Threatcon Delta

For those of you not familiar with Neil Turbin, he was the original lead vocalist for Anthrax back in the early 80's. He appeared on their "Fistful of Metal" album; a true classic of the thrash-speed metal genre which helped pioneer the movement along with Metallica's "Kill Em' All", Slayer's "Show No Mercy", Megadeth's "Killing Is My Business....", Overkill's "Feel The Fire", and Exodus' "Bonded By Blood". Turbin left Anthrax in August of 1984 due to disenfranchisement and alienation with the band. Since that time he has remained virtually under the radar. I always liked Turbin's voice and performance on "Fistful of Metal". I can remember as far back as high school when I first heard "Metal Thrashing Mad". I was in total awe! Never in my life had I heard a guy, (maybe besides Rob Halford), that could hold a continuous throttling metal screaming note with such control. At that time his voice sounded like a mix between Paul Stanley of Kiss and Joe Elliot of Def Leppard. So I was kind of expecting after 20 years that Turbin's voice would stand the test of time and bring back some of the magic that he created when he was with Anthrax. Well, after listening to "Threatcon Delta" (the title comes from the term President Bush used during 9/11; a military term for a state of high alertness), I have mixed feelings. For one, I have to give Turbin credit for giving us a CD of classic old-school thrash, speed metal & groove, featuring powerful vocals and melodies. And he can still carry a tune. But his voice is deeper with fewer high-pitched vocals, yet he still retains a certain energy to them. Today he sounds like a mix of Jeff Scott Soto, Dave Meniketti of Y & T and a bit of Paul Stanley of KISS. The CD was self financed and it shows. There is also an inconsistency in the recording aspect of the songs. Turbin did not have a set band when he recorded "Threatcon Delta". He used a variety of musicians within the industry such as Vernon Anderson, Ronnie Borchert, Roger Bueno, Sean Flynn, Tommy Gunn, Kurt James, Lucky Luciano, Steve McKnight, Sean McNabb, Paul Mervosh, Paul Monroe, Glenn Noyes, Mitch Perry, Rick Sanchez, Claude, Schnell, Paul Shortino, Jeff Scott Soto, Niki Lane Taylor, Sandy Vasquez, Lonnie Vencent & Andy Walo. Because of scheduling conflicts between the musicians and studio times, not all of the songs have the same musicians on them and not all of the songs were recorded or even written during the same sessions. So the end result is a rawer sounding, demo quality recording. Turbin has not fallen prey to any image or the so-called modern sounds and productions, maintaining a very traditional feel. Still, fans of old school thrash, speed and power metal might take a liking to the way this album was created. Turbin used whatever resources were available to him and still manages to get his point across. The album has 11 originals and 3 covers: AC/DC's "Touch Too Much", Jimi Hendrix's "Dolly Dagger", and remake of the 1993 House of Lords track, "Johnny’s Got A Mind of His Own", now reworked and re-titled, ‘Wrecking Ball’. Does the apple ever really fall far from the tree? Well, if you were expecting another "Fistful of Metal" like me, than yes. But alot can happen in 20 years. Expect to hear the music interpreted from the point of view of Neil Turbin as a solo artist and not as a member of a 5 piece band.