Vanishing Lessons

Much like other bands such as Metallica and Megadeth were doing, Tourniquet slows down on Vanishing Lessons, embracing a sleeker, simpler brand of heavy metal. Matching up with this new style was their new lead vocalist, Luke Easter. Easter isn't nearly as proficient as Guy Ritter was, but he holds his own and establishes his territory, which Ted Kirkpatrick encloses well. Songs like "Drowning Machine" embrace the simplicity perfectly, and the topics were still as varied as before, with drug addiction ("Acidhead") to being a stepfather ("My Promise"). Vanishing Lessons isn't as captivating as it's predecessors, however, and would lead to the controversial Crawl to China, but is a sufficient record which shows how Kirkpatrick accurately sensed the shift in the thrash scene and adapted.