Sometimes a reviewer gets lucky, as he gets to review a band that he has seen live in their day and is from his home country. I am talking about DONOR, a Dutch Progressive Thrash Metal band originating from Amsterdam. They existed from 1985 until 1995, and in that period they released two full-length studio albums. The debut one was “Triangle Of The Lost”, and it was released in 1992. Their sophomore album is called “Release”, and that one saw the light of day in 1994. I will be reviewing both of them. I can tell you that up and until now I only own the second album.

Am I happy that I finally have been able to get hold of their debut album “Triangle Of The Lost”? Well, yes, I certainly am, as their brand of Progressive Thrash metal is very addictive and contagious. It does remind me of so many great bands of the past, like early FATES WARNING, PSYCHOTIC WALTZ and others bands in the same vein. But, due to vocalist Ard van Beers and the more thrashy approach to the music there is no denying that DONOR carried their own distinctive sound.

As the band had been very active before and therefore already released three very well received demos before “Triangle Of The Lost”, they had enough experience to write, record and carry this record to a very high level. Even in those overfilled days of Thrash Metal in all its formats, they were able to stand out. And it wasn’t like a sore thumb, but more like another breath of fresh air.

The big problem that DONOR had, like many bands in that era, is that as a Dutch band it was nigh on impossible to be noticed outside the lowlands. That is a pity, as I feel that the music on “Triangle Of The Lost” could easily compete and compare to that of some of their better-known colleagues. I therefore applaud METAL WARRIOR RECORDS, who decided that it was time to bring DONOR back to life. What does help is that the sound on “Triangle Of The Lost” is crisp and clear, leaving every tone played and sung free to enter your ears and brains with great ease. I’ll just say that if you are a fan of Progressive Thrash Metal, and you haven’t heard DONOR yet, you change that as soon as you can. This is too good to be ignored (again)!