A Fist in the Face of God Presents... Full Speed Ahead!

Here we have the first metal mix of the year, compiled by none other than Hades from the Greek black metal band, Omega. The pussies among you may well be asking what speed metal is, and why the cover of this mix has a long-haired Terminator screaming for vengeance on it. Well, listen and you will be educated.

I met Hades at a recent metal festival. We talked about our shared love of fast heavy metal with lots of shrieking, and naturally that turned into a chat about him making a mix. He said he wanted to make a kind of "best of" tape, and that's exactly what he ended up doing, including sounds from 1971 right up to today (he even managed to squeeze some Queen onto a metal compilation, so kudos, Hades).

He also had the good sense to include a ripper off his own band's latest offering, The Hell Patrol (which I included on my end-of-year NTS radio show). Now, I will let him tell his tale.

"I came across this heavy metal subgenre when I was looking for bands playing stuff like the fast songs of Judas Priest, Saxon and Iron Maiden. I had to find more, so I asked an old friend of mine (who has a killer vinyl collection) in my town and he told me about this 'speed metal' genre. A week later he gave me a tape compilation with Exciter, Agent Steel, first Anthrax, Warrant (from Germany, of course), Violent Force and a few more obscure bands from the 80s on it. I was beyond impressed, because I could hear the heavy metal riffs and solo melodies, but in a more THRASHY way and with faster tempo then the usual NWOBHM bands I'd heard previously. This gave me a fascinating mania to DIG deeper and deeper in the 80s underground scene and find more bands playing this so-called speed metal genre. 

"Many of you may ask WHY there is a song from Queen and Deep Purple in the compilation – do they play speed metal? The answer is: 'No, they don’t,' because there wasn’t a genre called speed metal back in the 70s. The reason I HAD to include these specific songs is because they gave the inspiration to bands like Metallica, Exciter and Anvil to create this heavy metal subgenre in the early 80s. So it’s more or less for history reasons, and it’s for those who are interested in learning how this craze started.

"A very important factor was also the Canadian label Banzai Records, which birthed the so-called 'speed metal swirl' – the logo they used for many of their releases, some of which weren't even speed metal by definition. But they had this mark or symbol for all the extreme and fast metal bands coming out then. I hope people will enjoy this compilation as much as I do and I want to thank all the NEW bands that are still keeping this way of playing metal ALIVE, even after 30 years of existence. Bang your head and raise the dead!"

TRACKLIST:

1. Judas Priest (England) – "Exciter" [1978]
2. Riot (USA) – "Warrior" [1977]
3. Queen (England) – "Stone Cold Crazy" [1974]
4. Whiplash (USA) – "The Burning of Atlanta" [1985]
5. ADX (France) – "Caligula" [1985]
6. Darkthrone (Norway) – "Circle the Wagons" [2010]
7. Violent Force (Germany) – "Sign of Evil" [1987]
8. Deep Purple (England) – "Fireball" [1971]
9. Phantom Lord (USA) – "Speed Demons" [1986]
10. Agent Steel (USA) – "Mad Locust Rising" [1986]
11. Ranger (Finland) – "Touch of Death" [2013]
12. Motörhead (England) – "Speedfreak" [1982]
13. Exciter (Canada) – "Stand Up and Fight" [1983]
14. Tank (England) – "Turn Your Head Around" [1982]
15. Tröjan (England) – "Hypnotized" [1985]
16. Megadeth (USA) – "Rattlehead" [1985]
17. Savage Grace (USA) – "Sins of the Damned" [1985]
18. Omega (Greece) – "Speed Metal Force" [2013]
19. Razor (Canada) – "Take This Torch" [1985]
20. Enforcer (Sweden) – "Live for the Night" [2010]
21. Iron Maiden (England) – "Aces High" [1984]
22. Flotsam And Jetsam (USA) – "Hammerhead" [1986]
23. Warrant (Germany) – "The Enforcer" [1985]
24. Saxon (England) – "Set Me Free [Sweet cover]" [1984]
25. Exorcist (USA) – "Riding to Hell" [1986]
26. Bitches Sin (England) – "Hold On to Love" [1980]
27. Diamond Head (England) – "The Prince" [1980]
28. Griffin (USA) – "Hunger" [1986]
29. Hallows Eve (USA) – "Outer Limits" [1985]
30. Metallica (USA) – "Metal Militia" [1983]

A Fist in the Face of God Presents… Full Speed Ahead! by Afitfog on Mixcloud

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I've also been keeping up my bi-weekly radio show on NTS, where I play the finest in forgotten metal for two hours. The shows are chronicled here, for those not in the know/pussies.

More from Dylan: †ROCKWELL†

More mixtapes from A Fist in the Face of God:

A Fist in the Face of God Presents… Live Evil Mix 2013

Still Holding Strong

Time to Kill Your God