Death Militia “You Can’t Kill What’s Already Dead: Anthology 1985 - 1988” CD

The first release from the sure-to-continually-impress Evil Legend Records is the complete discography from obscure Canadian thrashers Death Militia. Amongst the rather hefty 15-track, 77-minute collection are the "Onslaught of Death" (1985), "To Serve and Protect" (1987), and "One Day Closer to Hell" (1988) demos, as well as a handful of raw 1987/1988 instrumental rehearsal tracks. It would seem that Death Militia were another in a long line of bands that sadly never got the chance to put together a full-length LP, as the two tracks from 1988's "One Day Closer to Hell" demo provide a fucking awesome display of growth: Slightly heavier than the '87 tracks—though also a hint more melodic—and equally as memorable, just with more developed riffing and arrangements. It's odd that there's such a prominent influence of traditional, stripped down heavy metal present in many of the tracks from "To Serve and Protect" (I assume attributed to the lineup changes that transpired over time), whereas "Onslaught of Death" offers the band's fastest and most primal thrash, but whatever the case there's some undeniably killer metal to be heard herein.

All of the songs have been remastered, of course, which seems to add some nice crispness to the basslines, which I love. You've gotta expect for the sound quality of such a release to be rough around the edges, 'cause I mean, hell, some of these tracks are over two decades old, but this shit holds up very well (to the point where I'm not sure why there's no chronological sequencing to the tracklist, but fuck it). It's somewhat thin in areas, but there's very little detectable wear in the source tapes, and even the rehearsal tracks are surprisingly listenable —a rare occurrence indeed, especially for finicky ears like mine. The same even goes for the '85 demo, which was recorded on a friggin' boom box! Who would've guessed? And topping it all off is a fucking massive 20-page booklet with tons of old photos and flyers and whatnot from back in the day, as well as band-penned liner notes on all of the tracks (in lieu of lyrics, I suppose). There's also a relatively brief yet informative Death Militia interview by (and liner note contributions from) Laurent Ramadier of the mighty Snakepit magazine, so there's plenty to read look/through. It really is a very impressive booklet that goes above and beyond—certainly giving other labels something to strive for when working on releases of this nature.

Death Militia "Begin the Last Rites"
Death Militia "Killing Time"
Death Militia "Death Militia"

I'm all about these kinds of releases, so I highly encourage you to please show your support and pick one up if you're an old school thrash metal fanatic. I can't fucking stand the fact that so many people leech these types of CD's off of free downloads and crap like that, especially given the contents of the booklet and all that jazz. It's only $11 straight from the label, so take care of business:

Evil Legend Records