Verbal Assault ‘Trial’ (1988)

In 1988, I was in high school – and I was also at that point in my youth when all i listened to was metal.

Around that same time, I distinctly recall being the passenger in a friend’s car on a summer drive to nowhere – when we happened upon a hapless metalhead in a Misfits t-shirt trying to cross the road.

This friend of mine leaned out his window and yelled “MISFITS ARE PUNK!” as he drove past, leaving the metal guy in a cloud of dust; long hair blowing in the wind.

Those two schools of guitar-based rock music seemed so divisive at that time, and the overwhelming amount of finger pointing and scorning was from the hardcore/punk crowd. Metal kids just simply didn’t seem to care too much – and most metal bands were reverent fans of early punk and hardcore.

Verbal Assault was one of a handful of hardcore acts that managed to change my opinion of music that didn’t bother with spiny, evil looking logos or demons & corpses on album covers. They came across as humble, ordinary guys with a desire to rock out, and plenty of integrity.

And their positive lyrics were a nice counterpoint to my usual diet of Obituary, Morbid Angel, and Possessed.

Thankfully, even though their stuff is long out of print, they’ve been justly remembered via their myspace presence, and their own official site is a great resource.

Here’s what you need to hear:

Verbal Assault ‘Trial’ & ep