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here it is as requested ... sorry for the quality, I have no idea where I got this CDR from ... I'll soon get the original demo so I will upgrade the upload if necessary ...

No Mercy (Essex) - 'Death Metal' demo 15.5.1983

tracks :

1. Fantazia
2. Twist of Fate
3. Cut and Thrust

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7GIFC0QW

many thanks boris

I was just listening to this one and I really liked it. A better quality rip will be highly appreciated.

Cochino wrote:I was just listening to this one and I really liked it. A better quality rip will be highly appreciated.

My thoughts exactly!

Yeah! Great shit! Pity about the flap-flap-flap bug in the 2 first songs though...

Is it just me or does this sound so much more "Metal Blade '83" than anything NWOBHMish? Not a bad thing of course

I was telling Nightlock that yesterday. I don't fully agree with the NWOBHM classification since I find it to be way rawer and more aggressive than the classic NWOBHM sound, and that's what I like so much about this demo. I've heard it quite a few times since I downloaded it.

Cochino wrote:I was telling Nightlock that yesterday. I don't fully agree with the NWOBHM classification since I find it to be way rawer and more aggressive than the classic NWOBHM sound, and that's what I like so much about this demo. I've heard it quite a few times since I downloaded it.

How can you not agree with the NWOBHM classification if it's British Heavy Metal from 1983?

But it does sound out of place with 90% of the other bands. Although from 1983 on some other NWOBHM bands began playing in the thrash/power vein of the (mostly) American bands.

Will find out in a few minutes whether to side with Black Axe or Cochino here. Anyway, if it's good, I don't think I really care...

Black Axe wrote:

Cochino wrote:I was telling Nightlock that yesterday. I don't fully agree with the NWOBHM classification since I find it to be way rawer and more aggressive than the classic NWOBHM sound, and that's what I like so much about this demo. I've heard it quite a few times since I downloaded it.

How can you not agree with the NWOBHM classification if it's British Heavy Metal from 1983?

But it does sound out of place with 90% of the other bands. Although from 1983 on some other NWOBHM bands began playing in the thrash/power vein of the (mostly) American bands.

Well, if NWOBHM is gonna be considered as a style, it has nothing to do with the year or place where it was produced, even when that style's name was created because of a place and time. When I read someone says that certain band plays NWOBHM I don't just think of a band from England from the late 70's early 80's, I think of a certain sound and No Mercy doesn't really have that sound. So yes, you can call 'em NWOBHM 'cause they're from England, but they certainly don't share the sound with most of the bands in that style, that's what I meant.

Cochino wrote: Well, if NWOBHM is gonna be considered as a style, it has nothing to do with the year or place where it was produced, even when that style's name was created because of a place and time. When I read someone says that certain band plays NWOBHM I don't just think of a band from England from the late 70's early 80's, I think of a certain sound and No Mercy doesn't really have that sound. So yes, you can call 'em NWOBHM 'cause they're from England, but they certainly don't share the sound with most of the bands in that style, that's what I meant.

Sorry Cochino, i've gotta disagree with you here. Whilst i appreciate that there is a certain sound assosciated with NWOBHM bands that instantly springs to mind, the movement had such a wide variety of bands and styles that we do them all a disservice by only thinking of that classic sound, great though it is. From was Agony Bag to Venom, from Shiva to Goldsmith, from Maiden to Hell, there were some similarities but more often, obvious differences. To me, this was the strength of the "movement", it covered so much ground stylistically, from proggish or AOR elements at one end of the spectrum, to punk and proto-thrash leanings at the other. Although it's diversity was probably partly responsible for it's demise, with very few bands going on to have any real commercial success.
And on a geographical note, Britain isn't just England, it also comprises Wales, (Persian Risk, Tredegar, Y Diawled etc.), Scotland, (Chasar, Pallas, Trident, Glasgow etc) and Northern Ireland (Blackmayne, Sweet Savage, Purple Haze etc). To most, i think the term NWOBHM means British music from that era, i find it misleading when European or elsewhere bands are described by that term.
Sorry if i came off like an ass by taking you to task over this, no offence was intended, i'm just really passionate about the NWOBHM and feel that by focussing on "that sound", you miss out on 90% of what went on, and a lot of it was great timeless music that deseves to be heard.

