The Classic Metal Album Review:
Title: Thrash Zone
Artist: D.R.I.
Label:Metal Blade Records
Release Date: 1989

Rating: 5 Skulls
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    • Dguy's Review:
    "There's a gig at Fifth and Main
    We'll catch a bus or take a train
    We'll steal a bike or borrow cash
    We'll be there ready to thrash

    The band kicks in they begin to rage
    No-man's land in front of the stage
    Poseurs in the bathroom still looking at their hair
    Thrashers in the foreground doing what they dare

    In the pit
    In the pit
    In the pit
    In the pit
    IN THE PIT!"

    So begins "Thrashard," the opening track of DRI's Thrash Zone album, in my opinion one of the finest crossover albums ever recorded, standing side by side along with Cryptic Slaughter's Money Talks and SOD's Speak English or Die. I remember being a snot-nosed teenager (only a few years ago, heh) and first hearing this album, and it made my jaw drop. Huge crunchy power chords, bass with the low end turned to 10, precise 1-2-1-2 punk drum beats, perfect to fistpump and mosh about to, and Kurt Brecht's trademark throaty yell quickly made this a personal favorite for this budding metalhead. I'd soon listen to most of DRI's catalog, both pre- and post-Thrash Zone, but always found myself coming back to it. The album is chock full of balls-out, neckbreaking, two-stepping thrash metal ("Thrashard"...'nuff said), but with extremely strong ties to their past, which consisted of good, clean, fun punk rock (emphasis on ROCK)/hardcore about drinking beer, smoking pot, and hating every authority figure ever, which really shows on the track "You Say I'm Scum." What, just because I have hair to my ass and use a skateboard as my primary mode of transportation, I'm not a good guy? :D

    Personally, I don't see why more people don't like DRI. Most of their songs are short, simple, catchy, and a shit-ton of fun to sing along with... in essence, very poppy. But lack of mainstream appreciation doesn't appear to have put a hamper on these rambunctious oldie punkers from Houston; they're still playing plenty of gigs (albeit mostly only in the Bay Area) and continuing to thrash generation after generation of rock and rollers with their destructive releases... of which, Thrash Zone is at the top of my heap and hopefully yours, also. Thrash 'til fucking death!
    5 out of 5

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