Sometimes you wonder where all the music has gone that you were never made aware of. Especially at the start of the Metal Revolution at the end of the seventoies and all through the eighties and most of the nineties, a lot of the good stuff probably never made it out of their local area. But there are circumstances that will make them available to a wider audience later in life. Most of the time through the net, but occasionally you might come across a physical copy of an old gem.

What does help is if a certain famous Metal musician is a part of such a development. In this case we are talking about drummer Chris Reifert, who most of us will know through his work with DEATH, AUTOPSY, THE RAVENOUS and many others. If you look him up on Wikipedia, you will see that the first band mentioned on his list of bands is BURNT OFFERING. Well, I can tell youi that you are in luck, because that is exactly the band that made this CD containg “Frightmare (Demo 1985)”.

The first question you will ask me is whether this is a Death Metal release. No, definitely not. This has more of elements of AGENT STEEL in it than anything else. And to be fair, the songs aren't really that bad either. After a few listens i'm starting to wonder why no one picked up and signed BURNT OFFERING. In comparison with some of the releases halfway through the eighties they would have easily come through on top. Not only that, but my ears and brains are telling me that the music on “Frightmare (Demo 1985)” also has stood the test of time.

Rather hefty, heavy and fast Thrash Metal with proper vocals and (occasionally) twin guitars, giving the whole experience a Melodic vibe. I quite like it. It will not make you reconsider your priorities or musical choices, but it might straighten you out and make you realise that good music never goes out of fashion. BURNT OFFERING has made quite a good effort with “Frightmare (Demo 1985)”. the only thing keeping it down on a top rating is the fact that the tapes used were that old that creating a crisp and clear sound became impossible. I can report that “Frightmare (Demo 1985)” has had an extensive clean before being burnt into this CD, so what you hear is clear, even if it is a bit dark.