Razor

F

ounded by Stace McLaren (vocals), Dave Carlo (guitar), Mike Campagnolo (bass) and Mike Embro (drums), Razor started as an early example of Canadian thrash with their self-financed debut demo, Escape the Fire turned EP, Armed And Dangerous, in 1984. A raw but strong assault at the dawn of the thrash age, the debut album secured them a spot on the domestic 'Attic' label subsidiary 'Viper' ('Roadrunner' internationally).

The summer of 1985 would see the follow-up Executioner's Song appear. But within a year the world would see them unleash their most notorious albums, Evil Invaders (1985) and Malicious Intent (1986). The albums still wanting in the production/sound quality but were nonetheless solid Metal albums for the day.

At this point Embro was given the toss in favor of Adam Carlo, along with Campagnolo on bass in favor of Rob Mills. Custom Killing (1987) showed that their personnel change and label shifting ('Roadrunner' internationally dropped them) made them wanting for practice, but Violent Restitution (1988) corrected that little inconvenience. Open Hostility (1991) followed but failed to make an impression. The shame of it all, however, was Shotgun Justice (1990), a red-hot molten slab of Metallic sound that ended off also failing to chart significantly leading the band to dissolve in 1992. The 2 CD "best of..." compilation Exhumed would be released posthumously in 1994.