Cutthroat (name ambitiously taken from an old Bulldozer song) are a black/thrash corroboration project formed almost exclusively to A) play old cover songs and B) maniacally slice the throats of worthless disco posers. Featuring Mirai (vocals) and Shinichi (guitar) of Sigh along with Yasuyuki (bass) and Youhei (drums) of Abigail, this can probably be considered somewhat of an "all-star" Japanese line-up; although the original material on this release is pretty scarce, the sheer instrumental mastery of the band members makes it more than worthwhile. Unfortunately ISO666 restricted the album to a mere 500 copies, so if you are an avid fan of the genre you should grab this while it still exists - the next recording will be on Killjoy's Baphomet label and studio work is expected to begin around the Fall of 2000.

Rape! Rape! Rape! consists of 2 original songs, 6 covers, and 4 live tracks. For once I'm not going to bother explaining the musical style, since the reader should be clearly familiar with it by now; if not, pick up Sigh's Hail Horror Hail and Abigail's Intercourse and Lust first. Everything is beyond a doubt performed well and accurately, though the Exodus, Voivod, and Razor covers deserve particularly honorable mention. Supposedly Cutthroat play everything from Warfare to Sacrifice to Anvil Bitch live, with future plans to cover At War, Cryptic Slaughter, Indestroy, and Metal Onslaught - what an interesting and unpredictable show that would be, not to mention a pleasant reminder of the past!

By no means essential, but you can't really go wrong with it either. This is leagues ahead of the inevitably bad tribute albums being produced every year and for once it's nice to see a band covering something other than Destruction or Possessed.

© 2000 hando