Deceased: Never Rest in Peace 12"

Deceased: Never Rest in Peace 12” (Merciless Records) Merciless Records, the label that brought us recent reissues from 80s Philippine punk legends Dead Ends, once again digs into that archipelago’s 80s underground music scene and comes up with gold. I have to admit, before those Dead Ends reissues came out I was only dimly aware the Philippines had homegrown extreme music in the 80s, but that band and their records blew me away, and this reissue from Deceased has me wondering how deep the well goes. As with Dead Ends, Deceased’s music only came out on cassette in the 80s, which—along with the the many other logistical hurdles that come from living in a small island nation run by a sadistic, petty, and psychopathic kleptocrat—helped to keep them below the radar of vinyl nerds like me. But thankfully that’s been rectified here with a great-sounding vinyl reissue that presents the music in its best light without erasing the lo-fi quality that gives this so much of its charm. As for Deceased’s sound, they’re billed as thrash metal, and I guess that term feels apt if you mean it as a catch-all for 80s underground metal. However, Deceased sounds nothing like Nuclear Assault or Exodus or any of the more mannered thrash bands. Instead, they incorporate a wide range of influences from across the metal and hardcore punk spectrum. I hear a lot of D.R.I. circa Dealing with It and Crossover, but there are also moments that remind me of Hellhammer, some proto-black metal blasting that sounds like it could have come from 80s Brazil or Colombia (“Abused by Authorities”), and even a bit of death rock/ gothic metal on “Shoot You Down.” And then, rather unexpectedly, the back half of the record takes a punkier turn, with songs like “Frustrated Sperm” and “Damn You People” recalling anthemic punk rock like Toxic Reasons or D.O.A., but way more raw and grimy. It’s eclectic, but I really like that… this might not be the case at all, but I feel like when you’re one of the few metal bands in an isolated scene, you have a freedom—maybe even a responsibility—to dabble in the full range of styles that fall under that umbrella. Splitting hairs about which subgenre tags best describe Deceased feels beside the point, though… the selling point here is the raw, youthful energy that keeps nerds like me endlessly fascinated with the worldwide 80s music sub-underground.