UMUR "The American Way" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, Phoenix, Arizona based thrash metal act Sacred Reich. The album was released through Hollywood Records in May 1990. So there are 3 years between the release of the band´s debut album "Ignorance (1987)" and "The American Way", which was an unusually long time between a debut and a sophomore release in those days. Sacred Reich wasn´t inactive in those intermediate years though, as they toured but also released the "Surf Nicaragua (1988)" EP and the "Alive at the Dynamo (1989)" EP to bridge the gap between the two full-length album releases.

Musically quite a lot has happened in those 3 years too. The aggressive and rather obviously Slayer influenced thrash metal sound on "Ignorance (1987)" is all but gone on "The American Way", which introduces a more humourous (although not silly, and still with serious social/environmental/political commentary) and more varied sound. It´s still unmistakably the sound of Sacred Reich, but that´s mostly because of Phil Rind´s very distinct sounding voice and singing style than anything else. He sounds even more like the Jeff Bridges of thrash metal on "The American Way" than he did on "Ignorance (1987)". As a singer he is probably very much an aquired taste, but he undeniably provides the vocal side of Sacred Reich with a unique sound.

And unique is exactly the right word to use about "The American Way", which despite that it features standard thrash metal trademarks, like fast and heavy rhythmic riffs/rhythms, blistring solos, and a relatively high level of aggression, still manages to sound quite different from other thrash metal releases from that time (and in general). Bill Metoyer and the band have done a great job on the production too, which is clear, powerful, and again...relatively unique sounding.

The material on the 8 track, 35:24 minutes long album is generally of a high quality and all tracks are memorable and stand out from each other. Highlights are probably the iconic title track (which the band did a promotional video for), and the anti-suicide anthem "Who´s to Blame", but you can name almost any track off the album and call it a standout track. Although the closing and quite funky track "31 Flavors" is aimed at opening the musically close-minded to other musical styles, I´m gonna go out on a limb and call it a bit misplaced, and not really consistent with the rest of the material on the album (yeah alright you can call me concervative). It´s not bad by any means, just a pretty odd way of closing an album. To my ears it´s a track which would have been better suited on the B-side of a single or as an EP track. But that´s Sacred Reich in a nutshell. They always did exactly what they felt for, and didn´t cater to anyone else. Although I don´t agree with what they did here, I generally greatly respect the artistic integrity they show by such a boldness.

So "The American Way" is for the musically adventurous thrash metal listener. It´s not technical thrash metal (although some tracks actually feature some relatively technical playing), it´s not old school raw thrash metal, and it´s not Bay Area influenced thrash metal either. It´s thrash metal done the Sacred Reich way! A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved despite a few issues along the way.

Kingcrimsonprog Sacred Reich are a brilliant thrash metal band from Phoenix, Arizona. They play groove centered breakdowns mixed with chunky speed metal segments and have an awesome singer called Phil Rind, who belongs more to the Phil Anselmo School of singing than to the Death Metal or Iron Maiden styles that were common among many non-Bay Area Thrash bands. This album, 'The American Way,' is a bona fide metal classic, containing many of the bands greatest songs, for example 'Who's to Blame,' and the famous Title Track (which you may remember from the early 90's Brendan Frasier Cave man Movie 'California Man.') The American Way is possibly Sacred Reich's greatest album, capitalizing on the success of their signature tune 'Surf Nicaragua,' the band further mix Hardcore Punk, Groove Metal with their classic thrash sound to create the ultimate Sacred Reich album, still classic thrash, but with enough variety to make every song distinct, memorable and catchy. This album contains everything you want from a metal album, complex drumming, speedy riffs, groovy breakdowns, flashy guitar solos and interesting lyrics. The lyrics are Socially conscious like many of their peers at the time, but less ham fisted than some of the worse thrash lyricists of the time. Topics include backwards messages, politics and metal elitism. The production is punchy and chunky, with a clarity between the instruments and is generally one of the better produced albums of the era. This remastered edition comes in a beautiful digipak, and contains raw demos of 6 of the album's songs along with the music video for 'The American Way.' This is a highly recommended album to any fan of thrash metal. If you like Nuclear Assault or Anthrax in particular you're going to love 'The American Way.

bonnek A spurt of adrenaline, straight-up in your face Thrash, lots of thrills no frills; or it should be the funky joke '31 Flavors' at the end?

I don't think Sacred Reich to be the most impressive band around and certainly not the most original but this album just delivers. Their preceding album 'Ignorance' was quite good and energetic but didn't leave a lasting impression in the songwriting department. The band made up for that on this album, which matches their aggression with good grooves and inspired thrash metal riffing.

It must have been a short flare of inspiration though, their next album 'Indepent' showed an alarming simplification of their style - later coined 'Groove Metal' - with songs that became too repetitive and obvious. If my memory serves me well, 'Heal' was even worse. Not this one though, a great old Thrash classic, not to be missed.