Militia was a Bay Area thrash band that never made it past the demo stage—recording a mere five tracks from 1987 - 1990. One of many promising bands that probably got off the ground just a little too late, they hammered out all of their material smack in the middle of my personal favorite era of thrash.
This particular song comes closer than anything else I've encountered to matching the sheer perfection of Twisted Into Form, the sophomore full-length from Militia's neighbors in Forbidden, and my all-time favorite thrash album. At its best, "Suspended Animation" almost sounds like it could've been on said masterpiece: its completely badass, meaty rhythms; subtle technicality and melodic interplay between the guitars; the arrangements and vocal patterns; the succinct, well-crafted solo that fits the song and has some feeling to it; etc. One can only wonder what they might have been able to accomplish had they scored the chance to record a full-length album.
Both of Militia's demos were re-released on CD by Stormspell Records a few years ago, but it appears the disc might already be out of print, so your best bet for now is to grab the tunes digitally via iTunes and the like.
