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Ah, Nasty Savage. I remember when I first heard their debut back in 1985 and being blown away by their unique take on Thrash Metal, along with the crazy stage antics of Nasty Ronnie later on (has anyone counted how many TVs he's broken and the TV-related injuries he's racked up on stage?) Suffice to say, I was anxiously awaiting the follow-up along with everybody else. After seeing the bizarre album cover, I had the inescapable feeling that this was going to be an album that'd be ahead of its time and talked about for years to come.

Guess I was a smart kid, because here we are talking about Indulgence and why it's phenomenal. The album is exactly what you want from a sophomore album: a refinement of past ideas with tighter musicianship and better songwriting that manages to be more complex and varied without going progressive. That's not to say they lost any of their edge with this album, because this is even angrier and nastier than the debut, and still very much unlike the modern Bay Area and Teutonic styles common at the time. This was really ahead of its time when it was released, and songs like "Stabbed in Back", "Divination", "Hypnotic Trance" and "Incursion Dementia" still give me chills with their outstanding musicianship and inimitable vocal performances. The real highlight of the album, as always, is the unhinged performance of Nasty Ronnie, whose demented and versatile style saw him go from a lower theatrical voice to spine-chilling falsettos on a dime, making him one of the most unique singers you're ever going to find.

What really stands out to me all these years later is how this monster of an album feels like a complete work rather than a collection of songs. Every strange idea has purpose, every moment of aggression unwasted, and everything in its place to make an album that would serve as the finest hour for one of the finest underground Thrash acts. Essential.