The Sacramento group, Tales Of Terror, formed sometime in 1982 and, like Flipper and Fang, didn't play fast, but made a racket seasoned by punk and hardcore. ToT were, knowingly, actually a high-energy hard rock band and could kinda play. Sadly, their terror came to an abrupt end January 5th, 1986 when guitarist Lyon Wong (Luther Storms) was killed in a street fight. He was DOA after local redneck punched him and he fell hitting his head on a curb; the kid that threw the punch only served six months as he was a minor.

Their LP, Tales Of Terror, has aged brilliantly and still holds up. Maybe too well, 'cause every time I hear it I wonder why contemporary HEAVY bands can't get such good guitar tone?