Airdash - Hospital Hallucinations Take One

I was astonished to discover that Gloomy Grim vocalist Agathon was in fact Ykä, the drummer for old-school Finnish thrash act Airdash. Now, I’m no expert on Airdash; I stumbled across this CD in a used record store. When you see that telltale font and the bright colors only ’80s albums had – and the back shows the band in white hi-tops – you buy that shit.

This album is solid ’80s thrash, no more and no less. Anthrax is the closest reference point, not only in the vocals but also the riffs, gang vocals, and snares-on-downbeats grooves. The vocals also recall Death Angel (though if you think about it, that also sort of points back to Anthrax). The production is good, and the performances are tight and occasionally shredding. Great riffs abound, and as a genre exercise, the album is quite good.

I’ve also found Airdash’s third and final album, Both Ends of the Path. However, it’s an absolute piece of shit, so much so that I am tempted to ring up Ykä and ask for my two euro back. Airdash’s first album is available as Real Audio files at Vibrations of Doom. Hospital Hallucinations is long out-of-print, so happy hunting!