Suicidal Tendencies
No Mercy Fool! / The Suicidal Family

October 2010
Released: 2010, Fontana Distribution / Suicidal Records
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Robert Williams

Re-activated crossover thrash vets Suicidal Tendencies are back with a collection of re-recorded early tracks on NO MERCY FOOL!/THE SUICIDAL FAMILY. On this collection Suicidal Tendencies in their current incarnation offer a fresh spin on tracks culled from their second full length album "Join the Army" as well as a number of cover songs from ST guitarist Mike Clark's speed metal band No Mercy, originally recorded and released in 1986.



Suicidal Tendencies have utilized slick modern production technique, beefing up the sound of these re-recorded back catalogue goodies. One notable difference, immediately recognizable on first listen would be the boosted bass frequencies on these tracks. Take "Suicidal Maniac" for example, when compared to the original this newer version is far boomier and bottom end heavy. Bassist Steve Bruner also incorporates the use of a lot of slap in his playing, differing from the playing style of bassist Louiche Mayorga who performed on the original studio version. It's nice to see that after all this time ST hasn't slouched in their urgent rapid fire delivery on such classic like "I Feel Your Pain...And I Survive" and "Born To Be Cyco".



The current "Keepin' it all in the family" approach Suicidal Tendencies has currently embraced, previously demonstrated on the recent Cyco Miko / Infectious Grooves split is further employed on the last seven tracks on NO MERCY FOOL!/THE SUICIDAL FAMILY where Suicidal Tendencies' current lineup dusts off seven No Mercy covers, staying pretty uniformly faithful to the originals.



All in all, this is a pretty cool collection of re-recorded classics. There's really not too many bands currently playing this brand of crossover thrash, so it only makes sense that the ones doing it right are those around for crossover's heyday. At the end of the day I'd still rather have a new ST studio album of original material.