirely lost. "Kill The Words" uses the slow paced crunch prevalent throughout the album to best effect. "Strategy" almost winds up to a reasonable speed, and has a catchy tune, and "Worker Bee" is a top gear workout, but it's not enough to lift the hit/miss ratio to an acceptable level.
These guys were a highly influential band in their day, but `Thrash Zone' is memorable for the wrong reasons, and the dead horse D.R.I. was flogging was starting to reek.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Crossover Is Complete, March 7, 2005
Other than the original Dirty Rotten EP (22 songs) and _Dealing With It_, this is the best D.R.I a man can get. Even with very dry, clean-sounding thrash metal production, you still get perhaps their best complete set of nasty moshers. The bravest tracks are the more ambitious and complex thrash/hardcore crossovers. "Beneath The Wheel" has a pretty outstanding mix of styles, starting out Doomy and breaking into some fast thrash before dropping a great mid-tempo mosh beat into the middle. "Strategy" and "Kill The Words" (with the goofy intro) also have great, driving riffage and lots of changes. There are also some more trad-hardcore shorter tracks mixed in. "Worker Bee", "Standing in Line" and especially "Enemy Within" will all keep the pit flowing. This blend really didn't seem to gel on _Crossover_, but the band here plows through these tracks like radioactive demons running on diesel fuel. Kurt Brecht goes down wailing typically pointed lyrics about timeless punk concerns, like pollution, hardships on the road, dealing with aggression and advocacy of non-violence (except inside their mosh pits). Even so, its stood the test of time on its own terms pretty well, and in terms of late 80s metal even better than many of their thrash peers.
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