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Warning SF - Aftermath
Mausoleum Records

Horst: It seems that resurrection old 80’s Metal bands from the grave to grant them a second life has become kind of an Olympic sport nowadays. Just think about bands like Destruction, Agent Steel, Hirax and Exodus, who the last few years all have put out new albums, or bands like Nasty Savage and Dark Angel, who are on the brink to join the fight against the current musical decay in the world. Now all these aforementioned bands have one thing in common: they all have put out their share of albums in the good old days, but of course then where also bands around who didn’t come any further then releasing demo-tapes. The Bay Area Thrash fellowship Warning SF is such a band, but I don’t quite understand why they never got a record deal, for their first (and only) demo (‘Not A Chance In Hell’ from 1985) was fucking awesome.

In the meantime it has turned 2002, and at last the band gets the credits they deserve. Warning SF signed a deal with Mausoleum Records, an album is made – ‘Aftermath’- with all the old tracks in a new and refreshing form, and they even included the original demo! So, what can you expect? Ten awesome tracks in the best Bay Area tradition. Now the only ones left from the original line-up are Brian Poole and Jon Torres, but the blanks are filled with highly experienced dudes like Will Caroll, Torre Carstensen and ex-Laaz Rockit guitarist Aaron Jellum. All together they are responsible for the re-recordings of the first seven tracks of the album, which are a fantastic blend of what bands like Metallica, Testament, Wild Dogs, Exodus, Forbidden and Laaz Rockit used to do in the old days (and I even heard some ancient Maiden stuff roaming about). Just listen to killer tracks like ‘Happy Doomsday’ en ‘The Noose’, I wager you won’t be able to sit still, not even for a second. The production is great, and all the tracks (all written in the first half of the 80’s) sound as fresh as this mornings newspaper.

In that respect I think it is kind of a pity that the three original demo tracks aren’t reconstructed as well, for it all are precious little diamonds, even in this raw shape. On the other hand, it has a definite charm, and while listening I just can’t help myself taking a trip back to the days of fanatical tape-trading. Hell yeah! This is a fantastic Bay Area Thrash Metal album, like we haven’t seen for years. And if my information is correct the band signed a three-album deal with Mausoleum, so we can expect lots more in the nearby future. Hip hip hooray!!!

Rating: 95/100