Cyclone Temple - Sister (Until We Meet Again)

Hoo mama, we’re eating good today. Thrash isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but the subgenre has long felt like it adds to the big daddy genre in a sparse, complimentary way, like seasoning in a big rock and roll stew (or at least they do for the sake of this bit). Metallica are like mint; hugely popular but doesn’t go with everything. Megadeth are obviously thyme, because it’s a bitter version in the same family as the last one. Anthrax are a wildcard, your tarragon and such. And Slayer? Likely rosemary, to pair with all that beef they were slinging around. Ooh, matron, etc. Cyclone Temple then, in this set of terrible euphemisms, are the sorrel of thrash. You likely aren’t eating it, or have even heard of it, but you’re missing out on a real treat. And if you have too much, the inside of your head is going to explode.

Now you know more about herbs than you ever thought you needed or wanted to, the matter at hand is some bloody good thrash metal. Cyclone Temple are as close as some of you are going to get to being hit by a brick today, short of telling a construction worker his little yellow hat looks daft. It’s frankly criminal they didn’t get to rub shoulders with the who’s who of glory days thrash in the annals of rock history even in the short time they existed, though three albums in three years with three different lead singers tells a tale of roster churning that likely belied other issues elsewhere. In a vacuum, however, I Hate Therefore I Am as a debut work was staggeringly strong, and remains one of those albums that could and should have been taking the skin off your face in a bigger way. 
I mean, just listen to it. From the opening riffs impression of an anchor across the ocean floor to Brian Troch’s perfect cynical growls, Sister is a mean beast of a track. It spends most of its time twisting and turning your head off your neck, when it isn’t running straight at you with plans to turn your front facing side into the rear one. You might want to hope that construction worker from before still likes you enough to lend you his hard hat, because a hurricane just touched down over Shovels R Us and, baby, you’re in the eye of the storm. Absolutely dreadful shovel purchase planning on your part, but if it means tracks like these first thing of a Friday morning? What’s a little clobbering in the grand scheme of things.