Vim Fuego
Crash are the out and out leaders of Korean metal, but few outside the country have ever heard of them. Formed in 1989, it took until 1994 for the debut album to hit the shelves, but what an album! Imaginative, cutting death/thrash in the mould of Kreator (the album title is a bit of a clue) and early 90s Sepultura. Anyone managing to stumble across this will discover thrashing riffs by the truckload, a rock solid rhythm section, and even blast beats.
The song writing is excellent. Crash's single, and still their signature tune, "My Worst Enemy" is an excellent demonstration of what the band is all about– big riffs, unrelenting power, anger, aggression, and excellent musicianship. Yes, I know I've just used the word "excellent" three times in two sentences, but this band justifies such praise. There are two versions of "My Worst Enemy", sung in English and Korean, with the Korean version coming across the more convincing of the two.
In places, the sound is perfect Sepultura, and could easily have been lifted off ‘Beneath The Remains’. An Heung Chan's throaty roar matches Max Cavalera’s, except with a slightly different accent, and he seems to better cope with English than the young Cavalera. An's bellowed version of "Smoke On The Water" is more than passable, and guitarist Yoon Doo Byong also throws an original solo into the old metal standard.
By 1994, thrash was on the outer, which may explain why this never managed a wide release outside Korea. Perhaps if it had, the Korean metal scene would have earned the same respect as scenes like those in Brazil and Poland. When you look back at some of the utter crap signed up by record companies in search of the next Metallica or Sepultura in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it seems incredible a band such as this could have been missed. While a little behind the times, Crash deserve more attention internationally than they have received.