The Evil in Good

Thanks to the magic of reissues, China’s Awakening Records has awakened me to a somewhat short lived band from the ‘80s that seems to have gotten a bit swept under the radar. With only two full-lengths, Washington state’s Mace dropped by and delivered a dirty dose of crossover wreckage. The latter of the two albums, The Evil In Good truly captures the angry punk energy under the thrash umbrella arguably harder than some of their bigger peers at the time. Of course, by 1987, this style wasn’t exactly unheard of either.

Obviously, you shouldn’t go into this expecting a vast variety from the gate. Lyrically, it’s definitely loaded with political angst and history’s most hatred filled figures, and the tone and attitude matches wonderfully. Yet, there’s still a solid poetic flow that combats the raw atmosphere cast above everything. Slower passages that cool the aggressive energy make their way in, even adding acoustics in the longer title track. There’s also an impressive jump to something like that in “Thinning The Herd,” which I applaud.

Admittedly though, this does go a little heavy on some of the sillier aspects of the genre, which may have made it less favorable to others. Inconsistency isn’t an issue, since the general feel doesn’t change across the board, but “Daddy’s Girl” certainly could have been avoided, especially being back to back with the awkward cover of Edwin Starr’s “War”. Nothing worth complaining about too much, especially because a lot of this is made up with incredible bass presence, nearly as loud as the lead guitars. The drums even have a pretty fun feeling to them.

While The Evil In Good may be a bit messy, I find it to be an interesting disc. It certainly was worth several spins, and it left a lot to be dissected for a genre that’s typically quite straightforward. If Municipal Waste could go back in time and make their over-the-top style fifteen years sooner, this is about what you’d end up with. Except maybe tighten things up a bit; it compares more to them than the likes of Suicidal Tendencies or DRI.

Though ideologically different, thrash metal and punk (particularly of the hardcore variety) have a lot in common. Both rely on speed and aggression and both tend to tackle political/social/economic subject matter. However important things, technicality and atmosphere among them, draw a pretty clear line between the two, suggesting that they’d be better off as separate entities. Despite this, there are plenty of bands out there that have managed to mix punk and thrash and not royally fuck it up, Nuclear Assault and D.R.I. most quickly springing to mind, though there are plenty more that should have kept their intentions on the drawing board. I wouldn’t hesitate to add Mace to that list.

I would describe Mace as one of the many, many punk-inspired thrash outfits of the mid-80’s if the balance wasn’t so unfavorably tipped towards their influences. Mace want you to see them as a thrash band, and maybe they even believe that they are, but though they proudly wear their brand-new Exodus t-shirt, I’d bet any money that there’s a worn, dirty Dead Kennedys cutoff underneath. Their second and final album The Evil in Good is essentially a hardcore punk album with a thin, crispy outer shell of thrash. They got the speed and noise solo parts right, but the core of the album is rooted in punk. They have the bouncy bass riffs, minimal, poorly produced drums, short arrangements, goofy humor and overemphasis on political discontent of your average punk band and they perform them just as averagely. The rhythm guitar is heavily distorted and low in the mix, and since the riffs mostly consist of grinding power chords, it comes off as a slow rrrr beneath the bass and constant shouting of Kirk Verhay, whose voice could be compared to Paul Baloff if Verhay actually gave a damn about his performance. So yeah, total punk outfit. I mean, just look at that cover art…

The good in Mace’s effort? Some nice acoustic bits come out of nowhere, entertain briefly, and then depart (presumably back to nowhere). The evil in Mace’s effort? They’re sloppy, un-heavy, underproduced, and their songwriting is castrated; that last one being the most egregious. There are numerous interlude bits that come into play throughout the album (often using a cheesy distorted voice copped from Metal Church’s “Beyond the Black”) that are as annoying as they are purposeless. Opener “Gutripper” is one of the few cases where something grabs your attention for longer than a moment (the chorus particularly), but the first minute or so is one of these skits. And when they aren’t playing with techno-horror themes, they’re beating the punk manifesto further into the ground, such as in the title track, a mockery of hatemonger Jerry Falwall who, despite being more than worthy of open derision, is just too easy a target. Who’s next on their list, Ronald Reagan? When they finally do tread new ground, it’s in the form of a very awkard cover of that “War” song from the 60’s that no one needs to hear.

Those with strong punk leanings might find Mace quirky and likable; thrashers will probably find them shallow and amateurish. But at just a lick past the 28 minute mark, everyone will be able to agree that The Evil in Good is way too short to warrant their hard-earned dough.

There are other bands than Mace, mixing punk and crossover – my personal favourite being English Dogs. I have however not come across another band doing it with so much anarchistic aggression. Of course, it could be argued whether it’s a good thing or not. Mace’s version of it is pretty much a constant onslaught of drums accompanied by bulldozer guitar chords. Sadly the punk shows itself here – while the guitars are aggressive and fast they just never prove to be anything more than the sonic blur you get by repeating the same chord over and over again with too much distortion. Of course that was fairly exaggerated, but anyone expecting thrash guitar heroes will be disappointed.

As what I have understood there are a more melodic vibe on this album than its predecessors, but it really only shows in the end of some songs when a perfectly melodic, instrumental part turns up like a clown from a box. Then the punk/crossover comes along again and my ears are seeking for insulation. Not that the music isn’t so bad, if punkish thrash/crossover appeals to you, but the vocalist is. He sure sounds aggressive, thus accompanying the music but the screams are delivered like bullets from an Uzi, making no sense. It’s cute for starters, the anarchistic feeling, his insubstantial vocals, the crazy solos and the speedy drumming that is pretty much running the show. But Mace goes on beyond the point of compensation and after a song or two I switch album.