"Destroy
Metal"?!?!?! Who the hell
do these Japanese clowns
think they are?! That's it. Arm your bombers and get your tanks ready,
coz we're going to wa... No, wait. Now I get it. It's
Destroy-Metal,
right? Like when all those bands back in the 80's wanted to come up with
their very own "new" brand of Metal or extra-special image etc.
Well, if we didn't know the language barrier could cause commotion before,
we know it now. Any other reasons to get exited over this EP? Oh yes.
This is one of those "killer-debut/dissappointing-discography"-releases
which so easily gets deported to the Island Of Lost And Forgotten Metal
Gems. After this storming Power Metal attack (the '85 definition), UNITED
treaded the path of bay-area/ANTHRAX-on-their-fucking-skateboards-Thrash
and from there further into the murky swamp of "Modern Groovy Thrash
Metal". They might still be around, but frankly I don't know and
I don't care. Let's just for the moment pretend that they were one of
those one-off single-bands and cherish their moment of true Metal Greatness.
Yes, "Destroy Metal" is one of Japan's highlights of True Metal.
"Sniper" has all the harmonies and class of "..Beast"-era
MAIDEN with the speed and dirt of early TANK or KAT. The chanting in their
theme-song sounds more like "Motörhead!" than "United!",
but me thinks the spotting of Lemmy & co. in the song is anything
but subliminal. "Skill" mops it up nicely in an upbeat NWOBHMy
sort of way with roaring guitars and very likable leads.
The production reminds me of a lot of d.i.y. punk ep's of this era. It's
not bad at all. Together with the hoarse, young-Kai Hansen-like vocals
of Nao it gives them a raw and unpolished edge that, thanx to their superb
guitar harmonies, never get anywhere near punk/HC territory - a common
folly of many of their crossover countrymen in the Japanese underground
at the time. Well, that and an abundance of studded leather and Judas
Priest-like poses (see
foldout).
A few years after its release this EP was re-released (bootlegged?) as
a picture 7". I've very rarely seen any version offered so I can't
really tell which version is the rarest. Just be sure to grab the 1st
one that comes along, coz in all honesty, Jpn-Heavy Metal rarely got better
or heavier.