Fentanyl / The Clouds Are Coming to Kill Me - Run for Cover

Run for Cover is one of those splits where bands cover each other; it also includes two originals by each. Fentanyl formed in 2003, but it nails the old school thrash sound, down to the raw production and lead guitar tone. The Dutch band’s MySpace says it’s “putting the speed back into metal,” which isn’t true. The grooves are mostly midpaced, with the occasional double-time moment. The performances are loose, but the riffs do the job. It’s simple stuff, yet the sound is so authentically ’80s that I can’t help but dig it.

Since this is out (anagramatically) on “Fat Lenny Productions,” it’s probably self-released. Unfortunately, the artwork is horribly primitive. Why didn’t the band try harder? The tracks by The Clouds Are Coming to Kill Me are the worst-sounding recordings ever professionally submitted to me. They’re thrashy, too, but they sound like someone tape-recorded the output from a blown car speaker.

Evidently, a new Fentanyl full-length is on the way. In the meantime, you can get this for next to nothing from the band’s website.