Anthrax's Fistful Of Metal Vs. Overkill's Feel The Fire

[cwilder86]

I thought this would be interesting. Obviously this will only apply to the thrash fans on this message board... But which of these east coast thrash bands had the better debut? I know Anthrax is obviously more popular and part of the big 4 but I think at least in this contest Overkill smoked them... I was listening to Feel The Fire the other day and remembered what a good fucking album it is.


Oh and Turbin can't compete with Bobby Blitz...

[RLP4ever]

This is definitely a good face-off, wilder, between these two early thrash albums.

I really like both albums, no question. I remember initially being a bit turned off by Turbin's vocals, but I soon came around to liking it.

'Feel the Fire' is, arguably, one of Overkill's finest albums (and I'm not even an especially big fan of the band). For a debut, FtF is a cracking record to arrive as a band. But I honestly like Anthrax's FoM even more. I've been told by some Anthrax fans I've known that it's a 'grower', i.e. it took them a while to start to seriously dig the album. I liked FoM a whole lot, right from the get-go. And that's the way I voted here. Fistful of Metal, for me.

[Totentanz]

Voted for Fistful of Metal - love that album! Haven't given it a spin in quite a while, this thread has inspired me to go give it a listen again, to enjoy this old friend, so cheers!

[cwilder86]

Hm... For some reason Fistful still hasn't really clicked well with me yet aside from Deathrider and Metal Thrashing Mad. I hope that it does one day click with me as I would like to appreciate it more.

[kamikazetom]

Fistful of Metal is my favorite Anthrax LP & one of my all time fav - just love Howling Furies, Death from above, Deathrider, Metal Thrashng Mad, Even the Alice cover (I'm eighteen) - always liked Neil Turbin's vocals better than anyone else Anthrax has had - just a great classic Lp - Overkill's Feel the Fire is good Lp but I actually like Horrorscope better - cool poll - two good LP's by two good bands going head to head

[RLP4ever]

And it sure seems that Fistful of Metal is a largely overlooked, almost forgotten Anthrax album. I've known some Anthrax fans who clearly didn't seem to know much about the album at all, or else admitted to only giving it a full listen after my high praises of it. The superb Spreading the Disease seems to be a lot of fans' idea of Anthrax's debut. And then there are some fans who appear to think that it's so very uncool to even confess to liking an album with Neil Turbin's higher-pitched vocals on it. I've heard similar gripes about Sean Killian of Vio-lence. I like them both. During all these past topsy-turvy years of Anthrax's existence, I have honestly often wondered how it would be like having Turbin back in the band, should Joey permanently sit it out.

Tom, Fistful is definitely one of my own fave Anthrax records. Dan Lilker's musicianship, for example, is surely one major reason for that. Here's to both you and Totentanz for voting the way I did.

[kamikazetom]

Just curious - for those who voted for Fistful - what did you think of Dan Lilker's band Nuclear Assault that he formed after he left Anthrax? - Game over is another one of my favorite LP's & I always thought that Anthrax missed Lilker's writing & influence as well but hey just like the metallica/Dave split we ended up with 2 good bands instead of just one.

[devstorm]

I can get into the Overkill album just a slight bit more. Although neither are great imo.

Tom, even though I voted for Overkill, Im a huge fan of Nuclear Assault. I think pretty much everything except their Something Wicked, and 3rd World Genocide albums have very worthwhile material throughout.
Got to see them live back in 2003 and they were astoundingly great even 12 years after the fact. Cant say enough how great they were.

[RLP4ever]

Just curious - for those who voted for Fistful - what did you think of Dan Lilker's band Nuclear Assault that he formed after he left Anthrax? - Game over is another one of my favorite LP's & I always thought that Anthrax missed Lilker's writing & influence as well but hey just like the metallica/Dave split we ended up with 2 good bands instead of just one.

Well, I love Nuclear Assault, though I regret that their comeback record of 2005, Third World Genocide was a big let-down, no kidding. As devstorm pointed out earlier, even Something Wicked was pretty disappointing. But there's no question that the Game Over debut, The Plague EP (I have them both on a single issue release), and Survive and Handle with Care are outstanding hardcore punk-infused thrash metal. I wish several more thrash metal bands were more like early-NA. But then, that's what made NA so damn special. Those were swell albums that I still love today.

As for Dan Lilker, I really dig the guy's talents. Like I said, his handprints were all over Fistful. And, of course, Dan was a major force in NA, too. But Tom, I like Lilker's other main band (to date), Brutal Truth, best. Again, although BT's last album was sub-par, all their earlier efforts were excellent extreme metal.

[nunoni]

Anthrax's Fistful Of Metal!!!!! By a landslide followed by an earthquake!!!!

I don't like Nuclear Assault that much, too punkish with stuff like Hang the Pope which is marginally funny but not good music. They do have some great stuff, but not enough to make me buy their records.

[fondula]

Fistful of Metal for me. It is not the strongest Anthrax effort but I still love the thing quite a bit. Turbin was kind of shaky but the songs are raw and fun. Overkill is a band I enjoy as well, but their earlier material wasn't quite "there" for me just yet. This is an interesting matchup because if you put FoM against any of the debuts of the rest of the "Big 4"..... hell even the first Exodus and Testament albums.... I don't think it would win.
I like Nuclear Assault too..... Handle With Care is classic for me.

[cwilder86]

Hm... I feel alone in my love for Feel the Fire over Fistful of Metal, but it's all good. Feeling tempted now to either do a Worship Music Vs. Ironbound or just pit Overkill's entire discography vs. Anthrax's.

