Little Brian - Thrash Funk. 2007 USA

Thrash Funk is one of the most interesting albums in my collection. If you read what's on the tin, the album promises to combine two great genres: Thrash metal and jazz funk. However, other than perhaps the title track (maybe), it doesn't really contain thrash metal. But there's definitely heavy metal parts - as added to a jazz rock album. Funk nor jazz in metal is hardly a new concept, but what separates Little Brian from the others is that the jazz is really more what was known in the late 60s and early 70s as horn rock. Now that I've not heard mixed with metal before. And it's all instrumental, making it just that much more unique. I really appreciate the tight horn charts juxtaposed against the heavy riffing of the guitars.

The album starts off with a head fake on 'Slow Greasy', which is a self defining title - that of a grimy blues jazz. Then 'T-1000' blasts from the speakers and offers up the album's highlight, sounding like a fine mix of early Chicago and a speedy Iron Maiden. From here on, Thrash Funk continues in this manner. It's a relative short album (around 33 minutes), spread across 11 tracks, which is the perfect length for music such as this. The album's closer 'Party' continues on (after what I consider the end of the album) into silence and then breaks into a lengthy experimental bit. Not sure why they appended this on as it has nothing to do with the album proper, and it's not particularly well done (annoying in fact). But you can stop the CD prior to it.

Little Brian were trailblazing a new path, and I for one would like to see other bands in pursuit of similar. It takes a lot of work to write in horn charts within the context of complex metal compositions. Unfortunately it appears this album was to be a one off. A very obscure one at that. See below.

Personal collection
CD: 2007 private

The CD comes in a digi-pak, and at one point was available from CD Baby, where I purchased mine. You can still get a download version, but the CD has gone extinct. But I'm not sure who bought it other than me. I added this album to Discogs over 2 years ago, and remain the only owner, with precisely zero people wanting it. On RYM, 2 of us own it (the other being a friend there) and has all of 3 ratings. Gnosis has 3 ratings as well including mine. A tragedy an album like this is so unknown.