Formed in Kentucky in 1982 by the Cook brothers Eric and Glen. Their first demo came out in 1987, and a second one followed soon after. Lethal scored some fine reviews for their debut, 'Programmed', a solid progressive metal album in the early Queensr˙che mold. While their second album, named 'Your Favorite God', had a similar style, the band made a major style change with 'Poison Seed', dropping any progressive tendencies and instead opting for a heavier, slightly grunge influence instead. Whether because of the style change or not, the band disappeared after that.
.
PROGRAMMED (1990) METAL BLADE (Limited
Edition # 1208)
|
Line-up: Vocals : Tom
Mallicoat |
Lethal might just be one of metal's best kept secrets. Although they released albums on Metal Blade, and they do have a cult following, it's a shame that more metal heads never discovered this great band, me included. I was aware of this progressive masterpiece, but it wasn't 'til 2005 that I got to hear, and buy it. And it was about time! 'Programmed' delivers 'The Warning'-era Queensr˙che-sounding progressive heavy metal, with a touch of Crimson Glory, for good measure. Vocalist Tom Mallicoat sounds a lot like Geoff Tate. But where one would be in a hurry to scream clone-band, Lethal makes up for it by creating these wonderful songs. This is guitar-driven, melodic metal with vocals to die for! The title track and "What They've Done' are both perfect examples of the greatness that is Lethal. Do yourself a favor and check these guys out!
'Programmed' was re-released as a Limited Edition on Metal Blade, through the Classics Series. I have no idea how many copies were issued, but mine is # 1208.
Killer tracks: No fillers, only killers.
YOUR FAVORITE GOD (1995) BULLET PROOF (EP)
|
Line-up: Vocals : Tom
Mallicoat |
It took the band 5 years to come up with a follow-up to the phenomenal debut album. And unfortunately, they only released this EP. 5 songs are not nearly enough when what you get served is as good as this. I've many times had to re-check the year of release when listening to 'Your Favorite God'. Can this really have been recorded in 1995? I've already mentioned the similarities between Lethal and more known bands, but I'd like to add Sacred Warrior to that list too. If I didn't know any better, you could have fooled me to believe that this was some unknown tracks recorded by Sacred Warrior. Tom Mallicoat and Rey Parra sounds like twins! But this is of course Lethal, and their brand of progressive heavy metal is much to my liking. Too bad they were never to do it as good again. This is a bit heavier, and maybe a bit more modern sounding, than 'Programmed'. But this is still signature Lethal.
|
Line-up: Vocals : Tom
Mallicoat |
I can only imagine the frustration fans of this band must have felt when listening to 'Poison Seed' for the first time. Not only did they have to wait 6 years for a new full-length album, but the EP released 1 year prior to this gave promise of yet another stellar Lethal album. Seems the band wanted it a bit differently. While this is the the same band playing, it doesn't actually remind me much of the Lethal of the past. I'm not even sure how to explain the music to get the differences across, because basically this is still some heavy, progressive metal. But instead of the Geoff Tate-like wailing vocals Tom Mallicoat presented on the 2 first CD's, here he sings almost exclusively in a lower register. The songs are also slower in tempo, and if I'm not mistaken, the guitars are also downtuned. Speaking of Geoff Tate and his Queensr˙che, 'Poison Seed' is in fact not all that far away from the sound the Seattle boys were dabbling with during this same period in time. Released just before 'Hear In The Now Frontier', but after 'Promised Land', intentionally or not, these 2 albums combined might serve as a clue as to what 'Poison Seed' is offering. There are a lot of laidback moments here, almost esoteric in nature, reminding me of another "offbeat" album by one of my favorite bands, namely Crimson Glory's 'Strange & Beautiful' CD. Heck, the song "Odd Shaped Pearl" is an instrumental with acoustic guitars and a string ensemble!!??! I'm not saying that I hate this album. In fact it includes some great songs. It's just so much different from what I was hoping for after the 2 awesome CD's I already own from Lethal. So I just don't think I will revisit it as often. When I want to listen to Lethal, I'll most certainly put on 'Programmed' in stead. I wonder if the song "Your Favorite God' was initially recorded for the EP with this very name, but the band decided to save it for the full-length album, because it was so different from the stuff on the EP.
Killer tracks: Down, Born, Walking Wounded, Your Favorite God, Odd Shaped Pearl
