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ASSASSIN – The Upcoming Terror LP BLACK VINYL High Roller Records, 180g black vinyl, lyric sheet + 4 pages insert printed on uncoated paper, poster, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, Mastered by Patrick W. Engel at TEMPLE OF DISHARMONY. Cutting by SST Germany on Neumann machines for optimal quality on all levels … ETERNAL TEUTONIC THRASH METAL CULT GEM. BRAND NEW AND SEALED Photos here are stock photos. — Robert – vocalsDinko – leadguitarsScholli – leadguitarsLulle – bassPsycho – drums 01 Forbidden Reality02 Nemesis03 Fight (To Stop the Tyranny)04 The Last Man 05 Assassin06 Holy Terror07 Bullets08 Speed of Light April 26th Mastered by Patrick W. Engel at TEMPLE OF DISHARMONY.Cutting by SST Germany on Neumann machines for optimal quality on all levels … ETERNAL TEUTONIC THRASH METAL CULT GEM. It is fair to say that The Upcoming Terror, the 1987 debut full-length of Assassin from Düsseldorf/Germany, is a canonical album of Teutonic thrash metal and a groundbreaking work for the genre as a whole. Surprisingly enough though, the number of valid reissues is rather small in spite of a continual demand – especially from a young generation of headbangers who have stumbled upon and marvelled at the group online. “In 1998, our first two albums were re-released on CD for the first time without the band being informed about it,” says guitarist Jürgen “Scholli” Scholz. “We never received any money even though 3,000 copies were pressed and sold! In 2011 the original label Steamhammer/SPV did a vinyl reissue before handing over the rights to both albums to BMG.” Then, pretty much nothing happened anymore. As for The Upcoming Terror, it was recorded at Karo Studios in late 1986 with influential producer Kalle Trapp (Destruction, Blind Guardian…), largely consisting of earlier demo songs and basically giving the fledgling scene everything it could wish for – fast tempos, dextrous speed metal riffing mixed with punk rock’s simple effectiveness and lyrics blending social consciousness with science fiction imagery. Scholli and his guitar counterpart Dinko Vekić were the main songwriters during that era, channelling their inspirations (the most extreme in those days: Metallica, Exciter and the likes) with an individual touch that was there right from the get-go, not least thanks to Robert Gonella’s vocal delivery, which sounded abrasive and well-articulated at the same time, as well as the six-stringers’ ambitious fretwork. It´s astounding just how well the material has aged in comparison to the dilettantish initial steps of some of Assassin´s peers, most of whom became significantly more popular. Needless to say, numbers like the band anthem ‘Assassin’, the ominous ‘The Last Man’ or the vibrant instrumental ‘ Speed of Light’ haven’t lost anything of their original impact if you spin them today… Which you can do now via brand-new, faithful reissues of The Upcoming Terror on both CD and vinyl: “When we got the rights back from BMG”, Scholli explains, “we were of course happy to put them in the hands of High Roller, who are now taking care of them with real passion.” Andreas Schiffmann