For Freedom I Cry

There is a graveyard with seemingly unending boundaries where dozens upon dozens of thrash bands were laid to rest before having the opportunity to fully blossom into formidable forces in the genre the way the early guard had. Most of these forced early 90s abortions were on the derivative side, but this is generally the trend of lower tier bands, particularly on their debut where they may have just made the transition out of being a tribute/cover band. Victoria Texas’s one time potential act Acridity is such a lost child of the then fizzling thrash scene that managed to birth a singular LP circa 1991, and was likely buried under the hype surrounding the more grooving approach taken by Pantera and Exhorder, along with the more commercialized, slightly less extreme tendencies of coinciding output by Metallica and Anthrax.

The band named themselves after a somewhat obscure term that can either denote something irritating, unpleasant or sharp pertaining to taste, smell of language; but the actual sound heard on “For Freedom I Cry” doesn’t invoke the images of embryonic death metal ala Demolition Hammer or Destruction that this would tend to denote. In fact, this largely resembles a slightly more developed and varied answer to Testament’s “The Legacy”, which was itself something of a throwback to the speed/NWOBHM tendencies of the genre during its infancy a few years before. Riffs are plentiful and loaded with plenty of bite and punch, but the flavor is pretty close to what Slayer was doing right as they made the transition from heavy metal to thrash on “Show No Mercy”. A good case and point would be the principle riff of “Lethal Idol”, which has a very strong 1983-84 flavor, despite being one of the more intense works on here.

Everything on here is done competently, and there are even a few standout songs such as the semi-Maiden inspired epic “The Verdict” and the chaotic “Nothing Held Sacred”, but this is extremely safe and tame by 1991 standards in terms of stylistic development. The weak areas are primarily in the lead guitar work and the vocals, both of which are performed adequately but with little edge or distinctiveness. At their peak, the guitar solo interchanges don’t go far beyond basic Kirk Hammett worship. Vocalist Darin Carroll is settled pretty comfortably in that gritty James Hetfield meets Chuck Billy shouting space, but lacks the higher range of the latter and the gusto of the former when he was at his peak. Largely this album is carried along by solid songwriting and some pretty impressive rhythm guitar and drum work, particularly on the closing fit of chaos that is “The Vigilante”, which is a bit more in the 1986-1987 when the Bay Area bands started really cooking and there was no such thing as too much speed.

Any self-respecting thrash enthusiast/historian who dabbles in the obscure will find something worthy of tracking down here, and pretty well anyone who liked thrash metal before “Reign In Blood” and “…And Justice For All” began pulling the genre in various other directions, or conservative thrash lovers for short, will find a good amount to like here. Who knows, with all the revivalism going on in the style nowadays, there could potentially be a reunion possibly in the making at some point here, as was the case with a couple of older bands who met a similarly untimely end in the aftermath of the grunge explosion. Only time will tell.

We all know there are hundreds upon hundreds of lost and forgotten thrash bands out there from decades long past, especially the late 1980's when the boom was at it's highest; every young metalhead wanting to become the next Metallica and whatnot. It's safe to say that the majority of those bands never even made it farther than a mere opening slot on a semi-extensive tour with even a second rate thrash band, and Acridity might have been one of those bands.

Many bands barely made it to popular status, and as the case it seems with Acridity, they released a debut and called it quits. There are no obvious influences from an initial listen, this is traditional thrash in every sense; much like the sped up NWOBHM ilk, but with a thrashier flare; easily sticking in on a bill with Metallica, Overkill and even early Testament. This is quite simple thrash, it's riffs upon riffs, a pounding bass, and of course the solos. They're all there; where's the vocalist in this mix? This is the weakest link, he's not exactly terrible, it's just all blueprint thrash. There is no emotion in his voice, no overt usage of energy, he's just barely singing/grunting out the words. It's passable and tolerable, but c'mon.. it's like he's barely trying.

The songs here as an album, are strong with solid thrasher at neckbreak speed each time with loads of chunky riffs and that oh so powerful rhythmic double bass/bass guitar gallop. The lead work here isn't too fancy, sometimes reminding me of Overkill, without any unnecessary solos and such, playing it safe and allowing more room for heavy riffing. It's especially noticeable on Countdown to Terror with the lead work opening the song, but then quickly going back to more riff work. The songs aren't exactly standout, rather sticking together for a solid album making combination. It's hard to choose one from the other; the vocalist lacks the power to take command of your filthy ears and make you chant out a chorus of any kind. The riffs are memorable and fun to headbang to, but in the end it's still lacking.

Production-wise, For Freedom I Cry is a solid chunk of thrash reminding me of a less progressive version of Heathen and moreso the type early Anthrax/Overkill employs; riff-based and heavy. Acridity have a knack for creating songs that hold your interest, but it's hard to pick and choose a certain song being better than another, especially with the majority of the song lengths being quite long. Denied Right however sticks out the most, with an unrelenting pace of solid riff based thrash that keeps you hooked at a fast speed. So with this debut, Acridity have joined the ranks of the hundreds of forgotten thrash bands that came out of the woodwork in the late 80's and released some solid thrash. With the work shown here, it's fairly obvious why they have been so forgotten; but for a die hard thrash fan, there is something to be found here and can be enjoyed for a few listens especially if you can get past the first few songs (this is by far a bottom heavy album, the first 4 songs are total throwaways).