Both scenarios I choose Overkill. I love the fuck outta Anthrax, but Overkill is definitely my choice east coast thrash band between those two.

[Totentanz]

Hm... I feel alone in my love for Feel the Fire over Fistful of Metal, but it's all good. Feeling tempted now to either do a Worship Music Vs. Ironbound or just pit Overkill's entire discography vs. Anthrax's.

Both scenarios I choose Overkill. I love the fuck outta Anthrax, but Overkill is definitely my choice east coast thrash band between those two.

Fistful of Metal was an easy choice for me. For the record Ironbound would be just as easy a choice for me out of the recent efforts of this pair. Just curious, what drives you to this 'thrax vs 'kill fest? Any particular reason for pitting these two against each other? Is it just the east coast thing?

[cwilder86]

Fistful of Metal was an easy choice for me. For the record Ironbound would be just as easy a choice for me out of the recent efforts of this pair. Just curious, what drives you to this 'thrax vs 'kill fest? Any particular reason for pitting these two against each other? Is it just the east coast thing?

I dunno really. Probably a combination of boredom and this idea just dawned on me the other day when I was listening to both bands most of the day. I just thought it seemed like an interesting pairing. Both excellent thrash bands from the east coast, though I feel Overkill tend to be more under appreciated by the masses as evident when you compare which band has sold more records and is more popular.

[RLP4ever]

Funny (in a sense) you say that, wilder, cos I've always felt that Overkill has generally gotten a lot of recognition and credit for being a leading, pioneering light of '80s thrash metal. Sure, there are tons of fans that are way more crazy about Metallica, Megadeth or Slayer, for example, but Overkill, overall, seems somewhat 'over-rated' to me, which is to say I think the band actually gets a whole lot (too much ) praise from loads of people.

Conversely, Anthrax, despite being a really cool act, and definitely having legions of adoring fans, has also always been exaggeratedly panned by too many people for the band's very brief flirtations with rap-metal, and for their visibly more laid-back, fun-loving image, and mainstream presence. Given the number of people I have encountered who sort of contemptuously dismiss Anthrax, I'd say the band is also kind of wilfully under-rated.

You know what, I think a Slayer vs Sepultura match-up would be pretty apt and interesting.

[Dr.Fukk]

"Fistful" is my favorite Anthrax album. But I'm still gonna go with "Feel The Fire"

[Drago]

Fistful Of Metal was the first Anthrax album I heard as I bought it when it first came out because of the crazy cover. I had never even had heard of them. I still love the album and think it is a lot better than Feel The Fire. I love Overkill but overall Anthrax (all eras) is one of my favorite bands. Panic & Howling Furies are some of the strongest songs in Anthrax's career.

I actually prefer Taking Over much more than Feel The Fire.

Great topic.

[cwilder86]

Funny (in a sense) you say that, wilder, cos I've always felt that Overkill has generally gotten a lot of recognition and credit for being a leading, pioneering light of '80s thrash metal. Sure, there are tons of fans that are way more crazy about Metallica, Megadeth or Slayer, for example, but Overkill, overall, seems somewhat 'over-rated' to me, which is to say I think the band actually gets a whole lot (too much ) praise from loads of people.

I guess maybe they just feel underrated to me because where I live everyone pretty much only likes Metallica unfortunately. So in that sense I guess Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax and Overkill are underrated. lol I really wish I had some more friends around me that actually liked some metal out side of Metallica.

[RLP4ever]

^ This is very strange, and more than a little sad actually if guys your age (or indeed your friends) in your area, only seem to be mostly mad about Metallica. I mean, this being late-2011, and literally loads of ace metal bands appearing in the 'scene' over the past thirty years since Metallica's inception (and eventual decline into irrelevance), I can be forgiven for thinking that some of these guys actually aren't even big fans of metal anyway, and probably think Metallica is about as good as it gets when it comes to metal. Thank god, then, that you, cwilder, seem to have bucked that sorry trend and actually began seriously seeking out the reputed thrash metal bands (and other metal genres). I reckon you'd admit that you've been rewarded with some magnificent metal, for your efforts.

I actually prefer Taking Over much more than Feel The Fire.

Ditto, Drago. Taking Over is definitely a stride up in quality. It's blatantly better than FTF.

[cwilder86]

^ This is very strange, and more than a little sad actually if guys your age (or indeed your friends) in your area, only seem to be mostly mad about Metallica. I mean, this being late-2011, and literally loads of ace metal bands appearing in the 'scene' over the past thirty years since Metallica's inception (and eventual decline into irrelevance), I can be forgiven for thinking that some of these guys actually aren't even big fans of metal anyway, and probably think Metallica is about as good as it gets when it comes to metal. Thank god, then, that you, cwilder, seem to have bucked that sorry trend and actually began seriously seeking out the reputed thrash metal bands (and other metal genres). I reckon you'd admit that you've been rewarded with some magnificent metal, for your efforts.

Indeed I have been rewarded! \m/ I owe a lot of that to some ace recommendations from members of this board. I think a lot of it has to do with the area I live... Rural poverty stricken south western Ohio. Aside from thinking Metallica is the ultimate be all end all metal band there is also a lot of love for Nickelback, Five Finger Death Punch, and Alter Bridge among a horde of bland popular radio rock that I just can't get into. There is also much love for for country music around here as well (no offense to any one who does enjoy country, but it's not my cup of tea) Kind of like you said, most of it is the people surrounding me just really aren't real metal fans and have no interest in expanding their knowledge beyond what's popular and played on the radio, whereas I know that all the best bands are NOT played on the radio. I think I just need to move away from here.