Back in the early 90s in the US, Death Metal had already made a status for itself a leading element in extreme Metal. Gradually, the entire brutal setting came from the Floridian scene, consisting of such acts that would become famed as OBITUARY / DEICIDE / MORBID ANGEL / ATHEIST / ACHERON / HATE ETERNAL. However, Thrash Metal still had a tight spot of its own that remained from the 80s, even as Death Metal splitted skulls in the underground clubs. In 1992, it was the dawning of the Technical Thrash Metal DEGRADATION, that like any band had to work ground up to gain recognition in a Metal scene that slowly transformed into the extreme areas of the genre.

The band's debut achievement, in the image of the demo "Look Into The Sadness", grabbed the attention of their surroundings, and it paved the road to their only EP "Revelation In Blood", which also received quite the following. Short after the band disbanded into oblivion. Divebomb Records paid its proper respects to the band with the reissue of the EP along with the Demo that got them their small spot in the US Metal scene.

There is no other way to put it, these guys were heavier as none would expect for a Thrash Metal band. Whether it is the darkness that was a stranglehold in their songs, or the combustion derived from the massive energetic riffery and the IRON MAIDEN meets SLAYER wacky soloing or the combating beats that just kept coming and charging without remorse. DEGRADATION were the closest thing to a Death Metal band other than the lack of growling vocals, an old school cacophony in all of its glory, of course in a positive way.

I rapidly understood why the early demo was successful, and not only because of the musical merits of the musicians, but also because it showed a darkened, almost disturbing, spirituality that never came to mind while listening to Bay Area Thrash for instance, not even SLAYER for that matter, which were the closet to the realm of down below. "Ancient Enemy", "I Defy" and "Normlizer" are of the brutal kind, such ferocity that is mere all guns blazing. "Eugenics" took a fairly made intricacy, displaying some deadly riffs yet the demo version of the groovy "Darkness" showed posture of a strong frontman that simply laid it all out as brutal as he possibly can with somewhat Hardcore / Punk attitude.

Mix yourself SACRED REICH / CYCLONE TEMPLE / DEMOLITION HAMMER / ATHEIST / SADUS and you will get yourself a once Floridian band that tried to make something out of itself. At the time it did actually, but sadly, DEGRADATION faded away quickly, with being only a few years active.