Description

Double album on clear vinyls with gatefold cover and insert. Limited 175 copies

One of the Boston metal scene’s best kept secrets, Wargasm are a criminally unknown act that cut their teeth throughout most of the ’80s in some form or another, finally getting their ducks in a row enough to spit out a thrash classic in Why Play Around? right as the scene was reaching critical mass. The subsequent order of events are pretty standard fare for American thrash bands. Wargasm managed two more releases before finally calling it quits around a decade later. So in this regard, the band’s persistence is already a known entity, the question is whether or not this persistence paid off. Well, with one of the most creative and open-ended thrash guitarists ever in Rich Spillberg calling the shots, Wargasm had a chance to pull this off, even if only for this record. Ugly definitely isn’t stellar, and it certainly exists as a definitive step down from the ballistic and immense debut. This alone means little considering the lofty reputation of Why Play Around?, and for a more stringent and straight-laced take on the band’s earlier style, there are enough agreeable songs here to warrant purchase. Given the discursive music scene at the time, there are some experimental deviations present, albeit not in the manner typical employed. It seems like the schizophrenic attitude granted by Spillburg’s guitar playing has been truncated in favour of more standard song structures that don’t test the listener in such an appealing way. One could hardly call the first album scatterbrained, but Ugly could certainly use more character and eccentricity. Stronger adherences to the past exist in “I Breathe Fire” and “Ugly Is to the Bone,” both carving out a sizable chunk of soiled, raspy distortion in that same characteristic tone as the debut. Whereas bands that existed on a level playing field with Wargasm in the ’80s such as Forbidden found themselves needlessly musing/brooding with ill returns on Distorition, Ugly at least remembers to fucking thrash, and Spillberg surely has a destroyer of worlds or two up his cavernous sleeve. Wargasm manages to pull off a listenable album in Ugly, despite its multiple faults. It isn’t like Spillburg ever spits out bottom feeder thrash patterns, and he retains most of his integrity here. This quite simply lacks the free-for-all nature of Why Play Around?, but isn’t totally without muscle of its own. I can find a use for at least half of these tracks, and this will scratch that old thrash itch better than just about anything else dated ’93 coming from the US. I recommend this album, but not without checking out the debut first.

Track list:
1. The Rudest Awakening (W.P.A.)
2. Enemy Mine
3. Chameleon
4. I Breathe Fire
5. Ugly Is To The Bone
6. Slow Burn
7. Blood Flood
8. One Man Army
9. Spirit In Decay
10. Dead Mans Smile
11. Dreadnaught Day