u/Captain_Corum

After getting Panosian's Savage Red Sonja mini-series a few years ago, I never would have bought Fire & Ice: Darkwolf if I realized he wrote it for exactly this reason. That series had issues with so few words, so many pages with zero or one or two words, I literally took to tallying them up in frustration.

When I realized I accidentally bought another comic "written" by this guy, my heart sank. When I read the comic, even expecting it now, this frustrated me to no end.

If you don't mind that modern comics tend to tell very little story over the course of a single issue and have a fraction of the words that most comics have had throughout the history of comic books, then go ahead and buy this if you want. But if you're like me and you go out of your way to buy comics that tell stories with words as much as pictures, stay far, far away from this.

Out of a total 20 pages, 5 whole pages have ZERO words.

6 more pages contain only one or two captions and/or speech bubbles (max of 2 combined, not max of 4). Of those, most contained about 4 words each. One page contained only the word "up." Another, only the word "heh."

Only 9 out of 20 pages contained more than a token sentence or two.

Dan Panosian, Dynamite, and even the Frazetta estate should be ashamed of and embarrassed by this. I feel like they stole $5 out of my pocket.

I posted here last year asking for progressive thrash recommendations, trying to make a comprehensive list of every progressive thrash band. It's taken me awhile, but I've finally listened to them all. Here's the link to that original post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/thrashmetal/comments/1oo9wdn/comprehensive_progressive_thrash_list/

A few of these weren't very proggy or were much more death/black than thrash so I didn't include them on my list, but most were prog thrash, and there was some really mind-blowing stuff I'd never heard before. I also found an existing YouTube playlist of tech/prog thrash and listened to the whole thing and picked up the ones that qualified as prog. Then I went to New Wave Of Old School Thrash Metal's progressive thrash playlist and did likewise.

Still, if there is anyone who knows any prog thrash bands that were not listed in any of these sources, please let me know so I can check them out!

Here's the list I made so far:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4sv_daSKa5nWMy59u9xx864sxW-smsGq&si=yBqzoLvY8N83Tf_q

Eventually, this will hopefully be a full, comprehensive list of every progressive thrash release. Right now, it contains at least one release from every progressive thrash band I could find and I am in the process of listening to all their discographies to see how many of their albums are progressive thrash. I am not automatically including bands' whole discographies just because they had one progressive thrash album.

I am defining progressive thrash metal as distinct from technical thrash metal. To my mind, technical thrash metal has more complicated riffs that are more challenging to write and play compared to typical thrash, but still the vast majority of the music is in common time signatures and squarely within the musical boundaries of thrash metal (examples are Dark Angel and Artillery, who are obviously phenomenal legends, but not very progressive despite being very technical). What I am looking for in identifying an album as progressive thrash metal is music that is rooted in traditional thrash metal but also makes extensive use of complex time signatures and/or instruments beyond the typical guitar/bass/drums combo and/or passages of music of varying other genres and/or generally unpredictable unorthodox weirdness.

Finally, here's a document I'm keeping for myself to keep track of what I have listened to that didn't make the cut. Unfortunately, I just started this recently while doing the discography deep-dives, I didn't do it for my first couple rounds of listening to stuff, so a lot of the bands I was recommended that I didn't put on the list are not mentioned here. But it's at least a good list of albums that are not prog thrash by bands that have at least one prog thrash album on the list so it can still save some people (including myself) some time looking for stuff to listen to.

Albums I sampled and identified as NOT progressive thrash metal:

Adem – “Time of Madness”

Adem – “Fight Without Rules”

Anachronic – “Slunecni Pribeh”

Blind Illusion – “Demon Master”

Blind Illusion – “Wrath of the Gods”

Braindamage – “Turning Point”

Braindamage – “Collapse”

Depressive Age – “Symbols for the Blue Times”

Depressive Age – “Electric Scum

Lost Century – “Poetic Atmosphere of Seasons”

Maple Cross – “Next Chapter”

Maple Cross – “Heimo”

Obliveon – “Cybervoid”

Obliveon – “Carnivore Mothermouth”

Paralysis – “Architecture of the Imagination

Vision Purple – “Staring at the Sun”

Albums I looked for and couldn’t find:

Nirnaeth – “The Extinction Generation”

Nirnaeth – “Anthropocene”

Nirnaeth – “Il paradiso non e altrove”

Bands considered technical thrash metal but NOT progressive thrash metal:

Artillery

Cyclone Temple

Dark Angel

So thanks to everyone who helped last time, and I'm certainly still open to contributions from everyone!

