ATTILA - Rolling Thunder 12" Vinyl LP Album

- This is the USA Release of Rolling Thunder

Pyramid Sound Recording Studios is a long-running Ithaca, New York recording spot launched by Alex Perialas (the guy with the “your snare will be heard” philosophy). From the mid-1980s into the early 1990s, it became a thrash-metal magnet—bands like Anthrax, Overkill, Testament, Nuclear Assault, and S.O.D. rolled through to capture that tight, aggressive East Coast bite. It didn’t stay boxed into metal either: later decades saw punk/hardcore and other genres pass through the same rooms, because good engineering doesn’t care what jacket you’re wearing. The studio’s downtown location (105 E. Clinton Street) has even had its share of real-world drama tied to nearby construction over the years—because of course the universe can’t just let a legendary studio exist in peace.

Alex Perialas is an American audio engineer, mixer, and record producer who helped lock in the tight, punchy thrash sound of the mid-1980s through the early 1990s from Pyramid Sound Studios in Ithaca, New York—working with bands like Anthrax, Overkill, Testament, Nuclear Assault, S.O.D., and Flotsam & Jetsam. Later on, his work stretches into other lanes (Bad Religion, Pro-Pain), and he’s also been tied to teaching sound recording at Ithaca College—because apparently someone had to explain to the next generation how to make guitars sound like a chainsaw with manners.

Mick Rock is the British photographer I still call “The Man Who Shot the Seventies,” because he didn’t just document glam—he bottled it. From 1972–1973 he was David Bowie’s official eye through Ziggy Stardust, shooting sleeves, posters and those iconic promo films. In the early 1970s he also caught Iggy Pop at full ignition. By 1973–1974 he was framing Queen as they learned how to look like legends. A Lou Reed invite pulled him to New York in 1974, and through the mid-to-late 1970s he captured Reed’s shift, plus punks like the Ramones and, in 1978, Blondie’s Debbie Harry. What I love is his mix of intimacy and theatre: harsh flash, sharp cheekbones, no polite distance. His photos sell the noise before you even drop the needle.