Brightside

Even by the most extreme hardcore standards, Brightside from Killing Time is a loud, abusive, and altogether unforgiving affair. Although the choked, low-register power chords and occasional harmony lines add more than the usual amount of post-Ride the Lightning metal to this band's sound, the sentiment is still pure hardcore. The gang-vocal choruses and apoplectic lyrical missives on tracks like "Fools Die" and the exceptional title cut are straight out of the hardcore/punk rule book. So despite all the echoes of Metallica, Brightside feels nothing at all like an attempt to capture the hearts and minds of metal kids. It is instead something more like a beacon. Any listener craving hard music with honesty and without the goofiness associated with many speed metal bands of the time should be drawn to this recording. A simple, yet grand slice of late-'80s hardcore, Brightside is a fine example of the punk/metal amalgam's better possibilities.