Forbidden

Forbidden Evil

1988 (Combat Records)

Rating: 3 out of 4 Pentagrams

Reviewed By: Jeff Deth

Forbidden was one of the many now infamous Bay-Area thrash bands active in the mid to late 1980’s. Obviously the first of those bands to come to mind are Slayer, Metallica and Exodus. Forbidden is a band you will eventually get to once you’ve gotten through the top layer of thrash. Technically speaking Forbidden is every bit as talented as any of their peers at the time. An early line-up of the band featured future Vio-lence and Machinehead guitarist Rob Flynn.

Although Flynn was to leave the band prior to the recording of Forbidden Evil, three songs he co-wrote are featured on this record. The other notable player who is on this recording is drummer Paul Bostaph, who would later sit at the kit for both Slayer and Exodus.

There are eight songs here and every one of them jams heavy. This is classic straight-up Bay-Area thrash. What really stands out to me are the vocals of Russ Anderson. He uses a range that goes from the standard thrash growl to higher pitched screams. It sort of reminds me of Sanctuary or early Overkill.

The riffs all sound fresh and inspired. There are two or three killer solos on every track. The sleeve lists both Craig Locicero and Glen Alvelais as lead guitarists, so I assume they’re always trading off which is great.

Everything on the record is highly technical, fast and aggressive. There was no lyric sheet with my cassette pressing but with songs titled “As Good as Dead”, “March into Fire” and “Chalice of Blood” it’s safe to assume they’re into death, war, rebellion and general mayhem. It’s all good. Typical, yes, but I don’t make hard terms with a band that can give me an intense head-banging record.

The cover art depicts two flying skulls smashing together. Great, when I first picked it up I knew what I was going to get. I’ll admit, I don’t pull this album out on a regular basis, but when I do I always think to myself, “They’re better then I thought, I should listen to this more often.”

In a lot of ways they closely resemble the more visible thrash bands of the era in both sound and content. Maybe that’s the reason they have less of a memorable reputation. They where also a part of the 2^nd wave of thrash which in general seems to get less recognition. Listening to this record though proves to me they were defiantly up to snuff if even for only a brief period. They were only to record one more great record, Twisted into Form.

Again, I really enjoyed the vocal element to this otherwise standard Bay-Area affair. This band deserves more acknowledgements then they get and I’m sure they are getting more traction today with the current reemergence of interest in the scene.