{"id":31977,"date":"2013-09-20T06:47:23","date_gmt":"2013-09-20T11:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=31977"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:37:52","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:37:52","slug":"slammer-the-work-of-idle-hands-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/slammer-the-work-of-idle-hands-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Slammer | The Work of Idle Hands<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist\/News Editor —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"SlammerOriginally released in 1989, The Work of Idle Hands<\/em> was the debut album from UK thrash metal band Slammer. The band was a lesser known player in a lesser known scene, but their music was certainly up to the standards of their American and German counterparts. <\/p>\n

Slammer didn\u2019t exactly rewrite the thrash metal playbook with The Work of Idle Hands<\/em>. This is essentially a straightforward thrash metal album that owes a lot to the early Metallica and especially Testament sounds. Blistering riffs and punishing (slamming, even) rhythms power these songs with barely a pause for breath, and Paul Tunniclife\u2019s raspy, barked vocals that bring to mind a fully-charged James Hetfield or Chuck Billy. Yes, Slammer serves up what is more or less textbook thrash metal, but it is executed very, very well and there\u2019s really no way not to get into this album once songs like \u201cRazor\u2019s Edge\u201d and \u201cNo Excuses\u201d get their hooks in you.<\/p>\n

Like most second-tier thrash bands, Slammer just wasn\u2019t unique enough to survive when thrash fell out of favor in the 1990s. They released one more album (1991\u2019s Nightmare Scenario) before disbanding. As enjoyable as it is, The Work of Idle Hands<\/em> is not going to make many \u201cessential\u201d lists. It is, however, an album that fans of the early Metallica and Testament albums are going to love, and it goes without saying that UK thrash metal aficionados are going to want to own it, especially now that it has been reissued.<\/p>\n

Edition Notes: Divebomb\u2019s 2013 reissue of The Work of Idle Hands<\/em> puts this long out of print (and ridiculously expensive) album back into fans\u2019 hands, and while it does not feature the kind of bonus material that most Divebomb releases have, it has been expertly remastered by Jamie King, who did such fine work with the Deathwish and DAM reissues. The liner notes also include an essay as well as vintage photos and press clippings. It\u2019s a well put-together reissue, as expected.<\/p>\n

Genre: Thrash Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nMilo Zivanovic (g)
\nAndy Gacic (d)
\nRussell Burton (b)
\nPaul Tunnicliffe (v)
\nEnzo Ennecchini (g)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tTenement Zone
\n2.\tIf Thine Eye
\n3.\tJohnny\u2019s Home
\n4.\tRazor\u2019s Edge
\n5.\tHellbound
\n6.\tHunt You Down
\n7.\tGod\u2019s Prey
\n8.\tFight or Fall
\n9.\tNo Excuses
\n10.\tBorn For War<\/p>\n

Label: Divebomb Records<\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist\/News Editor — Originally released in 1989, The Work of Idle Hands was the debut album from UK thrash metal band Slammer. The band was a lesser known player in […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":31978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[923,1101],"class_list":{"0":"post-31977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2013","8":"tag-divebomb-records","9":"tag-thrash-metal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}