Ludichrist
Immaculate
Deception/Powertrip (Re-Issue)
Dead City
Review by hutch
Once upon a time, hardcore (punk) and metal were considered
separate entities. It did not take long for certain bands that span the
spectrum to begin combining elements eventually, harvesting the anger and
rebellion of both genres. Venom was one. This is why the first Bathory album
sounds like a sibling of The Exploited and Discharge. While in America, DRI and
COC began mashing the two styles as well. This spawned bands to incorporate the
emergence of thrash and speed metal, loving the ferocity of Metallica, Slayer,
Exodus and Testament, into a punk ethos. That inspired one scene to eviscerate
all genre limitations, where else but the world’s Capital, home of myriad arts
and ethnicities. New York Hardcore saw it in Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags, Carnivore,
Leeway, Crumbsuckers, and Ludichrist.
Ludichrist’s main two albums are resurrected after being out
of print and damn hard to find. Dead City pairs Immaculate Deception and Powertrip,
each getting their own disc, for an entire new generation to discover. Ludichrist did not take the tight crunch of
cleanly produced thrash, just the heaviness and speed. This is a rougher
approach, more hardcore. Chuck Valle played bass on this album. Chuck also
played in Murphys Law, until losing his life (RIP).
Immaculate Deception’s
sound is straight forward and better for it. The defining characteristics of crossover
are the time-changes. Most songs are broken into sections; plodding, creepy
crawl parts that spur into blistering fast moment. Ludichrist certainly utilize
this formula as distinctly and savagely as the first two Suicidal Tendencies’
albums or DRI’s Crossover or COC’s Eye For an Eye.
One aspect kids these days may not quite fathom was the
prevalence of Christian authority in the media and life in general. The big
televangelists like Swaggart and Robertson and Bakker and the Moral Majority
and Tipper Gore’s PMRC all had an intrusive presence swaying parents to fear
metal and punk and anything different from the pastoral ideal. If you raised
hell, you would prepare to be on Donahue or Sally Jesse. Many of Ludichrist’s
lyrics focus on the hypocrisy and evil of these religious stalwarts. The title
alone, obviously, speaking on how church *(check Anthrax’s “Make Me Laugh” or
Suicidal’s “Send Me Your Money”) exploits the guilt and shame of Christians to
harvest millions for their own use.
Other subjects include typical eighties’ topics; chemical
pollution (AF to DK covered this for fear of Toxic Avenger and C.H.U.D.
becoming real!), evil in the world, rebellion against parents and the system,
and kicking ass. One song, “Tylenol”, is (obvious to anyone my age) about the
Tylenol scare when someone was poisoning tier on shelf bottles. The song takes
the viewpoint of the perpetrator; still condemning his sick mind. The thematic
“Most People Are Dicks” appears here, encompassing the misanthropy and
disillusionment or a scene of outcasts. And while my verbiage may seem to
elevate, all these approaches are done in the typical rocking 80’s attitude of
casual criticisms. It ain’t cerebral. On “God is Everywhere”, the chorus is
“Hey Waiter, there’s a God in my soup!”
The recording is stellar, as conveying an energetic, pissed
off, sardonic crew of New Yorkers playing as fast and as loud as they could. By
stellar, I do not men “pristine”; I mean accurate to conveying the attitude and
music of Ludichrist. There is not a consistent thread necessarily in the music,
but the production of Randy Burns (Death, Scream
Blood Gore; Possessed, Seven Churches;
Megadeth, Peace Sells; Dark Angel, Darkness Descends; Nuclear Assault, Survive) and Ludichrist. Songs like “You
Can’t Have Fun” and “Murder Bloody Murder” are simply fast ragers. Other tunes
indulge in a noodling intro or slow teaser before jumping in to full blast.
“Arms of Christ” is bass focused and a slow stomp, like NYHC was known for
(sounds like Murphy’s Law “Cavity Creeps”). The mix is balanced and thick. The
drums have the ‘grand’ 80’s sound; guitars are acute on the high notes and
chunky on the mid-tempo tracks. The bass has a driving presence; vocals, are in
the exact right place, neither pushed nor lost in the mix.
Note the hierarchy of guest appearances with Roger AF, Eddie
Leeway, John from Nuclear Assault and Chris Notaro from Crumbsuckers helping
out with backing vocals. Al Batross (who came up with the name) was on drums,
Joe Butcher on guitars. Chuck on bass. However that line up was overhauled.