The work continues.

I recently read the comic book adaptation of Conan the Avenger in Marvel's King Conan by Roy Thomas issues 5 - 8 and was a bit a disappointed to find out that what has always been my favorite Frazetta Conan painting is of the pastiche where Conan's about to die and is saved by Crom (in direct violation of how REH portrayed Crom) and the specific scene is what takes place after Crom saves Conan.

Anyway, this got me thinking, I still don't know exactly what scenes some of the Frazetta Conan paintings depict.

What I am pretty sure of is:

#1 Conan the Avenger

#2 Rogues in the House

#3 Scarlet Citadel

#4 Frost Giant's Daughter

I think #6 is the cover for Hour of the Dragon which starts with armies fighting, so I guess it could be as basic as that?

Other than that, I really have no idea. And my experience reading Conan doesn't come from those old paperbacks so I don't know which stories got which covers.

So does anyone else have any ideas??

Rogues in the House is one of my least favorite REH Conan yarns but the battle with Thak is my second favorite Frazetta Conan painting, so I am not doing too well with my favorite paintings corresponding with my favorite stories so far and am hoping to discover something to get psyched about haha.

Also, I had a surprisingly difficult time searching for a comprehensive list of these to make sure I didn't miss any, so are these all of them?

It's me again, the guy formerly known as Thrash Metal Maniac on various message boards and websites circa 2001 - 2006. This might be the last month I issue one of these REPORT CARDS for now because I recently discovered that I can only see my comments on NWOOSTM's channel when I'm signed in to YouTube. Since no one else can see them, that means anyone who reads these REPORT CARDS can no longer easily verify my work by clicking their videos and seeing my specific comments on every release, including why I didn't count some as old school thrash. Listing every release for a month and copying all my comments into a post would be a lot more time-consuming than making these REPORT CARDS has been so far since they post releases almost every day. I don't want to issue REPORT CARDS loaded with unsubstantiated claims.

Although, I must admit to being somewhat surprised that the reaction here, when it hasn't been personal insults aimed at me just for writing these, has been mostly people defending a channel with this name posting barely more than half actual old school thrash. I don't think anyone has tried to argue that all these releases that I pointed out don't fit that description are somehow old school thrash after all.

I do find it a bit humorous that NWOOSTM changed their settings so that only I can see my comments on their videos. I never hurled insults at anyone, I simply analyzed music and gave an opinion about it. I can understand taking that kind of action if someone is being verbally abusive, but it seems an extreme response to someone simply pointing out when music is not old school thrash. This time, I posted my comments below so you can judge for yourself how offensive they were.

It's probably also worth noting that almost every month I posted these, at least one person said that they did not know about this channel and thanked me for making them aware of it. So by blocking my commentary and making it harder for me to do these, they are losing some free advertising, but I guess I offended them by pointing out the non-thrash albums so it is what it is.

Now for what you've all been waiting for with bated breath, the REPORT CARD Grade!

Out of 30 releases posted by the so-called New Wave Of Old School Thrash Metal channel on YouTube last month, only 22 were actually old school thrash metal. Still, I continue to follow the channel because it's less time-consuming than individually tracking down every current old school thrash band out there one at a time.

Also counted against them in this score are old school thrash releases posted by NWOTHM Full Albums on YouTube that they did not post, since I know NWOOSTM follows them, which makes these deliberate choices to deny these bands more exposure and refuse to recognize them as thrash metal.

