When Thrash Ruled West Philadelphia: The Rebirth of Sacrificial Blood

Remember when thrash ruled the world? One would assume I mean back in the mid-eighties, when Metallica were kings and Slayer still did the devil’s work. Unfortunately, no one in this story was old enough to catch that era, and even if we had been, the Bay Area is a long, long way from Jersey. Instead, we’re talking about that strange, zombie puke-splattered period back in the mid aughts, when Municipal Waste were already a certifiable Thing but just before metal labels started their mad scramble to sign a set of be-sneakered human beer bongs of their very own. Before the industry at large began shoving derivative drivel wrapped in shiny new Nuclear Assault patches down our throats, a new generation of metal kids were discovering the ragged genius of Cryptic Slaughter and S.O.D. and those with a smidgen more ambition were digging even deeper into the annals of death. By 2006, Heavy Artillery was a force to be reckoned with, bands like Merciless Death, Evile, Cross Examination, Fueled by Fire, and Toxic Holocaust had released some of their strongest material to date, and smaller regional scenes had sprung up around the worship their Teutonic forbears.

In 2006, I had just started college in Philadelphia. Even if at that point I was more interested in Deathspell Omega than D.R.I., the call of the circle pit beckoned and I plunged headlong into the fracas. For a few golden, Sparks-stained years, the underground metal community in West Philly converged into one big, sloppy, happy, crossover thrash-loving family. Most of us were college kids or chilling a few years above or below our early 20’s, and most of us were drunk on our newfound freedom to stay out ‘til stupid o’clock and blow our textbook money on malt liquor and late-night visits to Crown Fried. At least from my wide-eyed, newly citified hick’s perspective, the thrash boom made sense—it was more inviting than the intimidating Philly Punx (patent still pending), more fulfilling than expensive big-name metal gigs at the Troc, and more interesting than the stagnating metal scene, which was way more concerned with noisy, complex bands like Stinking Lizaveta and Rosetta that were greatly talented but not much…fun.

Enter Sacrificial Blood, who ruled the basements of the Wild West alongside BSOM, Vulcan, and Trasher and were one of the only bands in town to focus heavily on the first wave of death metal as well as thrash’s old guard. That may well have been the key to their staying power, ‘cause years after nearly everyone else in that microscene broke up, moved on, or pledged allegiance to the next trend, this Jersey-born trio are still here. They’ve weathered the rise and fall of the retro thrash empire, played some musical chairs with the band’s membership, and are back in action with a new album full of tunes that you can tell wish they’d been recorded a few decades prior. Their sophomore LP SoulS for Sale offers up a meaty, satisfying half hour of death/thrash with a dash of ballsy heavy metal that invokes the dread spirits of Massacre and Kreator in near-equal measure. I caught up with original member Mike Keller (that’s him you hear holding court behind the mic and on the drum throne) to talk trends, DIY, and the fitful demise of retro thrash.

Noisey: In keeping with your earlier output, SoulS for Saleis truly old-sounding music, which is harder and harder to find these days. What inspires you so much about death and thrash from the late ‘80s?
Keller: My obsession with the mid-late 80's death metal goes back to my youth. I was coming of age in the early '90s having been raised on typical thrash and heavy metal of the era, so death metal was just the next logical step for me at that time. Unfortunately by the mid '90s I was fairly unimpressed with metal as a whole and where it was going, so I just started going backwards, really. There's really no particular sound or era with this band that we are going for though; we’re part Deceased, part Hallows Eve, part English Dogs, part Raven, and part Rainbow if that makes any sense? It does to us and our fans anyway, hahaha!

Are there any newer bands you feel a kinship with?
There are a few, like Cain (Buffalo, NY), Graeskul (Long Island, NY) and Clot (Pittsfield, MA); basically bands who believe in the old ways of keeping the music underground, having no egos, realizing none of us are rock stars (and don’t want to be), and loyalty is key. You know who your real friends are and you don't turn on them for a free pass or fleeting attention from the scene; friendship comes first.

Tell me about the new record; it’s your first full-length in a few years, and you’ve obviously spent a lot of time on it.
When (bassist) Evan Fishman joined we were straight off to the races. "Tyrant Of Pain" was an older track that we should have done on the first full length, but were pressed for time, so we wanted to make sure we got that on there. The cover of Frigid Bich's "We Rule The Night" was also a no brainer, as they are one of our very favorite bands in the world. I'm also friendly with their lead singer Joe Leonard, who was one of the main people at Combat Records in the '80s and has been very helpful to the band with advice and guidance. If anything was problematic it was winter weather, school, and things the other members have going on in their lives that made it take so long, but we persevered and got it done, as we always do. Things are never easy for us but we seem to somehow always deliver the goods in the end.

How’d you hook up with Horror Pain Gore Death?
Mike and I have been friends for close to a decade now since the band first started going down to Philly for shows, he and I have talked for years about doing a release of some sort on his label so really it was just a matter of time. Mike's been excellent so far, definitely gone above and beyond what even I was expecting, and the record's not even out yet haha, so that's a pretty good sign I think. [Editor's note: It's out now! Get it here.]

How did you get into metal to start with? Did you have a cool older brother or uncle buying you KISS tapes, or did you stumble across it on your own?
I got into music at a very young age. I was buying albums and stuff as early as the age of 3; my babysitters would sit and watch MTV all day (mind you this was the early 80's when the channel was all music all the time, and they were very metal friendly in those days) so it was pretty much there for the taking for me and I loved it. I got into metal for real when I was about 7/8 years old, my older brother had gotten into Guns N' Roses, Motley Crue and those kinds of bands so I followed suit but quickly gravitated towards the Thrash and Heavy Metal bands, by middle school I was in classes and became friendly with Scott Ruth of Ripping Corpse's nephew, and Dave Witte's cousin as well (Dave is from this area originally and had a band called Human Remains back then) so that turned me on to the underground scene.

