THRESHER: Here I Am REVIEW

THRESHER
“Here I am”

The Band:
*Steven Bowan- Drummer (poser)* *David Kurtz - Bass/ Keys* *Rod Braun - Guitar* *J.Mark Buchanan - vocals/guitar* *Jeff Newman - 1st Drummer* *Greg Yarbourough - 2nd Drummer*

Track Listing:
1. Sanctuary
2. Faith Awaken
3. Amazin Grace
4. Here I am
5. Altar of Sacrifice
6. Death to Asherah
7. Raptor
8. One Way Out

First Impressions:
I here a lot of Metalica and Megadeth influence here---in song writing, style and vocals—which is great! I love both of those bands. Another nice comparison between Thresher and the above-mentioned influences is that these guys can play lead guitar! As a guitarist who cares about lead guitar a lot, I always listen critically to the lead guitar parts—and these guys pass the test with flying colors!

One reason the guitar work may be so appealing to me is that this album was actually recorded in the late 1980s! That’s right---you can read the full story on the Thresher myspace page here: http://www.myspace.com/godsthresher. It’s a pretty amazing story. Here’s are some summary thoughts from the myspace page. This album was recorded in the late 1980s, at a point in Thresher’s history when they were garnering a lot of attention from both fans and labels. They went into Lifeline Studios in Pennsylvania and recorded “Here I am” live—with reportedly very few overdubs---this would account for the great “live feel” that the album has… very raw and natural. I must say--if the “very few overdubs” thing is indeed the case—my respect for Thresher just shot up a few notches! The musicianship is excellent!

Unfortunately---the band was unable to hold it together---and not long after “Here I am” was released they broke up—the struggle to balance band and personal/family life became too much---which I can appreciate. It is a very tough thing to balance the two. While I’m sad that Thresher is no longer with us as a band—I’m glad they chose healthy personal and family lives over band success. Of course I’m especially thankful that God used Thresher to create this marvelous collection of metal songs for us before the disband!

In case you’re wondering why this album just now came to the surface and is being promoted at this time—I would again refer you to http://www.myspace.com/godsthresher – it’s all there.

Couple of the Highpoints:
1. The guitar work is killer.

2. The whole album has a great live vibe.

3. There’s not a bad song on the disc—this is an album you can play from start to finish and enjoy every cut! If I had to pick favorites—I would lift up “Here I am”, “Altar of Sacrifice”, and, while I’m not a “rap fan” (at all) I gotta admit that “Raptor” is a killer tune… when you hear it you’ll see what I mean.

4. The production is great—especially when you remember that this thing was recorded live—with reportedly very few overdubs.

5. The lyrics are fantastic---Very edifying and Christ-centric.

Fans of Metalica, Megadeth and 1980s thrash in general will LOVE this album! You can track it down at
Roxx Productions: http://www.roxxproductions.com/Home.html

Metal Blessings,
pb
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