POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Sacred Reich Better Than Fans Allow

Many of history’s greatest artists, from Mozart right down to Kurt Cobain, have begun their musical careers by basically imitating the artists that have come before, by grafting their new ideas onto a well-established form. Admittedly, the groaning, three-minute thrash-metal song codified on the first Metallica album isn’t precisely equivalent to the early sonata form that Haydn made famous, but, for the ‘90s, it will have to do.

At the Palace on Friday, the Arizona speed-metal band Sacred Reich played not one but two Fear songs, did a note-perfect version of an early Black Sabbath tune and showed every indication of having listened to that first Metallica album a thousand times too many. Although the band has been around seemingly forever, its cookie-cutter thrash songs have a mom’s-garage appeal.

There’s a certain crispness, a control, white space between the notes. Sometimes the band leavened the thrash with Zep fills or Cream licks, although the couple of ever-so-slightly blues-inflected songs caused the sparse but unusually energetic slam pit to grind to a dead halt. One suspects that Sacred Reich might be a much better band than its fans will ever let it become.