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Wild Dogs > Wild Dogs > Reviews
Wild Dogs - Wild Dogs

Partially toothless and missing patches of hair - 66%

Gutterscream, October 12th, 2005
Written based on this version: 1983, 12" vinyl, Shrapnel Records

…whips and chains and baseball bats, I kinda like the pain as a matter of fact…”

Go through some of your pre-thrash metal releases and look for the self-made prophecy. It’s usually found on the back cover, the inner sleeve, or the insert, an often overboard declaration of the impact said lp or band will have on the scene. Bands and labels were good for this. For example, Shrapnel’s first non-compilation full-lengther, the debut from Wild Dogs, is wordier and more grandiose than most:

“Every once in awhile a new and exciting group will smash onto the scene, blow our minds, and make us wonder how we got along without them. This lp is a prime example; exploding with manic frenzy, searing hot guitar, and mesmerizing charisma. Wild Dogs provide the ultimate metal for those who like it hot, fast, and hard?”

Soon the eye rolling stops, and hopefully before the lp’s thrown haphazardly onto the dustbin pile, one will realize there’s a point of truth to the conceited spiel. The key is ‘pre-thrash’, or even ‘dawn-of-thrash’. This could’ve been released anytime during ’83 and metal’s meatier incarnation was either virtually nonexistent or so slim with impending sounds that a micrometer is needed to measure it. To them and others, this may have been pretty cutting edge even if it can’t lay waste to Exciter, livelier excerpts from Anvil, Accept, and Oz, of course Metallica and Venom, and a few others.

Before we cut into the actual music, let’s do a little dissecting of the prophecy. New = besides a previous demo, yeah it was. Exciting = for the time they could have been for some. Smash onto the scene = more like a scrunch. Blow our minds = let’s face it, some people are slower than others. Make us wonder… = with Slayer’s debut I did, but not these guys. Exploding…manic frenzy…searing hot…mesmerizing = it’s Wild Dogs, not the atom bomb aftermath, and the only songs to even see these words through a telescope are “The Tonight Show” and “Never Gonna Stop”. Charisma = even Big Bird has some sort of allure. Ultimate metal = yeah, sure...and why did that Pepsi shoot from your nose? Honestly, if they didn’t throw the ribbons of acclaim around like an over-descriptive restaurant menu, I wouldn’t have jumped all over this as I have.

We already know where two songs stand in the sway of the ‘storm’. Kicking off the lp is “Life is Just a Game”, an up-tempo gust somewhat windy with an unexpected flyweight speed metal gait that throws a lot of premeditated solos around (hey, it’s Shrapnel). On the other hand, basic is the activity in “The Evil in Me” and “Born to Rock”, meandering with run of the mill rhythms, barely noticeable catchiness, and a pace matching both, meanwhile eking into sketchy, lite party stock are “I Need a Love” and, despite its downtrodden message, “You Can’t Escape Your Lives”. More in the vein of the lp’s opener, the friskier “Two Wrongs” can hold its own with its fairly flowing chorus. Now, a Shrapnel offering wouldn’t be complete without a true spotlighted guitar solo somewhere, such as Jeff Mark’s overindulgent one shrilling the start of “Take Another Prisoner”, a song that in itself isn’t all that inventive and makes the solo sound more daring than it actually is.

What could have given this project a hotfoot? While stocky Matthew T. McCourt may seem on the undomesticated side in the back cover photo, his vocals are as general as can be, mid-toned, and nearly as flavorless as cauliflower. The production via Recording Associates isn’t much different, seemingly cut at the torso, keeping the high-end alive while anything bass-heavy or bludgeoning is bagged, chained, and thrown overboard.

It’s little surprise Wild Dogs simmer somewhere on metal’s vast, ocean-wide back burners. It is a bit of a surprise that they’re still at it, and drummer Dean Castronovo would luckily go on to bigger and better things. Not much bark, not much bite, and the chain is holding fast.