Nuclear Assault — Radiation Sickness
Radiation Sickness is an eleven-track live album from New York thrashers/ crossover band Nuclear Assault. It takes in the bands Hammersmith Odeon show from 1987- when they first toured Europe, with Agent Steel, Onslaught and Atomkraft.
This CD release appears on Dissonance Productions- the extreme metal sublabel of Cherry Red Records. It comes presented in a clear jewel case- which takes in a sixteen-page glossy inlay booklet. This features a new write-up about the band/ time, as well as quotes from those who worked with Nuclear Assault during the late 1980’s- as well as a selection of pictures, flyers, etc.
The set was recorded June 20, 1987- and as live recordings go- it’s not badly captured, picking up a good enough band mix- though as you’d expect at points it does all become somewhat muddled, with the drums come a bit too high from time to time. Overall, it highlights the band's boisterous, raw, and at times haphazard blend of thrash and speeding US Hardcore. With a little bit on stage banter/ comment from lead singer/ guitarist John Connelly in between most tracks
The highlights go from the tightly marching riff chug ‘n’ drum slug of “Nuclear War” with Connelly vocals moving between mid-range shout-to-slightly warbling highs. We get a quick shot hardcore of “My America”- which opens with bounding mid pace bass riff, and ranted vocals- before speeding off to suddenly stop. There’s “Radiation Sickness” which starts off fairly moody, before taking off into crossover chaos with drums crashing wildly, Connelly vocals ranting ‘n’ soaring, with some steaming ‘n’ wailing guitar soloing appearing along the way, with the two-track speeding hardcore attack of “Hang The Pope” & “Lesbians” appearing just before the set finishes.
I guess it might have been nice to have maybe a video of the show with the release- and there was a DVD release of this from some years back- but I guess it depends on who has the rights/ if it would have been commercially viable to put it out with the CD. The write-up in the booklet good, and gives good context of the band/ time.
I’d say you’ll need to be an old-school Thrash/ crossover fan who used to enjoy live tape trading & the like back in the day, to fully appreciate what Radiation Sickness has to offer.