So there's alot of talk lately about the latest resurgence of thrash metal - you've got a big article on the "Thrash Metal Revival" that Decibel just

published in their new November '07 issue, bands like Merciless Death, Blood Tsunami and Municipal Waste have been busy this year with new albums that have

all breathed new life into the form, and it seems to me like almost every second-tier thrash metal outfit from the late 80's has been rising from the grave

and touring over the past two years. This is all great as far as I'm concerned. I came of age during the thrash metal 80's, a period that gave me crucial

albums from Sepultura, Testament, Suicidal Tendencies, Atrophy, and Nuclear Assault that were some of my most cherished platters from my youth. But after

thrash metal reached it's peak around 1990, being the complete mutant that I am, I started to root around for the weirder, quirkier thrash stuff, an effort

that was most likely spurred on by the total brain glazing that I received at the alien hands of VoiVod's Nothingface. Of course, there weren't that

many bands that twisted the thrash sound around back then (nor are there many now during this "revival", either), but my searching did lead me to the much-

maligned funk-thrash outfit Mordred (I don't give a shit what anyone says, these guys sounded nuts at the time!), Celtic Frost's Into The

Pandemonium, and bands like Coroner, Anacrusis, and Mekon Delta. Ever since, I've tried to be on the constant lookout for similiarly oddball bands from

this era, and thankfully it appears that this resurgence of interest in thrash might just end up unearthing some of the nuttier and more obscure bands from

the golden age of thrash that I never would have had a chance to discover back in the day. Garlik De'th is just this sort of band, a thrash outfit

from northern Norway that formed in the late 80's and released only two demos, 1990's First Demon and 1991's Load Error, before breaking up

in 1992. I'd never even heard of this band before Lyderhorn Records got in touch with me to see if we'd be interested in carrying their stuff, but one listen

to Garlik De'th's weirdo thrash was all it took. Primal, mostly midpaced thrash metal with evil, raspy vocals and filled with blazing shredding, sudden

breaks into chaotic angular riffing and funk basslines, song structures that border on schizo, unexpectedly catchy hooks, and a general aura of weirdness -

like on "In Deepshit We Trust", which marries skeletal low-fi thrash with a bizarre sing-song melody and no wave/post punk, or the herky-jerky dirge of

"Grace Under Pressure". This is amazing stuff, a totally bent assault of bent, often confusing thrash metal somewhere in between Voivod's later

experimentation and Kreator's raw riffage, but way more deranged and quirky than either of those bands would ever be. Lyderhorn's dedication to high quality

documentation of obscure metal totally shows through here: the CD version of this discography features all new album art created by the band, and features

both demos and a live track, all of which has been remastered by James Plotkin. Highly recommended to fellow fans of whacked out thrash and speed metal!