Band:	Lunatics Without Skateboards Inc.
Album:	Welcome To The Asylum
Style:	Thrash metal
Release date:	August 1989
A review by:	Marcel Hubregtse

01. Crystal Lake
02. L.W.S. Inc.
03. Die A Violent Death
04. 1428 Elmstreet
05. Count Your Blessings
06. Mental Weakness
07. Go Song
08. A Prayer For The Dying
09. Pieces Of Human Waste
10. Curse Of The Creeps
11. Chop Til Death
12. L.W.S. [bonus]
13. Chop Til Death [bonus]
14. Dead Or Alive [bonus]
15. Mental Weakness [bonus]
16. Condemned Property [bonus]

The Dutch Metal Cult Series is a commendable initiative by Dutch label Rusty Cage Records. Rusty Cage have taken it upon them to re-release classic Dutch metal from the Eighties and adding bonus tracks to the original releases and re-mastering the material. I, for one, could do with re-releases of such little gems as Jewel's La Morta and Defender's City Ad Mortis and the underrated Lunatics Without Skateboards Inc.'s Welcome To The Asylum amongst others. Well, luckily those three are among the first five releases, the other two being Mysto Dysto, and Hammerhawk. All five can be ordered together for 45 euro and separately for 10 euro each.


Lunatics Without Skateboards Inc. - Welcome To The Asylum
When people talked about thrash in the eighties they only talked about countries such as the US and Germany and somehow failed to pick up very good bands such as Artillery from Denmark and Lunatics Without Skateboards Inc. from the Netherlands.
After releasing the well-received Death And Die demo in 1988 Lunatics Without Skateboards Inc. got signed by German cult label Aaarrgg and released the overlooked (even in the Netherlands) Welcome To The Asylum (produced by Mekong Delta's Ralph Hubert) only to release their sophomore outing (Reality) all the way in 1996 (produced by Alex Perialis) never to be heard of again until Rusty Cage Records decided to re-release Welcome To The Asylum as part of their Dutch Metal Cult Series.
Anybody into old-school eighties US thrash should definitely pick up Welcome To The Asylum which is now re-mastered and re-released with the Death And Demo added as bonus. LWS inc. plays Bay Area influenced thrash. It is tightly played and well-executed, the clear production sees to it that all the instruments can be defined clearly, but unfortunately the production also takes away a bit of the bite which was present on the demo. Weakest point on this album are the vocals, quite often the weak point of Dutch bands in the eighties and also nowadays. There is nothing wrong with the power and the voice itself but just that at times you hear the vocalist is Dutch when it comes to pronunciation and especially intonation. But, if you don't mind that in a band then there are absolutely no obstacles present preventing you from enjoying a nice slab of good old-fashioned Bay Area inspired thrash metal.
Some people might find the band name stupid but I find it hilarious considering that back then it was all in vogue for thrash bands to pose for band pictures with skateboards (remember Anthrax?) or to fall off them and break hands (not a smart thing to do, James Hetfield).