Even though you’re based in Jersey, I remember Sacrificial Blood was always one of the best-loved and craziest metal bands in Philly; between you and BSOM, there was always some mischief going on. How did you first get involved in the Philly scene?
The very first show Sacrificial Blood ever played was at a roller rink in South Jersey, and BSOM happened to be on the bill; they liked us very much as we did them, so within the year they started bringing us down there. I'll never forget the first time we played Philly as it was maybe the greatest show I ever played in my life. Those were some of the best and most fun times for me in those years. Unfortunately things have kinda died down with that clique in more recent times and we don't get to play down there as often as we used to. It’s too bad and I definitely miss it, but that's scenes for ya: one minute you're everyone's favorite band the next they want nothing to do with ya! I suppose it's just the natural order of things.

DIY culture plays such a huge part in cultivating the kind of tenacious underground music scene that cities like Philly are known for, and its punk roots tend to cross over into the metal world as well. Basement shows and punk houses kept the scene alive. Do you think that still holds true?
It definitely plays a part. I personally prefer DIY/Basement shows as it's far more intimate, the "anything goes" atmosphere is in full swing, and unless you're a complete idiot you're not gonna get too much of a hassle from anyone. Clubs these days are generally run on the "pay to play" system, it's a joke. I don't always get paid for shows and I generally don't expect it, but I'll be goddamned if I'm gonna pay to play a show!

During the time when you guys were especially active, thrash was huge; now it seems like everyone’s started a death metal or doom band. As someone who’s been involved in the Philly/NJ music scene for over a decade, how have you seen things change since you went on hiatus in 2009?
When we started this band we were complete outcasts as everyone at that time was still into Brutal Death, Gore Grind, and Black Metal. I used to go shows back then and people would tell me to "Get out of the 80's" because I wore a denim vest. Trends come and go, they always have, there's not a lot you can do about that. For Sacrificial Blood, we were never really interested in what the rest of the scene was doing, as our influences were old bands right from the start. When the Thrash trend hit I thought at best we'd get an album out, maybe get to do some touring; we had a contract with Heavy Artillery Records in the beginning of 2006 that unfortunately fell through due to our original guitarist Pete flaking out. Disappointing, yes, but that wasn't the be all end all for us so we just kept on with what we were doing, and we're still doing the same thing now. The trendy people are many—look at how many people years ago were full on "Metal Up Your Ass" Thrashers and now make fun of it, and have gone Crust Punk or Black Metal or whatever else?

What do you think happened to thrash’s mid-2000s popularity? It’s definitely fizzled, eclipsed by other trends and sounds. Did the big labels kill it off by shoving it down everyone’s throats, or did the fault lie with the bands themselves?
It was both of those things. First off, what made Thrash good and exciting the first time around in the 80's was that it was a new sound. There was very little to base your sound off of, so most bands in the initial wave had their own sounds, ideas, and were bringing something new to the table. By the end of the 80's that got killed when every single Bay Area band (or ones that sounded like them) were getting the big record deals and being pushed out to the masses. There were great bands back then like Prime Evil and Funeral Nation who pretty much were cast aside because they didn’t have that sound. The revival started out on that exact same note, "Check out this band, they sound like D.R.I., these guys sound like Sodom!" etc. I'd rather listen to the original bands who created that sound than a retread, and that’s what the problem is. Scene folks were telling me to get out of the 80's, and the younger kids into the retro stuff thought we were posers because we didn't wear skinny jeans or white high tops haha. You let me know if that logic makes any sense. Most of the more popular bands know it too, and would never venture outside of the comfort zone musically unless they are also following the current trends; you know that if you make a record that sounds like bands A B and C it'll be successful, so why would you blow that for yourself by trying to do something original or that at least reflects who you are? And again that's also what the scene wants, easy on the ears and within the comfort zone, they don't want to have to form an actual opinion about why they like something. It's easier to play follow the leader.

What are your thoughts on the old school death metal resurgence? What do you think the next trendy new sound will be?
I have no idea, retro Nu Metal perhaps? Slipknot will now be considered "Old School" and Powerman 5000 will have a prime spot on MDF? The Death/Black Metal resurgences are in essence the same thing as the Thrash thing was, it'll last for a few years, everyone will love it, then they'll hate it when the next fad comes along, haha. I've also noticed bands from modern times not from Britain calling themselves "NWOBHM" these days so who the hell knows? Haha! Who the hell cares, I'll just stay into what I'm into and let everyone else do what they do…

It’s so great to see Sacrificial Blood back in action! What’s coming up for you guys?
SoulS For Sale officially came out on January 14, a live tape was released by Contaminated Tones just before the end of 2013, and we got a few shows lined up as well. I'd love to get both full lengths released on vinyl, there's been a lot of requests for it by the fans, so some label needs to pony up and get it done, haha! I'd also like to do a collection of the demos and our tracks from our earlier splits if anyone is up for it. We've been working on new material since the fall so I'm sure we'll be recording again this year, what it ends up being is unknown at this point. We shall see what happens.

What were your five favorite records of 2013?
Trauma - Scratch and Scream reissue

Corpus Rottus - Rituals Of Silence reissue

Funeral Nation - After The Battle reissue

The Godz - From The Vault vol. 1 and 2

As you can see I pride myself on being up on things, hahaha! In fact, think of us as a cross between those 5 albums. Confused yet? Good, now buy it and make your own decision!

Kim Kelly keeps a gallon of sacrificial blood in her refrigerator, just in case. She's on Twitter - @grimkim