Torment in Fire

High Roller Records, 180g black vinyl, ltd 500, lyric sheet, 4 page insert, poster, A5 photo card, 425gsm heavy card board cover, mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Disharmony in March 2021. Cutting by SST Germany on Neumann machines for optimal quality on all levels... The ultimate reissue of this eternal Thrash Metal classic!Following on from first generation Canadian speed metal pioneers Anvil and Exciter and heavily influenced by local Toronto legends Razor, Scarborough’s own Sacrifice set out to make history a short while later with their unique brand of raw thrash metal.Scarborough is situated at the east end of Toronto, roughly a 20-minute drive away from the city (or alternatively a good hour by public transport). Although there is no question that downtown Toronto was the mecca for metalheads in Ontario, Scarborough always had its own local metal scene.Rob Urbinati (vocals, guitar) and Joe Rico (guitar) were living about two blocks away from each other in an area of Scarborough called Malvern, where they bonded over guitars, borrowed each other’s records and talked about starting band. Scott Watts on bass and Gus Pynn on drums completed the first stable Sacrifice line-up in 1984.By 1985, Sacrifice had written seven original songs and started to play locally, their first live gig was supporting one of the first bands of Sebastian Bach (who went on to form Skid Row in the US of A). Sacrifice worked hard in the rehearsal room and steadily progressed, as a result they were soon becoming a force to be reckoned with. It was Brian Taylor, an employee at the legendary Record Peddler record shop on Yonge Street, who financed the band’s first demo called »The Exorcism«. All seven tracks of the demo later ended up on the band’s first album »Torment In Fire«, along with newly written tunes “Homicidal Breath”, “Infernal Visions”, “Necronomicon” and “Possession”.In 1986, Ben Hoffman, the owner of The Record Peddler, financed the first Sacrifice album »Torment In Fire« and put it out on his own label Fringe Product, of which guitarist Joe Rico today says: “To this day everyone loves that record and some consider it our most original. It was really good for its time I would say.” His colleague Rob Urbinati adds: “Well, obviously I wish we were tighter and it sounded better, but on the other hand, I wouldn’t change a thing really. That is how it was then. Young bands recording albums while still learning their instruments. That’s kind of what makes the old albums great. There is no bullshit. No one thought they could actually get big playing such heavy music. We all just wrote the most aggressive music we could with what we had.”MATTHIAS MADER