Joyful Noyz – Run

Joyful Noyz
Run
1992 Tangent Records
Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Todd Underwood – Guitar, vocals
Paul Smith – Bass, vocals
Tommy Corbin – Drums, vocals

Side One:

1. Run
2. Here to Stay
3. It’s Yours
4. To Be with You
5. 10th Century Reasoning

Side Two:

1. Greater Is He
2. UR
3. Waiting to Talk to You
4. Only One
5. Love That Goes On

The first time I saw this tape, I thought it was a pop album due to the band name and colorful clothes. There is also a rap group with the same name from about the same time. But a closer look at the band photo it seems they might be taking more of an Enuff Z’Nuff or Living Colour style approach. The transfer I was sent is ROUGH and hard to hear (if anyone can get a clearer rip from a better tape, please let me know), but I do hear a kind of funky soulful take on hard rock that would be a good mix of those two bands with a hint of King’s X thrown in. Also reminds me slightly of Lovewar at times. So probably a bit less glam rock than Enuff Z.Nuff, and a bit less eclectic than Living Colour. There is variety to the sound though – they dip into rock and a couple of ballads as well.

Testify – On Enemy Ground

Testify
On Enemy Ground
1994 Royalty Records
Anaheim, California, USA

Steven Urenda – Lead vocals
Eric Turner – Guitar, vocals
Jimmy Ray – Bass, vocals
Danny Peck – Drums

Side 1:

1. Lift Him Up
2. Praise His Name
3. Lord of All
4. Receive Him In
5. Just Believe

Side 2:

1. Accept Him
2. Walk With Me
3. Jesus
4. The Way

Testify is another of those band names that I am surprised was not taken by more bands out there. This is a well-produced and played commercial metal, so one might wonder why they are mostly unheard of and this demo wasn’t really digitized until now. Well, that is because this was released in 1994, and this style was dying out. The tape underground had mostly been taken over by alternative rock, modern metal, and other 90s sounds. The lead singer has a slight Sunset Strip rasp to his voice. There is really only one ballad on the whole tape at the very end. But that is about all I know about this band.

Smash Alley Underground – Demo

Smash Alley Underground
Demo
199? (no label)
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

David A. Walker – Guitars, Vocals
(others?)

1. (Blind Men Lead the Blind)
2. (No Parties in Hell)
3. (Unspeakable Evil)
4. Back Alley Shadows
5. Chased by the Enemy

This demo by Smash Alley Underground has a lot of stuff on the cover – but apparently no release date or track names in all of that text. So song titles in parenthesis above are a guess. Some of the songs have weird vocal effects when the chorus would be (like a robotic effect or devil effect), so it’s hard to make out what is being said. The cover compares them to Pantera and Metallica, and that is a good guess for some of the songs on here based on the early 90s sound of both of those bands. So I guess that was when this came out. They don’t stick with just the Pantera thing, though. Some songs have flute and saxophone. The third track has doom-ish parts. The last two tracks are different versions of songs on their 1995 CD Rising From the Shadows. But that CD is mostly a commercial metal album. There is also a guy that gives a short mini-sermon at the end of each song. While he sounds very sincere, I’m not sure the points he is making would really convince many people to change their mind.

Eric A Peterson – Wishbone

Eric A Peterson
Wishbone
1994 (no label)
Chesterfield, Missouri, USA

Eric A Peterson – Everything, except:

Brian Keithly – Drums
Joel Puttcamp – Bass on “Sacred,” “Absence,” and “Epitaph”
Jimmy P. Brown II – All vocals on “Absence of Reality” and “Sacred”
John Effinger – Harmony vocals on “Cry”
Marty Warren – Last guitar solo on “Wishbone”
Dan Henderson – Cello on “Strings”
Nick Misra – Violin on “Strings”
Dave Heard – Viola on “Strings”

1. Absence of Reality
2. Strings
3. Wishbone
4. Sacred
5. Cry
6. Epitaph

Just to get this out of the way, this is not the same Eric Peterson that is in Jesus Freaks. It is the same Erik Peterson that was in Poesis. Their demo was alternative rock. This album jumps out of the gate with a mid-90s thrash metal style song with none other than Jimmy P. Brown II of Deliverance on vocals. The second track is a more mellow instrumental song and then a more thrashy instrumental song. I wonder if the Marty Warren on this tape is the same one that was in Shadoworld who worked with King’s X? Then there is a thrash-style ballad with Brown on vocals. This is followed by an acoustic track and a thrash song, both with Peterson on vocals I believe? Petersen’s Poesis bandmate joins him for bass on three songs. But this demo came out about two years before the Poesis demo. From what I have found, Peterson has another demo called End All that might have been from 1993. The songs were sent to me in a different order than they appear on the j-card. I put the order that they were given to me above. I could really use a full scan of the j-card and tape as well.

