Onslaught - Perfect Day to Die

Where oh where would we be without thrash metal? A much poorer scene culturally, that’s for sure. There’d be a lot fewer companies making money off of neck braces and leather bracelets too, and for metalheads, they might be second and third under bourbon manufacturers as crucial cornerstones of the economy. Frankly, there is no talk about thrash metal without mentioning Onslaught, as far as I’m concerned. Though there aren’t many things I talk about without bringing them up either, now that I think about it.

Formed in Bristol, England in 1982 Onslaught remain the cream of the crop of UK thrash exports. Short of the big four in the US there are very few who have had such an impact on the genre full-stop - from the d-beat hardcore of 1985s Power from Hell to their much more thrashier transition into the late 80s and early 90s, pioneering the game and sounding bloody good doing it. If you could find any of their first couple of records initially, anyway. The band jumped in popularity in the mainstream in the late 80s (much to the chagrin of the hardcore fans) and eventually wound up splitting in 1992 after issues with their record label. How very rock and roll.

The band reformed in 2005 with guitarist Nige Rockett as the only returning member and were somehow even better than they were previously, releasing four excellent albums and generally making a great big, brilliant noise everywhere they went. It’s the simple things in life that mean the most sometimes. The band have had notable comings and goings within the line-up – most notably in the way of vocalists, with Sy Keeler and Steve Grimmett both handling screaming/shouting duties at one point or another. Despite having very different eras of sound – from hardcore to pure thrash, from progressive-influenced back to thrash again – the band are still rightly considered one of if not the best UK bands to do it. And, for once, that’s not just my opinion.

To this day Onslaught are genre-defining; to still be releasing tracks this good 40-ish years after they first hit the scene? We are truly blessed to have had our heads beaten into the ground by them for so long. While we hope your Friday isn’t actually a perfect day to die, we know full well that this is the perfect track to pick for Rock Song of the Week. It might not be an older classic, but it’s testament to just how good Onslaught are that it’s right up there with their best. Hopefully that’s not just the mushed brain from headbanging too much to them talking.