Album Description:
1988. The year thrash metal was no longer the fringe cousin of glam rock, but something snarling with teeth, pounding on the walls of the underground, screaming for recognition in a world plastered with Poison posters. It was the year Metallica hit arena status, Slayer dropped the unrelenting South of Heaven, and a hellstorm of second-wave thrash bands clawed to be heard over the roar. In the midst of this glorious chaos, out came HADES with their second LP, If at First You Don’t Succeed…, flipping the bird to the complacent and musically inert.
Genre Juggling and Riff Carnage
This is not just another crossover band jamming rehashed Slayer riffs or singing about beer and blood. HADES wasn’t interested in fitting neatly into a single slot. This record is a mash-up of power metal’s melodic ambition, speed metal’s caffeinated pulse, and thrash metal’s pissed-off intelligence. And yet, it sounds uniquely like them – never derivative, never safe.
Tracks like “Opinionate” and “Rebel Without a Brain” are biting social commentaries hidden under complex guitar work and time changes. “King In Exile” and “Tears of Orpheus” attempt epic scale without drowning in their own ambition – a miracle in itself. And then there’s “Aftermath of Betrayal (The Tragedy of Hamlet)”, which proves these guys read more than just the back of a Motörhead T-shirt.
Production Under Pressure
Produced by Todd Gordon and Ken Adams, two names deeply tied to the late-’80s East Coast metal underground, this album oozes tension and grit. Gordon and Adams were also the minds behind Torrid Records, a label that never aimed for chart-toppers but for truth-tellers. This record is raw, unvarnished, and unflinching — like it was meant to be a musical uppercut to mainstream sensibilities.
The recording took place at Chung King House of Metal in NYC — a place that also saw the likes of Beastie Boys and LL Cool J stomping through its halls. Let that stew: one of the most vital underground thrash records was cooked up in the same studio that birthed golden-era hip hop. The final mix was handled at Electric Lady Studios, where Hendrix once walked, with Bruce Buchhalter and Steve Ett (who mixed the grittier tracks) at the helm, keeping things sonically sharp but grimy in all the right ways.
Don’t Call Them “Just Another Thrash Band”
The band lineup itself reads like a metalhead’s fantasy league: Alan Tecchio delivers soaring high-register vocals that don't just shriek – they argue, demand, and taunt. Dan Lorenzo, guitar wizard and founding member, brings a tonal sophistication rarely heard in this genre. Add in Jimmy Schulman (bass), Tom Coombs (drums), and Ed Fuhrman (guitars), and you've got a squad more precise than a Swiss watchmaker with a caffeine problem.
What makes this record special is that it thinks. It's not all breakdowns and double bass assaults – though there’s plenty of that too. It challenges its listener, both musically and lyrically. If you're here for safe, you’ll be eaten alive.
Alternate Versions & Label Shenanigans
While If at First You Don’t Succeed… was originally released on Torrid Records in the US, its European release was handled by Roadrunner Records, a label that knew how to get records into the right sweaty hands. Some European pressings came with alternate inner sleeve layouts or slightly different mastering – but the differences were subtle. If anything, the European version had a cleaner overall sound, whereas the US pressing felt dirtier – closer to the chaos HADES had summoned.
Because if at first you don’t succeed… you turn up the volume and throw down again.
