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Wow, a double disc affair and nearly two and half hours of Thrash Metal straight from the heyday of underground tape trading times... Love the idea already. Anyone remember this Oblivion from New Jersey, USA? Out of all other Oblivions that were out there back in the day, New Jersey's Oblivion were one of the best ones of them all.

These guys recorded seven more or less official demos during their existence between 1985 and 1990, and some of them even managed to reach the tape trading collection of yours truly. Anyway, as a whole new generation has entered into the picture since the end of the tape trading times, it's always nice to see labels putting this sort of rare and semi-cultish shit out every now and then. Thanks to Oblivion's and Divebomb Records' cooperation, we have this two-disc release, which perfectly covers the band's entire demo repertoire, starting from their latest six-track demo from 1990. Back in the early days Oblivion fused some Crossover elements into their often fast-tinged and straightforward Thrash Metal, being inspired by Slayer, just like their four-songs 1985 demo proves so loud and clear. In fact, they sounded like your typical Thrash Metal band back in those days. Playing faster and harder was their main goal, quite obviously. The more years passed by, the more complex and technical-sounding Oblivion became, replacing their faster parts by slower parts and bringing in more musical complexity. What I find great about them is that they never throw this Crossover side completely away from their Thrash, maintaining their sort of street credibility that way until the very end.

If you have ever wondered what type of gems the underground Metal scene held inside some 25-30 years ago, here's your chance to take a sneak peek into that world in a nice way,