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During the ‘80s Los Angeles blessed us with …uh…glam. But does anyone remember who came out of Arizona – that little dust bowl to the east? Not too hard to spout out Flotsam and Jetsam. What about Sacred Reich?

Being released this month is the 2CD/DVD remastered/reissue of Ignorance (Disc 1) and Surf Nicaragua (Disc 2) and a DVD that contains a very insightful interview as well as a blistering performance from the band at the Dynamo Open Air festival from 1989. The DVD also contains a look back at the band on the ’91 tour with Sepultura. Scary thought is that some of the people in line for that show could possibly have bred by now.

Disc one contains the tracks as found on the original release of Ignorance (Death Squad, Victim of Demise, Violent Solutions, etc.), as well as a cover of Rapid Fire (complete with Rob Halford on vocals), a cover of The Big Picture (MDC) and finally the Black Sabbath cover Sweat Leaf.

Disc two contains the tracks as found on the original release of Surf Nicaragua, plus the added bonus tracks of Draining You of Life, No Believers, R.I.P. and Sacred Reich – all demos. Ignorance from Metal Massacre VIII and Sacred Reich from the Metal Massacre sessions are also included. Together these two discs provide a lethal punch for the beginning core of Sacred Reich’s foothold in the mid-80s thrash movement. The band easily rivaled anything coming out of the Bay area during the same time.

Extremely interesting is the realization that the messages the band were trying to get across ‘back in the day’ are even more relevant now. Whether they said it 20 years ago, or they said it yesterday – it still has meaning. The meaning of the socially-conscious and political lyrics probably fell on deaf ears when they first came out, but listening today you can easily apply them to the problems facing us now.

And let’s not forget the DVD. Crushing old school. Blistering volume. Shear enjoyment. What else could you ask for from a Sacred Reich show? The band hits the stage with a vengeance on the opening song Surf Nicaragua and the Dynamo pit just swarms. The kids on the stage are having as much fun as the kids in the crowd. The band blazes through One Nation, Violent Solutions, a cover of War Pigs and the crowd doesn’t slow one bit.

After the short eight song set, the band leaves the stage and the crowd loses it – SA-CRED REICH! SA-CRED REICH! The chant is deafening. The band comes back out on stage and Phil asks the crowd what they want to hear next. In one enormously loud voice, every vocal chord at Dynamo screams "DEATH SQUAD". The band is only happy to deliver the thrash classic. A pit that would make Metallica envious encompasses the grounds of the outdoor venue, and the bodies fly as far as the eye can see.

There simply is no school like the old school.

But it’s not over yet kids. Local Arizona promoter Tad from Monsoon Radio has put two shows together – July 20th at the Rock in Tucson and July 21st at the Venue of Scottsdale in Scottsdale. The Scottsdale show is easily the showcase of the two nights as it boasts two of Arizona’s heaviest, Triplever and Howitzer, opening the show but the show will also bring you The Human Condition, Wiley Arnett’s current band. Monsoon Radio did a kick ass job getting this gig booked.

If you don’t have tickets yet, you better hurry. They are going fast and rumor has it that’s all we are going to hear from Sacred Reich, it’s their grand finale.

NOTE (straight from the band):

The Ignorance/Surf reissue is only available via import in the U.S. This gives you three options.

1. See if you can order it through your local record shop.
2. E-bay. Search "Sacred Reich re-issue". They are available for $20 plus shipping. Metal Blade has a store on e-bay under "international sellers".
3. Amazon.com had them available for pre-order, but they were charging $54! Yikes! We would strongly discourage anyone from paying that price unless you obviously make WAY too much money.

The DVD will be able to be viewed on your computer. It will not play in U.S. sold DVD players. (The U.S. standard is NTSC vs. PAL in Europe, which is where the reissue was released).

Order yours now at the KNAC.COM More Store. Click here.