Classic British punk/metal album
Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 11/06/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"If ever an album title absolutely captured the essence of a band's sound, it has to be Metal Anarchy, the second album from British punk/metal innovators Warfare. This album is an absolutely insane experiment in heavy, chaotic music. Warfare was founded by drummer/vocalist Evo, who was previously in UK punk acts Major Accident and The Angelic Upstarts. He wanted to try his hand at the metal game, and for this album brought in the perfect person to oversee this bastard child of punk and metal (and arguable precursor to thrash) - Motorhead mainman Lemmy Kilmister.
Lemmy was an ideal choice to produce Metal Anarchy, because Motorhead is such an obvious influence on Warfare's sound (not to mention the entire British hard rock and heavy metal scenes). With wild, thrashing guitar riffs, gruff vocals and utterly nihilistic punk rock lyrics, Metal Anarchy was a spiked fist to the face of the status quo, and paved the way for later generations of punk/metal artists.
I could see Metal Anarchy appealing across the board. Fans of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) movement should definitely check out Warfare, as should fans of British punk rock. Thrash fans interested in exploring that genre's roots would do well to give this a listen (Atomkraft too, for that matter), and Motorhead fans will definitely recognize that band's influence in this chaotic, aggressive British metal classic.
Edition Notes: Castle, the undisputed kings of British metal reissues, reissued Metal Anarchy in 2007. The reissue features digitally remastered sound, seven previously unreleased bonus demo tracks, and expanded liner notes that include an introduction by Evo, press clippings and an essay by Classic Rock Magazine's Malcolm Dome. It's another great Castle reissue of a noteworthy British metal album."