Shah

Shah was one of the better Russian bands of the 80's, a time when few Russian bands got much publicity. Unlike many of their compatriots, Shah opted to sing entirely in English, a clear move toward Western acceptance. They formed in 1985 and recorded a demo, Escape From Mind, in 1987, but the departure of bassist Mikhail Zhemchuzhny for a career in the prestigious Gypsy Theatre put the band on hold. Eventually a new lineup stabilized and they signed to the Atom H label for 1989's Beware, arguably their best-known album. Zhemchuzhny's replacement, Anatoly Krupnov (leader of another Russian band, Black Obelisk), also departed, and again the band essentially folded. Leader Antonio Garcia resurrected their earlier recordings and, with some new songs added, got them released as Terror Collection in 1991. By 1993 a new lineup was back in action and two albums were released, Escape From Mind (similar artwork but a different tracklist than the demo) and P.S.I.H.O. in 1994, released, but they folded for good shortly thereafter, with Garcia forming a short-lived solo project called Descent a few years later. The style of Shah was squarely in the thrash arena, decidedly European (perhaps German) in sound, choppy, frenetic, quite well-played, particularly the two official studio releases (Terror Collection, featuring the early material, is quite a bit less developed). Though their style is slightly dated compared with the metal of today, Shah was a fine thrash band in its day, and Beware and P.S.I.H.O. are worth tracking down.

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Discography

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