For a more detailed breakdown of how I calculate my REPORT CARD Grade for NWOOSTM, check out my first two. I have removed that info from this post because when I included it, more people seemed interested in talking about the length of my post than, you know, thrash metal. But if your attention span can tolerate a few paragraphs, here you go:

https://www.reddit.com/r/thrashmetal/comments/1ri7np8/selfproclaimed_new_wave_of_old_school_thrash/

https://www.reddit.com/r/thrashmetal/comments/1qtdmki/selfproclaimed_new_wave_of_old_school_thrash/

Previous NWOOSTM REPORT CARD Grades:

January 2026 - Grade "D" for a 63% score (I didn't count stuff posted only by NWOTHM against them the first month, so this really should have been lower)

February 2026 - Grade "D" for a 62% score

March 2026 - Grade "D" for a 60% score

April 2026 - Grade "F" for a 51% score

May 2026 - Grade "F" for a 49% score

For an injection of optimism, my picks for the BEST real old school thrash albums they posted in June:

"Make Me Evil" by Space Parasites https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjvWf--QPdk

"Thrash this authentically mid-80s with the doses of classic metal appropriate to that era of thrash very rarely gets posted on this channel, so this is a pleasant surprise! Songwriting is not terribly original but the vocalist does some unique stuff and does it well. Musicianship is super tight. Very cool album!"

"Beczkomiot" by Keg Thrower https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTKIeI_BMzQ

"Probably the best album on this channel so far this month. Highest compliments to the drummer, the riffs show varying degrees of originality but the beats switch it up consistently enough to keep it interesting regardless."

"No Longer Human" by Grief Messed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OFD3XooIWw

"Wow! Best single of the month so far for sure. Thoughtful, creative songwriting. Tight musicianship. Every instrument showed innovation. Heavy as fuck. Looking forward to more!"

"Questionable Existence" by Dead State https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDS-NdSqd5k

"Bass player is fucking KILLER, and I love how equal everything is in the mix instead of the guitars and vocals overpowering everything. Nice!"

"Repulsion" by Dead Sleep https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yInMqVxkqM

"I freaking love how the vocals go back and forth between harsh and clean and shouting! Makes the music feel so much more authentically old school than the thrashy bands with 90s black/death vocals."

"The Great Leitmeritz Massacre" by Fatal Punishment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQCsD8VO18g

"Awesome variety of vocal styles, above average creativity in riffing and beats compared to other old school thrash bands, and nicely polished sound. Killer album!"

^Typo there, should have written "current" old school thrash bands.

And now for some primary examples of releases NWO"OS"TM put out that are obviously not old school thrash (this is not to insult any of these bands, just an observation regarding their genre):

"Iron Baphomet" by Necrobeast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oU6QqqDIJk

"First four tracks are so loaded with blast beats I didn't even bother continuing to skim the other half of the album. You'd have to have no idea what 'old school thrash' actually means to think music with this many blast beats could be old school thrash. It's not thrash metal at all. No insult to the band, just a comment on genre."

"Sorcerer" by Stregoneria https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E_zkbvUXO4

"When two of three songs on a release rely this much on blast beats, it cannot be 'old school' thrash if it is even thrash at all."

"Decrepito" by Decrepito https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyxDOWEWVmM

"Obviously much more 90s black metal than 80s thrash metal. Sure, there are a few thrashy parts, but all 90s black metal has its thrashy parts."

"Invoking Terror" by Cutthroat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlUvqFKn1DI

"Three out of five tracks rely heavily on blast beats and there are riffs with pinch harmonics all over the place, so this is definitely not 'old school' thrash and probably not thrash metal at all. No insult to the band, just a note on NWOOSTM's failure to identify and deliver what their name advertises."

"Cronicas de Agonia" by Gatillo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzPSGxCRfvE

"Not counting the short acoustic intro, half the tracks rely on blast beats to some extent, so whether or not this is thrash, it's definitely not old school thrash. Sound is not great, but interesting and original compositions make up for it!"

"Phenomenon" by Day 40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBs9BB1TLxY

"This has way more in common with At The Gates and other 90s melodic death metal than any 80s thrash. Granted, 90s melodic death metal is kinda thrashy, but it is definitely not old school thrash."

"Cannot Be Controlled" by Ill Omen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdwvD4PnDkY

"Pretty thrashy at times, but between the groove metal spots, the borderline cookie monster vocals, and the blast beats, this is modern thrash if anything, definitely not old school thrash."