Well, you're absolutely right about Britain not being only England, that was very dumb from my part and as a South American I should be more thoughtful about that kind of things (we suffer all the time the US people calling themselves "Americans" like they're the only ones in the continent), but I still think about NWOBHM as a certain sound. Maybe is something that has to do with a personal approach to this thing, but I think that saying that a band is "NWOBHM" if you're not trying to describe a certain sound is meaningless, or at least not that important. Of course there are very different bands in the NWOBHM, there are in all genres. Mortician sounds very different than Cynic, for example, yet they're both Death Metal. I think that this particular band (No Mercy) even though it has some things that can be considered as belonging to NWOBHM, should be considered outside the genre, or at least not just referred as NWOBHM, but then again, is just an opinion and I won't get mad if anyone has a different one, don't worry.
I hope I made myself clear, my English is not so good, and that shows when I try to make long texts.

Ah this argument again, I find myself stuck in the middle of this argument all the time. While what you said is right bigfoot' you can't deny it's a little bit more than JUST a period in time, a movement of bands? Well at least you can't deny that it was such a unique group of bands that had many musical similarities and aesthetics. That when we listen back to the movement as a WHOLE there are those archetypical sounds that are... just... so... N.W.O.B.H.M.? The D.I.Y. rawness, the heavily accented youthful vocals, the rock 'n' roll derived songwriting plus lots more. If you can't associate THAT sounds (which is specific and unique) with N.W.O.B.H.M. from more than just a location and time context what can you associate it with?

I often see many forum users on here calling releases from other countries N.W.O.B.H.M.-esque. If it's not more than a movement what does this mean? Randy from Denmark sound like they were living in Newcastle between the years of 1979 and 1984? haha. But I completely agree that the time and place thing is the best way to measure the ....gen...move...whatever but it is more than a simple time and place, there are too many variables that would go unmeasured if it wasn't more than just a movement (If that makes sense).

Cochino wrote:

Black Axe wrote:

Cochino wrote:I was telling Nightlock that yesterday. I don't fully agree with the NWOBHM classification since I find it to be way rawer and more aggressive than the classic NWOBHM sound, and that's what I like so much about this demo. I've heard it quite a few times since I downloaded it.

How can you not agree with the NWOBHM classification if it's British Heavy Metal from 1983?

But it does sound out of place with 90% of the other bands. Although from 1983 on some other NWOBHM bands began playing in the thrash/power vein of the (mostly) American bands.

Well, if NWOBHM is gonna be considered as a style, it has nothing to do with the year or place where it was produced, even when that style's name was created because of a place and time. When I read someone says that certain band plays NWOBHM I don't just think of a band from England from the late 70's early 80's, I think of a certain sound and No Mercy doesn't really have that sound. So yes, you can call 'em NWOBHM 'cause they're from England, but they certainly don't share the sound with most of the bands in that style, that's what I meant.

I agree.

When I first registered here I made a thread regarding favorite sub-genres and was bashed by most people for having NWOBHM as one of the choices.

A band like Venom is not NWOBHM in my eyes...

well the idea of NWOBHM is by far not the genre but the movement. I've been discussing this with Malc some time ago. Many bands are considered NWOBHM even stuff like Atlantis Rising (although it has roots in the heavier Tomahawk), Tamarisk and Chemical Alice, Cheeky, Vermillion ... all alongside Angel Witch, Jaguar, Blitzkrieg, Tellurian, Jeddah, Hell, Virtue, Apocalypse ... you can't just categorize that as a genre since you have prog, punk, AOR, heavy metal, doom, hard rock, melodic metal etc.... there is some general feeling to all these bands, and that is since they have all belonged to a certain movement ... just a generation of young dudes who wanted to play they varieties of rock/metal music they liked back in late 1970's - early 1980's in the UK ...

of course some sellers you to stretch it and stick the term anywhere - on punk, new wave, MOD singles they can't sell for good money otherwise ...

Hmm, this has turned into an interesting debate, and going by what Nightlock said, one that has taken place @ The Corroseum before, before i registered i guess.
I suppose what is most important for me to see is that everyone who has spoken on the subject here may have widely differing points of view, but we all speak passionately about this many-headed musical enigma called "NWOBHM".
That people from Scotland, Canada, Israel and Argentina are even debating the whys & hows of this obscure loose assosciation of bands from 30 years ago is nothing short of incredible really. That, i suppose, is the true power this music held, and that it arouses these passions in us, all these years later, means that for all our differences of opinion on the matter, we have far more in common.
Someone once said, "opinions are like arseholes, everyone's got one, and most of them stink", but perhaps this depends on the subject matter in question, eh?
The subject here matters more than the opinions we hold i think.
And for the record Cochino, i think your English is excellent, you explained yourself perfectly. Far better than my Spanish certainly!