Toxic - Rise of Soldiers [1987]

 

Not much info can be found about Toxic out of Newberg, but it appears they were friends and played shows with Vengentz out of the same area. Seven tracks total of hard rock/heavy metal here on this tape from 1987 with a few chunky riffs and the occasional twin guitar harmonies to keep things interesting. 

Toxic - Rise of Soldiers

Download

Stormtrooper - s/t cassette [1986]

I've been on the hunt for this self titled cassette from Stormtrooper for many years, and I'm STILL on the hunt for it. James Beach was kind enough to let me transfer his copy.

If you have a copy you'd be into letting go of, please get in touch. And in general, if you have demos/tapes/records/zines you'd like to donate or sell, please email me at pdxunderground43@gmail.com

Now onto the tape itself. For those unfamiliar, Stormtrooper straddled a nice line between straight up heavy metal and thrash metal. If they had managed to do some more studio recordings after this one, I think they would have been really stellar.

 

Stormtrooper - self titled 

[1986 cassette]

Download

Vyper - Demo [1988]

I was just clued into Vyper very recently, and this 1988 demo tape graciously fell into my lap today.

This demo finds Vyper playing some traditional heavy metal, as elements of NWOBHM influence sound rather evident. With four tracks (one of which feels more like an interlude), I find myself wishing there were more songs or even another release from the band.

Just a year after this demo, Greg Eisenach (guitar/vocals) and Ryan Dyson (drums) were cranking out a much thrashier sound with the band, Roadkill. 

Vyper - Demo

[1988]

https://www.mediafire.com/?9nnqjq2i79m45r4

Sweaty Nipples - What's Your Funktion? [demo 1989]

As of a few days ago, it has now been 25 years since Sweaty Nipples recorded their What's Your Funktion? demo tape.  Many people called them funk-metal or funk-punk, but I think a big part of the fun with a band like Sweaty Nipples was that they didn't really fit into any sort of a box.  They were able to crossover with lots of people that were into varied sounds, and that's a big part of what made their shows at La Luna in the early 90s so much fun.

Of course, they would later go on to release records through Media Blitz, Tim/Kerr, Megaforce and Element, but this is where they started.

Sweaty Nipples - What's Your Funktion?

[demo 1989]

http://www.mediafire.com/?fdkt16bntkhpfgc

Glacier - Rehearsals [1983 - 1985]

Glacier existed in a few different forms between the years of 1979 and roughly 1989, and played some pretty killer heavy/power metal.  If you want to dig deeper into their history, you can read all about it on this site that is a mirror of a Geocities page while they were planning a reunion around 2002.

The era that they are most widely known for is during the time that they recorded a s/t EP in 1985 that was released on French label, Axe Killer Records.  The vinyl is still highly sought after by collectors.  It's from this same era of the band that I have various rehearsal recordings.  I did some remastering work on these, and they sound pretty good given that they are 30 year old practice space recordings.

Two rehearsals are primarily instrumental, and the others have vocals.  You'll get to hear some early practice versions of songs that made it onto the s/t EP, and even some tracks that never got recorded in a studio.

Let's take this in chronological order:

Glacier - Rehearsal 12/26/83

https://www.mediafire.com/?a3xvfk3vcql6si2

Glacier - Rehearsal 1/8/84

https://www.mediafire.com/?vvppf42eoonuo63

Glacier - Babyland Rehearsal 6/85

https://www.mediafire.com/?c1i8zlq2c1arqlu

Glacier - Rehearsals 9/21 & 9/21/85

https://www.mediafire.com/?r3jaykb66yypdh7

 Glacier - Give It Up 12/85

https://www.mediafire.com/?lq1zvmlsdpimy36

This one especially rules, because it's just Tim and Pat doing a KISS parody.

On a final note, if anyone out there has the Ready For Battle demo from 1984, or any of the recordings that pre-date it, please get in touch!  pdxunderground43@gmail.com