Acid Reign The Fear

Acid Reign 'The Fear' (Under One Flag, 1989)

Acid Reign, the perennial jokers of the UK thrash scene, the naughty schoolboys, the musical equivalent of Viz, the kings of United Kingdom Apple Core. Yet there was the strange paradox that their music was pretty high calibre thrash and lyrically they often demanded to be taken seriously. They had one of the worst vocalists in the history, but when you saw them live his charisma and sense of humour worked, for a while.

After the 'Moshkinstein' EP had blown a few of us away with thrash classics like Goddess and Motherly Love (I purchased the EP based solely on the constant rotation of the Norman Bates themed track in between bands at the Moshpit on a Sunday night) much was expected of 'The Fear'.

It delivered, in a strange way. Mikey bought it from Avalanche and once he'd spun it on the deathdeck he knew something was wrong, but in a good way. Under One Flag had accidentally put Death's 'Scream Bloody Gore' in the packaging and this opened up a whole new avenue of music to us (much more of that will come!). He debated keeping the record, but eventually relented and took it back. He ended up buying Death too, so it all worked out well. It was great in those days, one guy would buy something and you would buy another and you'd never lose because you'd swap, tape etc. 'The Fear' must have been a hit with everybody back then as we all ended up with a copy.

On reflection (of truth!) the album is a crunchy, Bay Area influenced but undisputedly UK thrash milestone. The playing is well above the standard on Moshkinstein, the lyrics have an overarching theme of fear dealing with racism, paranoia, greed and the general ills of society. Unfortunately, they can't resist the puerile nonsense of 'You never know when the nibbles may strike' and the cricket theme tune in 'Humanoia' and vocalist H is on his usual reedy, straining mediocre form.

On the track 'The Fear' they show they're not afraid to introduce some progressive influences, although there is an obvious debt to Metallica. The drumming at some points reminds me of early Ventor (Kreator) and can be pretty speedy when compared to the other thrash bands that were out there.

Acid Reign were the perfect band to see live when you were 15/16, The Venue was always packed with people hanging from the rafters, constant stage diving and good friendly moshing. They made you laugh with ridiculous 'fish dancing' which involved everybody getting on their backs and waving their feet in the air, which was not a good idea on The Venue's filthy floor, and they made you head bang with some great catchy metal.

Unfortunately, come the end of 1989, Acid Reign, like thrash, were on the wane and after you'd heard Bolt Thrower and Morbid Angel, joking around on stage didn't really cut any more. The members seemed to know that themselves and after trying the 'mature' album, 'Obnoxious', a year later, they soon disbanded.

Gaz, who left after this LP, and briefly Adam, went on to be hugely influential with doom institution Cathedral and Kev joined another joke UK band Lawnmower Deth. H, rather aptly, now performs stand up as 'Kevin Platt, Professional Yorkshireman'.

As with a lot of the UK Thrash scene, which only really got any recognition as the worldwide scene was starting to fade, I think you had to be there to really get it, but this is worth checking out.

Moochos Grassy Arse!!

Peace