Saturday 10 September 2016

ALBUM REVIEW: Nukem - "The Unholy Trinity"

By: Theron Moore

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 16/09/2016
Label: Sleaszy Rider Records



“The Unholy Trinity” can be filed right in between Nuclear Assault and, well, EVERYONE else.  They’re that good.  Killer tunes, killer vibe, mosh till you die…

“The Unholy Trinity” DD track listing:

1). WarWolf
2). Evelyn’s Awakening
3). The Atomic Age
4). The Deceiver
5). BloodSeeker
6). T.V. Crimes
7). D.O.I.
8). Lethal Injection
9). Lucida Sidera
10). Nukem All
11). Suspicious Minds

The Review:

Long Stick Goes Boom.” Krokus. If you’re a metal fan you know this reference. Goes hand in hand with “The Unholy Trinity” from San Diego CA’s Nukem, just louder, like the original blast here in New Mexico, mucho years ago, but fiercer. You can mosh to this! From the first cries of “WarWolf” to the final exit of “Nukem All,” which by the way sums up the album and attitude nicely, Nukem have come to play. Forged in fire, birthed in metal, Nukem lays waste to everything around them, much like the “The Unholy Trinity” for which their record is so aptly named and they sing of. Crushing. Killing. Nukem. The essence of destruction. Old school the way music was meant to be. Burn it down gentleman. And leave no survivors.


Nukem is: Steve Brogden-Guitar& Vocals, Norm Leggio-Drums and Don Lauder-Bass Guitar. Look for their debut offering “Unholy Trinity” on Sleaszy Rider Records, September 16th, 2016. And to add to the metal mayhem Nukem has invited the best of the best guest musicians to uptick the body count: Laura Christine (WarFace and Zimmer’s Hole), Jimmy Durkin (Dark Angel), Craig Locicero (Forbidden) and Reece Scruggs of Havok fame.

The band initially found buzz with their video “Evelyn’s Awakening” on Facebook. Social media does it again. This time helping out a band that truly deserves praise. Nukem is well thought out, tight sounding, killer thrash. Take away the tags and what do you have left? Metal. That’s what these guys are. They live and sleep it. They bleed and sweat it. You hear it in their tunes, it can’t be ignored. They’re not following the generic template of boring metal via Disturbed, or Five Finger, or Butcher Babies.

They’re reaching back into their roots and writing as well as playing, from the heart. And it shows. They’re taking a new turn and a new twist on a genre that’s been with us for, well, since ’81? And thank god for that. And thank god for Nukem. Breathing new life and new energy into this style of music. Not one song is a throwaway, every song is bangable. If I’m a major metal label, I’m looking at this band…. Give me more….

The songs rip. Hard. Fast. But not speed metal for the sake of speed metal, thrash for the sake of thrash, as I said before, well thought out songs paying homage to a genre since gone and resuscitated with help from Warbringer, Gama Bomb, Lost Society, etc. Nukem stakes out their territory and takes the pussy without asking. The first four songs set the pace for an album whose bar has been set that high, that can’t be humanly achieved, simply, greatness. And Nukem does it. No. Nukem destroys that.

I can hear the integrity. The genuine love of and FOR metal. Ten tracks of Mayhem. Not a single bit of fodder or pandering anywhere. Something I can’t say about every band I review. Thrash for the love and appreciation for the genre. “The Unholy Trinity” can be filed right in between Nuclear Assault and, well, EVERYONE else. They’re that good. Killer tunes, killer vibe, mosh till you die kinda band. Buy this record!

“Unholy Trinity” is available here


Band info: bandcamp|| facebook


FFO: Nuclear Assault, Gama Bomb, Havok, Lost Society