Thrash metal – Page 56 – Wonderbox Metal

Craven Idol – Towards Eschaton (Review)

From the foetid corpse of Black Metal we have a surprisingly fresh release from this UK band, who also have a nice sideline in Thrash.

This is a strong album. In every sense of the word. A distinct sense of force and musculature pervades this Black Metal release. Fast, blasting, relentless. This release is all these things and more. This reminds me of the famous Abyss studio-era Black Metal onslaught, where bands such as Dark Funeral and Marduk unleashed their hells on the world. Craven Idol, spiritually, share common ground. And to be fair I’ve missed it!

Songs show good composition, instruments are played well and throats are screamed raw – exactly what you would want from this album. Thrash riffs and more traditional Heavy Metal influences are also incorporated into their sound, all of which help the album to gallop along at a highly enjoyable pace. Not only that though; these influences allow Craven Idol to side-step the problem of being too one-dimensional which has sometimes weakened many a furious Black Metal album.

This is Black Metal with its finger on the pulse just long enough to know when you’re dead.

Merciless Terror – Vile Extinction (Review)

Hailing from the UK – Merciless Terror play Thrash-heavy Death Metal and it’s a joy to listen to; they don’t make them like this very often any more!

This album has a real late 90’s/early 00’s feel to it that fills me with a sense of nostalgia; at the same time however this is a modern take on it as the sound and energy is distinctly 2013 and exists purely to demolish the listener with its brawny bludgeoning.

An old-school vibe with a modern production, (reminiscent of Malevolent Creation as a reference point), this absolutely crushes everything in its path. Plenty of speed and brutality, but with a matching grasp of dynamics and the need for songs and hooks; this harks back to an era when brutality was not the be all and end all of this genre.

With many stomping riffs to be had and a general feeling of strength-through-guitar-power everything seems in place to worship the riff, fast or slow. And why not?

Vocals are not standard cookie-monster style, more a shouted-bark. This works well and also has a nice amount of variety, incorporating screams and some almost Black Metal-ish shouting at times.

Do yourself a favour and check out Merciless Terror as soon as you can.

Sanity’s Rage – You Are What You Swallow (Review)

Imagine, if you will; Anthrax and Kreator jamming together to create an unholy Thrash-tastic side project. Sanity’s Rage are that theoretical band.

Hailing from Belgium this is an absolute stormer of an album. Tight playing, and galloping, exciting riffs mean there is never a dull moment. A strong production accentuates the dynamic songwriting of each track and there is real bite to these songs. This is no nostalgia-fest. Rather than looking back to the past they drag it fully into the present and it’s like the Thrash heyday is alive and well and centred on Belgium.

Each song on here is focused, mature, and full of more chops, riffs and solos than most bands manage in an album. And it’s relentless. No pseudo-ballads here; just pure, unadulterated Thrash metal.

Pummelling. Pounding. Shredding. Shred-fest. I could go on, but you get the idea. Like a breath of fresh air this album fills you up with all of the goodness of Thrash Metal, before ripping your face off with speed and precision steel.

Sapiency – Tomorrow (Review)

Sapiency play modern melodic Thrash Metal. I don’t listen to a lot of this style of music as there is a huge amount of mediocrity out there – it seems to be that writing okay music in this style is quite easy, but being truly great is rare.

Their style is similar to bands such as Scar Symmetry, In Flames, Soilwork, etc. – the gruff vocals juxtaposed against the clean, huge soaring guitars and keyboards, epic melodies and punchy drums, etc. Although Sapiency don’t hit the heights of the truly great, they are certainly a cut above the mediocre, and dare I say it this is quite an exciting and enjoyable release.

Having more bite to their attack than a lot of the typical In Flames/Soilwork clones, (which they aren’t), certainly works in their favour. The gruff vocals are a bit harsher than the norm, and the clean vocals a bit more powerful. They dwell on the right side of catchy rather than sounding ‘pop’. The guitars are not watered down and actually have some meat to the riffs rather than just being there to accentuate the vocals, which seems to be a usual failing of certain bands in this genre. In fact, Sapiency are less In Flames/Soilwork and more Scar Symmetry/Dark Tranquillity – heavier and less polished, (relatively speaking of course), than their more commercial kin. Some would say ‘more metal’. Here we even have the occasional blastbeat, which is always welcome. Solos too. It’s good that they are not afraid of speed either; it’s too easy for bands in this genre to lose interest across an album as every song has the same mid-paced tempo, speed and feeling.

Albums like this live or die by their songs and Sapiency have these; energy and catchiness, wrapped up and delivered as molten melodic metal. It’s hard not to feel the enthusiasm inherent in these tracks. There is a genuine love of metal on display here and it exhibits itself in every track and imbues them with a vitality that is otherwise missing in so many catchier bands.

I enjoyed Sapiency more than I thought I would; which is a reminder that it’s far to easy to feel jaded and cynical these days and every band should be judged on their individual merits. A class album – if you enjoy melody with your metal then check them out.

Noisem – Agony Defined (Review)

Old-school Death/Thrash Metal with some distinctly hardcore influences. Not Deathcore, not Metalcore; hardcore. Old-school hardcore. Old-school hardcore mixed with a dirty Thrash/Death. There we are then.

This album is short and to the point. Thrash/hardcore inspired Death Metal riffs lash out at the listener, while the simple-but-effective drums pummel you into submission and the shouted Death Metal vocals roar and gnash angrily. Like a crazed, starved and disfigured attack dog and twice as ugly. This is not music for passers by. This is music for people that live it. For people that want a gritty realism to their songs; a brutality of awareness and apathy to destruction.

A great album for when you want a no-frills approach to aggression, and a stark reminder of all that made you like extreme metal in the first place. It’s not perfect or pretty, but that’s the entire point.

To The Pain – To The Pain (Review)

Now this is the stuff! Here we have a Thrash/Power Metal band from the US who really know their stuff.

Here we have some classic, 80s/90s-style thrash with a power-feel to some of the vocals. There are seven songs on offer here and each one of them is as enjoyable as the next. No trends, no compromise, just old-school metal played by people with an obvious passion and talent for this style of music.

There are plenty of great riffs, melodies, solos, vocals, etc. being shown off here. Each song is an actual song and stands strongly by itself, with plenty of feeling and quality poured into it and covered liberally in pure molten metal.

As I sit here listening to this album I am transported back to the formative years of my metal youth; listening to the giants of the thrash and heavy metal genres – this album has a similar feel to those, all wrapped up in a modern sound that lends it a freshness that a lot of bands lack these days.

I really, really like this release – I suggest you check them out as soon as you can.

https://www.facebook.com/ToThePainNY

http://www.reverbnation.com/playlist/view_playlist/-4?page_object=artist_2481832