I have mixed feelings about this compilation. Much of the material here (whether the old stuff or the re-recordings) isn't a bad listen per se, but it's largely too unfocused and generically primitive to make much of an impact--think noisier and less organized Mantas reh. stuff/far less catchy Slaughter demo stuff and you're in the ballpark. The demo stuff here came a little too late to be particularly impressive in terms of extremity for the time. Also, while I'm not in any way against silliness or sophomoric shock humor in metal, I found the band monikers and general atmosphere to be a bit too childish (keep in mind, this comes from someone who was okay with the Impaler-like costuming/makeup and green monster on the cover of the E-X-E debut but found the naming of the album sides "Icky" and "Pooey" distasteful. Go figure). Still, this doesn't feel as highbrow as say, old Impetigo or Hideous Mangleus.
The reason I'm not completely dismissive is that at certain points (much like pre-album Death, they're at their best when they slow down), this scratches a very specific embryonic extreme metal itch. Flashes of Hellhammer show up here and there (particularly "Maggot Phlegm") and "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead" even made me think of Poison(!).
While I'm a firm believer in REISSUING ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING for archival purposes if nothing else, I won't deny that Dead's music is probably more effective presented on a dubbed TDK than with the Repka-lite cover here (I can actually see it working for Massacre, though). An enthusiasm for early extreme metal and a sense of irreverent fun shine through on here, and hearing that in the music is often more enjoyable than the actual songs themselves.
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