Martus – The Devil is Screamin’

Martus
The Devil is Screamin’
1988 (no label)
San Diego, California, USA

Dave Zierenberg – Guitars, synthesizers, vocals
Jim Blagg – Guitars, vocals
Phil Thomasson – Bass guitar, vocals
Ed Taylor – Drums, vocals

Side One:

1. The Devil Is Screamin’
2. Nobody Told Us
3. Have You Heard
4. Merry-Go-Round

Side Two:

1. Kamikaze
2. Out of Bondage
3. Perseverance
4. God is on the Throne

First of all, this is not the same Martus from the Los Angeles area that had future members of Adam Again and Undercover. This is a heavy metal / hard rock band from San Diego. Even though they really don’t look like it in the band pic. The lead singer almost sounds like a power / traditional metal belter, while the band leans more commercial metal / hard rock in sound. Sounds like the tape that the transfer I was sent was made from was in rough-ish shape unfortunately. Not bad, but still some sonic issue that sound like the magnetic tape was warped some. A couple of songs, especially the last track – definitely veer into hard rock territory and leave behind most metal aspects.

Modus Operandi – Demo

Modus Operandi
Demo
1995 (no label)
Orange County, California, USA

1. Good Day to Die
2. Human State
3. Lest I Forget

I’m not sure if this is a demo or a pre-release – as all three songs on this demo also appear on their self-titled full length from the same year. I haven’t heard that one, so I don’t know for sure. This is mid-90s thrash metal, so there are some influences of groove metal as well, but they make sure to thrash out. Plus the gruff vocals let you know this is thrash. But a strong groove metal hook also comes out in the last song.

Missing Information: Who played on this?

Faithful Witness – Demo

Faithful Witness
Demo
1993 (no label)
Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

Robert Gaffney – Vocals
Miles Levinson – Guitars
Chad Wilburn – Drums

1. Shadows
2. Open Graves
3. Stranded

This is a death metal band that was very in line with what was being recorded in the early 1990s. Growling vocals, blast-beat drumming, thrash and speed metal breakdowns, you name it. The vocals just get clear enough to let you know that this a Christian band. Originally, “Shadows” was intended to be released by A.R.T. Records as a 7-inch. That song and a bonus track (“Trembling of the Spirit”) were later released in 2020 on the A.R.T. Records Singles Series Volume 2 compilation by Thrashback Records. They descirbed the band as “East Coast Death Metal versus a blend of Florida Death Metal and Megadeth inspired Thrash riffing.” Also, there is apparently another version of this demo with a glossy color three-panel fold out pro-printed cover with lyrics.

Christian – Demo ‘92

Christian
Demo ‘92
1992 (no label)
Chicago, Illinois, USA

1. For Those of Rejection
2. Regions of the Damned
3. Battle Rages On / Worthy
4. The Dive

As far as I can tell, this is the only band that I know of that just went by “Christian.” This is also a very non-thrash sounding band name for a thrash band. At first I thought the drums were programmed, but as it goes along that is obviously not the case. The recording quality is a bit rough, so that may be the cause of my mistake. This leans a bit to the technical side of the thrash, with kind of sung but gruff vocals (somewhere between Megadeth and Testament, with some death metal growl leanings here and there). According to The Cutting Edge, this was the band’s second demo, but I don’t have any information about the first demo or any follow-ups. Also don’t have any information on members of the band

Missing Information: Who played on this?

Trial – Trial

Trial
Trial
1989 (no label)
Kerrville, Texas, USA

Kevin Rollins – Lead vocals, guitar
Michael Curtis – Lead guitar, vocals
Matthew A. Puccini – Bass, vocals
Jamie Worden – Drums

Side 1:

1. No False Metal
2. Trials
3. God Bless the Children
4. Eye of the Storm

Side 2:

1. Not a Drug?
2. Wicked Tongue
3. Homesick
4. If You Could See

I don’t know why I originally thought this band was from Tennessee when I listened to the follow-up tape Young Slave (from 1991). The address on this one is clearly Texas, and they are mostly the same band except for the lead guitarist. This earlier demo seems a bit more commercial and/or traditional metal than their follow-up (which I found to be more power metal). I also don’t notice any prog leanings like I did in the other one. There also isn’t an instrumental song on this one per se, but “Not a Drug” does start with a prolonged solo intro.

Le Francais de Arrogant – Le Francais de Arrogant

Le Francais de Arrogant
Le Francais de Arrogant
1994 Roman Recordings
Wonder Lake, Illinois, USA

Klarc White – Vocals, junk, sampling, keyboards
Rick Roman Jr – Guitar, bass, keyboards, backup screaming

Side I:

1. Dancing in Babylon
2. Flight 401
3. Gimme (The Money Trap)
4. Jesus Saves
5. Lords Prayer
6. Victims

Side A:

1. Zombie Chicks
2. Stupid Americans
3. Skin Head Chick
4. I’m Fat
5. I Have Sinned
6. The Green Bean
7. Man Kind
8. MTV is Evil
9. World Suburbia

This tape is a combination of found noise, samples, spoken word, keyboard percussion, and guitar layered together in an experimental industrial fashion. Lots of commentary and snark about the church, society, you name it – a lot is covered here. Some songs like “Stupid Americans” are pretty much industrial metal, with driving guitars, yelled vocals, and electronic percussion. Most songs are electronic/industrial and often experimental. This appears to be a one time project of Klarc White teaming up with Rick Roman, Jr of New Society fame. Once you know that, you can definitely hear the Roman connection.