English Dogs: The Thing With Two Heads

Punk-metal crossover firebrands get back in the pit

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Unsung heroes of the mid-80s punk/thrash crossover that, if we’re being brutally honest, threw up as many calamitous evolutionary stumbles as it

If the Brits were either too punk or too metal to unite the tribes 30 years ago, they were probably just ahead of their time, as The Thing With Two Heads never sounds anything less than timely and effective amid today’s mess of blurred genre subdivisions. Perhaps more pertinently, songs like Gorgonized and Planet Of The Living Dead are excitingly angry and a deeply rejuvenating boot up the chuff for a largely apathetic underground scene, replete with countless vocal refrains and an overall sense that this is as much a deafening wake-up call as it is an exercise in nostalgia for all involved. Predictably, guitarist Gizz Butt is a frequent star of the show, his nimble solos and unerring knack for jaw-jarring riffs driving the likes of the brilliantly titled Royal Flying Corpse along with breathless conviction. Play loud, smash the system, stay punk as fuck forever.

Via Candlelight

Dom Lawson
Writer

Dom Lawson has been writing for Metal Hammer and Prog for over 14 years and is extremely fond of heavy metal, progressive rock, coffee and snooker. He also contributes to The Guardian, Classic Rock, Bravewords and Blabbermouth and has previously written for Kerrang! magazine in the mid-2000s.