DETENTE - "Recognize No Authority"

Artist:  Détente
Album:  Recognize No Authority
Year:  1986
Genre:  Thrash Metal

From 1986-1988, Metal Blade Records had, in my uneducated opinion, a “quantity over quality” policy with their releases and inflicted the world with multiple, utterly forgettable, and at times just flat out bad, albums by Sound Barrier, Bloodlust, Sentinel Beast, Exxplorer, Krank, Juggernaut, Predator, Jesters Of Destiny, Dead End, Tattoo, Pandemonium and many others.  Yet, those slew of subpar releases, do not take away from their visionary expertise that gained the label the likes of Candlemass, Slayer, Voivod, D.R.I., Fates Warning and so many more future icons.  Although that type of effort and fortitude, by what was then a truly independent label, should be applauded, it just created rubble for other bands to get buried beneath.

Détente were a short-lived band from California and were majorly overlooked when the floodgates of thrash metal burst open.  Was this due to Metal Blade’s overzealous ambition to release anything they could get their hands on during that period?  It’s possible.  Is it because the record wasn’t strong enough to stand out amongst the class of ’86?  That’s possible too.  When you travel back and look what was released that year, there is insurmountable competition: Master of Puppets, Reign In Blood, Peace Sells But Who’s Buying, Pleasure To Kill, The Dark, Darkness Descends,Game Over, Eternal Devastation.  I mean, jeez, how do you stand out from that crowd?  Well, Détente didn’t and their tenure ended rather quickly.  What the world was left with was one beastly underground gem called, Recognize No Authority.

As stated, Recognize No Authority doesn’t rise above the records that now have garnered “classic” status from fans and critics alike.  Yet, that is no reason to dismiss this lesson in sonic violence.  So, what keeps me listening to it almost 30 years after its release?  Well, this particular record has a tough-to-describe intangible that lies within the vision and intent of the band members themselves that surpasses their actual musical ability.  Détente had a slash and burn quality to their music reminiscent of the fury Slayer unleashed on Hell Awaits.  Not in sound, but in approach and attitude.  Their songs had no frills and very little concentration was put toward dynamics.  That vision and intent was to bash on your senses every moment the needle is in the groove, with riffs that cut right to the chase.  There are no exuberant musical passages and none of the members feel the need to showcase their individual talents.  You can tell the band poured themselves into their performances replacing flash and grace with sweat and heart.  The late Dawn Crosby turned in a vocal performance that rivaled her peers.  Her variation of style and tone, and the knowledge of “what’s right for a part,” is formidable.  For my money, no one to this day has knocked the queen off her throne as the premiere female vocalist in metal.  The addition of her socially conscious lyrics only strengthens the performance.  (Random thought: I highly recommend listening to the first Fear Of God record Within The Veil.  Dawn is incredible on that album also.)  Although “Recognize No Authority” may never be included among the elite records of that era, it is an impressive, straight forward, no nonsense thrash album whose genius lied in its simplicity and brute force.  For the thrashing, frenzied hordes, it’s just what the devil ordered.

Listen to "It's Your Fate" here.