Antiseen's debut is surprisingly the band's most accessible record, but that has more to do with a production that is not as sludgy as most of the band's other output; the guitars buzz like
Motörhead played at 78, the redneck-and-proud-of-it shtick hasn't quite emerged yet, and the basslines, such as on "Little Sister," are not just strumming along with the guitars. The band didn't have its identity yet, so you can hear the influences of classic rock such as
Alice Cooper and an infusion of the metal that was modern at the time (
Judas Priest,
Iron Maiden), even if Jeff Clayton's crew can't even come close to such levels of dexterity, and to their credit, knew this limitation and barely tried to.
Honour Among Thieves put
Antiseen on the map; it was a strong statement when it came out in 1988, and it rattles along nicely a decade-and-a-half later on its TKO reissue. ~ Brian O'Neill