Labels Spotlight: Thrashing Madness

 

  

CLICK FOR POLISH VERSION

Country of Origin: Poland

Genres: Thrash Metal, Death Metal

Founding date: 2009

For the second installment about the elites among the elites, I do not hesitate to choose Thrashing Madness from Poland, Cracow.

The scene from Cracow leaves a lot to be desired. Sure, there are some classics from each musical genre, but as a whole, it's pretty small, when compared to other cities. It's the opposite when it comes to business. Ridiculous amount of shops and companies - if you want to buy, import stuff, or just make a deal, Cracow offers plenty of options.

Thrashing Madness was formed somewhere around 2009 by Leszek Wojnicz-Sianożęcki, a former frontman of cult band Holy Death. He also made cover art for Iron Angel, Moonfall, or did photos for the final album by Hobbs Angels of Death. This label is a successor to the first attempt at running a label, which was Luciforus Art, and it also inherited its catalog as well.

The beginnings are marked by the desire to release albums by local band Hellias (veterans of Thrash in vein of old Kreator), and giving justice to two underrated Polish masters - Egzekuthor and Merciless Death, about whom I will certainly write a feature in the future. Additionally, the label was linked with equally worthwhile zine "Old School Metal Maniac", printed irregularly, but with a fierce passion.

Maybe that's why the majority of Thrashing Madness output is dedicated to re-releasing Polish bands, with examples being Lastwar, Betrayer, Mortal Slaughter, Armagedon, or Ghost. From the younger crowd, there were released some underrated groups as well, like Fortress, The No-Mads, Psychopath, or Bladestorm. Stylistically, in accordance to the name of the label, dominates Thrash in all possible spectrum and hybrids, namely Speed, Death, Black, Heavy, and even Groove (Polish Necrophobic). It made me realize how varied the genre is, and how vast is the potential of good ole Thrashing. Too bad that the younger generations are not quite interested in discovering it.

They also managed to release stuff from South America, namely Chile, Mexico and Brazil. I would like to focus a little on the latter, as from this country we received three albums + live of the seminal band Attomica, who not only was part of the legendary Cogumelo Records, but who also can be called a part of the First Wave of Death / Thrash, Made in Brazil (another interesting topic to spotlight).

And this is also how I started to truly respect Thrashing Madness, as I remember how they promoted their releases, by comparing them to Brazilian highlights, like Vulcano, Mutilator, or Chakal. And being an unrepentant Metal Braziliophiliac, not only I instantly felt spiritual kinship, but was also positively surprised to see that someone else shared my taste in Global Metal scene.

The main reason for my total dedication in collecting CDs with Thrashing Madness logo is quite simple. Their standards. First of all - high-quality, lacquered paper. Secondly - really fat booklet, featuring scans of original tapes, plenty of archival photos, completel lyrics, and most of all, an extra interview featuring historical context and important info.

Last but not least, educational aspect and preservation of national scene. Not only saving many forgotten gems from the underground, but also reminding about the value and the importance of Polish scene and its rightful place in the world. There's no exaggeration in this claim, as I had pleasure writing with many fellow Metalheads all over everywhere, who recognized the quality as well.

An interesting piece of trivia is that only the first 12 releases have standard catalogue numbering, afterwards which, a year of release was used instead. A little pity, alas, what can you do? 

I do hope that I will have a pleasure of enjoying new releases from this label, as there are still plenty of treasures waiting to be re-evaluated, and rediscovered.

Link: Old School Metal Maniac