For some reason British thrash never had the same kudos as that in Europe or the Americas. That was partly due to humour; Acid Reign covered Blondie’s ‘Hangin’ On The Telephone’, Lawnmower Deth wrestled with Kim Wilde’s ‘Kids In America’, and Xentrix, a cert to be the UK’s breakout band, covered ‘Ghostbusters’ which totally stalled their career. So, for those of us who liked the aggressiveness of thrash it was no wonder we turned our attention to Germany (Kreator) and Brazil (Sarcófago). However, relative latecomers to the scene were Morecambe’s D.A.M., a band who were all business and released two well-regarded albums towards the end of thrash’s original run. Those albums get collected as Inside The Wreckage to prove that the UK could hold its own in the thrash stakes, and sometimes win.

When the ball started rolling for D.A.M. it moved awfully fast, and maybe a tad too fast. Shows with heavyweights like Nuclear Assault, a management deal with Paul Loasby (partly responsible for the first Monsters Of Rock festival), signing with German label Noise, then spirited away to Berlin to record with famed producer Harris Johns. If the pressure was on, it didn’t show because they created an assured debut in Human Wreckage that put the band on the metal map. However, what the album does convey from that era is the frenetic energy that surrounded the band and the amphetamine buzz that fuelled the UK thrash scene. In an ideal world D.A.M. would have had more time to work on these tunes, yet songs such as ‘Death Warmed Up’ swagger with just the right amount of menace. Thrash was never meant to be gentrified or pretty and Human Wreckage has plenty of dirt under the fingernails yet, paradoxically, it also sounds punchy and pugnacious. Perhaps due to the low budget and do-it-yourself ethos, UK thrash often sounded thin and reedy when transferred to vinyl, which often gave thrash from other parts of the world an edge. However, thanks to Johns’ production, tracks like ‘Left To Rot’ are muscular and swing with wrecking ball force with the song’s inherent groove being excavated and brought to the fore. It all conspires to create an aura of a band who are in for the kill; you won’t find any goofy cover versions here, but there’s plenty of bloodthirsty cuts such as ‘Terror Squad’ and the multi-segued ‘Infernal Torment’. There’s blitzkrieg moments too, such as ‘Vendetta’ which manages to include an acoustic intro, a chorus and a verse…and all in under 50 seconds! Human Wreckage was a debut that evidenced a lot of promise, and it came to fruition two years later with their blistering follow up.

The years between D.A.M.’s debut and solo albums had been well spent (including a couple of gruelling tours) and Inside Out represents a major step up in class. There’s been an improvement in every department; the songs are tighter, the rhythm section more dynamic, the riffs razor sharp and the vocals are far more expressive. In fact, Jason McLoughlin’s voice resembles that of Overkill’s Bobby Blitz, covering a similar range and hitting the same notes. With Harris Johns once again at the helm, it is as if the band’s elevation has made him up his game as well and the production, in turn, is far more inventive. Subsequently, ‘House Of Cards’ crashes down and tumbles from the speakers with force, whilst ‘Appointment With Fear’ becomes truly terrifying. Overall, Inside Out is a far more confident album and finds D.A.M. playing to their strengths, weeding out the weak and the resulting long player put the band is the same bracket as Exodus, Testament and the aforementioned Overkill. However, one thing that didn’t change was the band’s sense of urgency and opening track ‘Man Of Violence’ appears like a bullet from a chamber and connects as such. From here on, the band take the listener on a white knuckle ride, the technical bent the band have introduced ensures that there’s plenty of twists and turns as D.A.M. kick through the gears, ensuring that things never come staid.

When Inside Out was released in 1991, Metallica’s Black Album and the alt-rock revolution meant that the times weren’t really conducive for the thrash attack that D.A.M. dealt. With the metal media’s attention elsewhere, Inside Out never got the attention it deserved and the band folded shortly thereafter. However, thanks to Cherry Red Records, Inside The Wreckage offers a glimpse of how the future could have sounded had a tyranny like grunge not intervened.

• Inside The Wreckage is released via Cherry Red Records/Dissonance Productions on 30th January 2026.

Track List:

Disc One: Human Wreckage

1. M.A.D.
2. Death Warmed Up
3. Killing Time
4. Left To Rot
5. Prophets Of Doom
6. Terror Squad
7. Total Destruction
8. Infernal Torment
9. Vendetta
10. Human Wreckage
11. Aliens *
12. F.O.D. *

* Bonus Tracks

Disc Two: Inside Out

1. Man Of Violence
2. House Of Cards
3. Appointment With Fear
4. Thought For The Day
5. Winter’s Tear
6. The Innocent One
7. My Twisted Mind
8. Circles
9. No Escape
10. Beneath Closed Eyes
11. Inside Outro