Hailing from the unlikely home of Nashville, Tennessee, Intruder originally released 'Live To Die' in 1987 on Azra/Ironworks. But the history of the band didn't start there. Drummer/Lyricist John Pieroni was a founding member before Intruder even had a name. It began as a trio, in 1984, with Dave Hackley on bass and Dave Louden on guitar and vocals. This lineup was a basement band that played Black Sabbath covers and the like. No gigs were performed and they didn’t really care to name the project. When the band was ready to get out of the basement and start playing live gigs, they used the name Avatar for about 2 minutes. Too many other groups went by the same tag, so they dropped it. Dave Louden wanted to concentrate on vocals, so he brought in his friend, Arthur Vinett, to play guitar. With Arthur joining John, the true nucleus of Intruder was born. Soon thereafter, Louden was out completely and Ronny Cline stepped in as vocalist. This quartet played lots of shows and went by the name Transgresser (they spelled it with the “-er” suffix on purpose). Playing a mix of originals and cover songs, they soon attracted a loyal following. The rotating bass player slot started once Dave Hackley was out of the picture and replaced by Garry Todd. Eventually, Jimmy Hamilton replaced Ronny Cline, and this lineup recorded two demos. The first demo was recorded on an ½ inch 8 track machine and included early versions of "Cover Up" and "Live to Die". The second demo, recorded in a “real” 24 track studio, was sent to Dave Richards, who immediately fell in love with the band and signed them to Azra/Iron Works. After the demos were recorded, John Downey, a veteran of the Nashville Music scene, took over bass duties for a very short time. Todd Nelson, who remained in the band for all four releases, quickly replaced him. With the lineup finally secure and intact, the quartet began to record the debut album. It was during the recordings that they finally chose the moniker Intruder.

A HIGHER FORM OF KILLING (1989, 2005) LOST & FOUND

Intruder belongs in the category of excellent thrash metal bands that I missed during their peak. Luckily Lost & Found Records reissued this, under license from Metal Blade, in 2005. 'A Higher Form of Killing' was the bands second album, originally released in 1989. Musically Intruder are pure thrash metal, Fans of both bands like Heathen and Anthrax, but also Flotsam & Jetsam and Exodus should eat this up, hook, line and sinker! This is fast and ferocious thrash metal, but with enough variations put in to keep it from getting samey. Jimmy has this piercing vocal ability that almost makes me want to put a speed metal tag on the band as well. But the music is unmistakably thrash! After an intro filled with various news clips, the album kicks off with "The Martyr". Now there is a hidden gem for you, right of the bat! The riffing is unbelievable, and the rhythm section is steady as a rock. The next 2 tracks are of the same caliber, although "Second Chance" does let the pace down just a tad. "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" is a horrible cover of The Monkees (imagine that in a thrash metal remake!) "Killing Winds" picks it up again, big time, and the rest of the album is in good form (intervened by yet another short intro to the last track). The reissue comes with an informative booklet, filled with song-by-song liner notes, and early drafts for the cover art. There are no bonus tracks here though.

Killer tracks: The Martyr, The Sentence Is Death, Mr. Death