"Nonsense" by Irony Criticism And Jokes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2IG_xyJR-k

"Between the screechy metalcore vocals and half the tracks having metalcore breakdowns, even if you still want to call this thrash, which is debatable, it's definitely not old school thrash."

And the releases posted by NWOTHM Full Albums that sound unquestionably much, much closer to the actual 80s thrash bands than the high percentage of posts by NWOOSTM that did not qualify:

"Reaper of Souls" by WrathForge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRwJtKaVYzo

"Destroy/Rebuild" by Sledgehammer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISjyhPB2VPc

"Bestial Conjuration" by Sentinels https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJKSL3JIJuk

"Rebels" by Steelballs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFw1WyT9Fp0

"Cosmic Chaos" by Starlight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AccsSrxJjWw

"Seduktor" by Seduktor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evPVHRI1SiE

"Eyes of Fire" by Visions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6tFSLI0a6o

"Eternal Dagger" by Iron Kobra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCqE7KxOqRc

This wouldn't be so galling if they didn't specifically put "Old School" in their name, which to me is merely a ploy and an attempt at authentic-sounding branding that ultimately is revealed to be a false advertisement. It's click-bait for people that actually want to hear old school thrash from a channel that obviously has no interest in delivering only old school thrash.

If your thrash sounds TOO much like it actually could have come out in the 80s, you're much less likely to be boosted by them. Bands that are TOO old school, TOO authentically 80s-sounding, are penalized. Whereas, if you sound distinctly modern, loading up your songs with blast beats, low-register death metal vocals, whiny emo vocals, metalcore breakdowns, groove metal spots, and other uniquely modern characteristics, that's no problem for NWOOSTM, you get their seal of approval, mislabeled as old school thrash, and your music shared by them to be heard by a wider audience that is looking specifically for old school thrash.

I have a dream, a dream of a YouTube channel that posts ALL the current old school thrash, and ONLY current old school thrash. (The idea is that would reduce the effort necessary to keep up with current old school thrash. So don't tell me to start it myself, that would just be more effort. Thank you in advance for your thoughtful and considerate replies.)

Writing this was cathartic for me, but I am willing to award myself bonus points if anyone else actually gets anything out of it.

It's me again, the guy formerly known as Thrash Metal Maniac on various message boards and websites circa 2001 - 2006. Out of 33 releases posted by the so-called New Wave Of Old School Thrash Metal channel on YouTube last month, only 20 were actually old school thrash metal. Still, I continue to follow the channel because it's less time-consuming than individually tracking down every current old school thrash band out there one at a time.

Also counted against them in this score are old school thrash releases posted by NWOTHM Full Albums on YouTube that they did not post, since I know NWOOSTM follows them, which makes these deliberate choices to deny these bands more exposure.

For a more detailed breakdown of how I calculate my REPORT CARD Grade for NWOOSTM, check out my first two. I have removed that info from this post because last month more people seemed interested in talking about the length of my post than, you know, thrash metal. But if your attention span can tolerate a few paragraphs, here you go:

https://www.reddit.com/r/thrashmetal/comments/1ri7np8/selfproclaimed_new_wave_of_old_school_thrash/

https://www.reddit.com/r/thrashmetal/comments/1qtdmki/selfproclaimed_new_wave_of_old_school_thrash/

NOTE TO PARENTS: It so happens that this month, if I only counted what your child posted, they would have been at exactly 60% and earned a D, barely above a failing grade, but my more wholistic grading methods brought them down to an F again. But I think this month's releases by Sabotor, Cobra Force, and Louder posted by NWOTHM and knowingly denied exposure by NWOOSTM for being TOO old school while they posted a bunch of 90s black/death metal instead, all perfectly demonstrate why it is worth using this as a contributing factor towards your child's grade.

Previous NWOOSTM REPORT CARD Grades:

January 2026 - Grade "D" for a 63% score (I didn't count stuff posted only by NWOTHM against them the first month, so this really should have been lower)

February 2026 - Grade "D" for a 62% score

March 2026 - Grade "D" for a 60% score

April 2026 - Grade "F" for a 51% score

I won't list every single album here, but anyone so inclined could go to their channel and look at any video from May and see from the comments sections whether a particular release is actually old school thrash. And let me tell you, I am not always the only one commenting that the music is not old school thrash!