Tommy Christ remained on vocals with Glen Cummings providing the songwriting
and guitars, as they followed up with Powertrip.
Powertrip had backing vocals by
Death. Yes, that Death. So you can see the transition from NYHC base to a more
metal direction.
I wouldn’t say they got more serious as people, but they got
more serious about recording. Powertrip embraces
a darker approach to production, by Ludichrist and Tom Morris (Coroner, early
Iced Earth, Whiplash). They still called hardcore Mecca, CBGB’s, home; but they
clearly were getting comfy with their metal peers. Mike Walter grabbed the four
strings this time. That is significant to me, and other NYHC fans, as Mike
(a.k.a. Chickie)played on three Sheer Terror releases and the classic Kill Your
Idols twelve inch. The drums, played by Dave Miranda, are a strong technical
improvement. They are played with more skilled and utilize an expanded palette
(mad fills, bro!). However, Miranda never continued playing music. Powertrip’s line up was rounded out by
Paul Nieder on the other guitar (he’kll come up again…).
This is a killer album, fierce and taut. Ludichrist still
have not gone full thrash, but lean more towards those type bands. Ludichrist
is fast and focused on Powertrip. Magazines
and blogs harp continuously that the thrash revival is dead. *(Tell that to Extinction
AD, Dust Bolt, Testament, Over Kill, Bonded By Blood, Toxic Holocaust). Most blogs only envision Municipal Waste
surviving as a band in this genre. This album is filled with dive bombs, crisp
riffs, tumultuous drums, and better production. The second track, “Zad” could
be an early Slayer song. This is 1988. And Ludichrist was in full metal swing
alongside Sacred Reich, Nuclear Assault and friends, Death.
Lyrically, Tommy Christ continues indulging specific
creative stories o represent larger ills of society. Corruption, hypocrisy,
arson and parties that suck are proper fodder. Songs are longer. The first album stayed in
the one to two minute area, while this album ventures up to and past three and
four minutes. It doesn’t have them experimenting or getting all prog; “And So
It Goes” and “Well Dress…” are three and five minutes, while utilizing fast as
hell rhythms. Powertrip boasts
thirteen tracks of fury. “Damage Done” entails some angry breakdowns, but
charges forward as any vicious metal band would. “Yesterday for You”, while
still a thrashy ripper, has a groove. And that is the peculiar aspect of this
film. There were hints of the eclectic influences on ID, but they indulge
further here. Odd bass or drum meanderings show up; with a funk or jazz
influence – and it’s minimal – b
Those three formed Scatterbrain. If you remember 1990,
before grunge, when people dressed like Pauly Shore or Bones Brigade and were
“outrageous” but in a transparent corporate matter, this makes sense. This is
when bands were eclectic. Whether Mr Bungle or Fishbone, people prided
themselves on being a mash of multiple unassociated genres, a la Faith No More
or New York brethren, 24-7 Spyz. (“We’re like a punk-mod-funky-reggae-metal-thrash-groove-Norwegian
folk jam band, man!”) Anyone remember White Trash? When I played “Most People
are Dicks” – I could not help but remember “Don’t Call Me Dude” by
Scatterbrain. Now we come full circle. Scatterbrain, who I thought of as a
metal band, were lighter and more Mtv accessible. They played fast, but so did
late 80’s Chili Peppers. It was silly and catchy, but thick riffs were replaced
by lighter catchy stringed aficionado supported techniques.
But I digress. This is what crossover was; exceptional metal
that escaped recognition because it was played by NYHC guys. This music still
stands up to its contemporaries that continue to propagate respect. This is not
some lost classic for hipsters to get the jump on, like Urban Waste or
Massachusetts’ Siege. This band was in most late 80’s hardcore thank you lists.
Both albums here are fast, powerful, chunky riffed music. This is an essential
piece of any hardcore/crossover/metal catalog.
RIYL: Final Conflict, DRI, Municipal Waste, Murphys Law,
Leeway, Suicidal Tendencies, Septic Death, Cryptic Slaughter, SOD/MOD, Nuclear
Assault, Slayer, COC, etc…
Here is a cool interview in print with the band from 1987. It gives you
perspective on their attitude, which is basically the East Coast ball busting
approach. Not too serious at all.
There are also multiple interview videos from 1989 in Detroit at
Blondie’s. If you enter Ludichrist, these pop up.
