EXIT TO ETERNITY – Coming Down

Aaaah … Thrash! Recently, quite a lot of quality, Old School Thrash bands have raised their head above the boundaries of the underground, and New York’s Exit To Eternity do the same thing with their self-produced EP Coming Down (note: the band calls this release an EP, but with almost 40 minutes of music you probably have shorter albums in your collection).

Of course, one always has to be lenient on the guys with independent releases when it comes to sound quality, and Exit To Eternity is no exception, especially when it comes to the drum sound, but then again that has never bothered Thrashers as in the eighties fans listened to tapes that offered more noise than music with relish and delight. And, most also have worse-sounding “classics“ shelved somewhere – does anybody remember Flotsam & Jetsam’s When The Storm Comes Down? Right, so let’s call the sound “old fashioned,” instead of poorly produced …

Musically this disc is more than worth a try. After a short piano intro, the first song “Coming Down” will make you listen up. This is the best Sacred Reich track since “American Way” and “Who’s To Blame!” Not only the musical style, even singer Carmine Cafaro sounds like Phil Rind. Spiced with a long instrumental interlude, which gives it a mellower, raw-Metallica-like feel, and even leaves the Thrash roots at times, the track is surprising and skillfully done. And, these attributes are fitting for all of the six tracks, although they offer great variety. Cafaro varies his voice nicely, and the style also is everything but monotonous. “Mindless Pawns” is fast with a heavy middle section – Black Sabbath-type of heavy – and can do the trick without a real chorus. This would certainly be a killer track live.

One song really stands out: “Kristallnacht.” For those who don’t know, a small history lesson may be in order: the Kristallnacht of November 9th, 1938, marked the first and biggest open aggression of the Third Reich as many civilian German citizens sided up with SA and SS against the Jewish population. Jewish shops were ransacked, windows smashed, people were killed openly in the street or were dragged away into concentration camps. The use of the word Kristallnacht is therefore a strong statement, which should not be made carelessly. Exit To Eternity tries to make a statement against violence with it, and the provocation is surely intentional. While it is not completely out of place, the underlying connection with the attempted genocide makes it seem to be not the best choice for a general lyrical theme, though the song is obviously spiteful towards the cowards who did the fiendish deed. Musically, the song is fittingly fast and hard, again with a few hints towards Sacred Reich. The chorus is one of the strongest on the album, and the word “Reich” just seems to be a great word to use for an American band in a Metal chorus.

After that, Exit To Eternity bow to mighty Metallica. “Misery” shows some mid-tempo reminiscences somewhere around the Ride The Lightning era, and “No More“ turns out to be an instrumental of over seven minutes somewhere in the wake of “Orion,” or “Call Of Ktulu,” even the solo guitar sound reminds of the superstars of Metal, although they can not yet reach the brilliance of these two role models.

The album closes with “Justice Under God.” Acoustic guitars introduce the last piece of very heavy, very good music Exit To Eternity offers with astonishing variety. Laid back grooves and Oriental-sounding riffs finally give way to real Thrash chords … and a great solo ends Coming Down. There is not much else to say – this is a surprisingly strong underground release that deserves your attention, and your money. It may not be another Master Of Puppets, Fabulous Disaster, or American Way yet, but with most of the rest of your Thrash collection it will see eye to eye.