For an injection of optimism, my picks for the BEST real old school thrash albums they posted out in April:

"Beyond Mortal Control" by Howler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3rBZmCjN5o

"Spring" by Scorched Earth (especially for my fellow progressive thrash fans!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSLTMGH0EI8

"Thrash O Muerte" by Asfixia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ISvFEm2g1c

"Dwellers of the Twilight Void" by Desolus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUk6b0iKZGo

"Somos lo que Somos" by Al Weso https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLJ4lblDeJ8

"Killicon Valley" by Hellevate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD9IB9k3oqQ

And now for some primary examples of releases NWO"OS"TM put out that are obviously not old school thrash (this is not to insult any of these bands, just an observation regarding their genre):

"The Black Scourge" by Deadnight" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE-9eg3iOLE

"Shallow Endings" by Sceletons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIyMCVTcORU

"Anti-Exorcist" by Grufflo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKEQomOhruI

"Veil of Ashes" by Morbid Death https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wceJFXKaWr0

"We're All Gonna Fukking Die" by Shewolff (literally zero tremolo picked riffs) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKAWF2jaY94

"System Disruption" by Bloodkill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6ptxuhqRX4

"Void Dominion" by Paganist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKiovuF-9dQ

And the releases posted by NWOTHM Full Albums that sound unquestionably much, much closer to the actual 80s thrash bands than the high percentage of posts by NWOOSTM that did not qualify:

"Forste Aksjon" by Sabotor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr3-m-auWc8

"Cobra Force" by Cobra Force https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vnrB30XzPA

"Devil's Night" by Louder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly9l5EktE9w

"Under the Dark Skies I Raise My Metal" by From the Blackness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzK2JDQb_Qo

"Black Phantasm" by Black Phantasm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9Hu02KCfSo

"Speed Metal Knights (Live)" by Living Fast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpSUiL8cRyY

"Majestic" by Profaned https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9030AXzgLgo

"Beast" by Powerrage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at8fksu8EW8

This wouldn't be so galling if they didn't specifically put "Old School" in their name, which to me is merely a ploy and an attempt at authentic-sounding branding that ultimately is revealed to be a false advertisement. It's click-bait for people that actually want to hear old school thrash from a channel that obviously has no interest in delivering only old school thrash.

If your thrash sounds TOO much like it actually could have come out in the 80s, you're much less likely to be boosted by them. Bands that are TOO old school, TOO authentically 80s-sounding, are penalized. Whereas, if you sound distinctly modern, loading up your songs with blast beats, low-register death metal vocals, whiny emo vocals, metalcore breakdowns, groove metal spots, and other uniquely modern characteristics, that's no problem for NWOOSTM, you get their seal of approval, mislabeled as old school thrash, and your music shared by them to be heard by a wider audience.

I have a dream, a dream of a YouTube channel that posts ALL the current old school thrash, and ONLY current old school thrash. (The idea is that would reduce the effort necessary to keep up with current old school thrash. So don't tell me to start it myself, that would just be more effort. Thank you in advance for your thoughtful and considerate replies.)

Writing this was cathartic for me, but I am willing to award myself bonus points if anyone else actually gets anything out of it.

u/Stallion2671 on the left and me on the right (typically oblivious to invading others' personal space and the rampant egotism of reflexively flexing)

This was at a small comic book convention near me in Pike Creek, Delaware yesterday. I was asking all the vendors if they had any black-and-white Savage Sword of Conan magazines and when I crossed paths with this mysterious stranger he gave me a friendly warning that we'd be on the hunt for the same stuff. Then when we met again at something of a relative Savage Sword mother lode and talked some more and he referenced Howard Andrew Jones' Hanuvar series, it wasn't long before we realized we both frequent this Reddit and had spoken here before! I suggested we take this picture and the guy selling the Savage Swords took it. We caught up again as the con wound down and I don't think he'll mind me saying that we gabbed mostly about sword-and-sorcery in the parking lot for quite awhile afterwards.

Anyway, I thought it was very cool to randomly run into someone I know from this Reddit group in person, and I thought other folks who hang around here would find it cool as well, so here we are.