Mage Commander Moon Worship cassette
I remember this one-man-band’s demo tape for two things: the rad anarchist frog, and Rotten Ron absolutely roasting it. Have you ever walked into a Guitar Center during one of their big sales events? Shredders from all walks of life and every subgenre creep out of the sewers to show off their technical prowess (usually by playing the intro to “One” by METALLICA). Imagine that sound on a tape, and you’d have MAGE COMMANDER. Rudimentary, angry hardcore with constant thrash leads. Not crossover, or thrash itself, or blackened punk—three-chord USHC with intertwining solos, bent notes, and finger-tapped phrases tangling around very simple punk. It’s just an odd mix that is never compelling enough to rise above to being an odd mix in a good way. I admire the tenacity of sending in a full-length when the demo was not well-received, but it’s unfortunately destined to stay in the bedroom studio. The frog is cool, though.