АСПИД — Extravasation (review)

Album · 1992 · Technical Thrash Metal

4/5 · 2021-03-05
siLLy puPPy

One of Russia’s most significant contributions to the classic thrash metal scene, the band Аспид (Aspid) was only around for a short time and delivered one sole album and although the band was pretty much an exotic curiosity during the time in which it existed roughly from 1988-97, this Volgodonsk based technical thrash metal powerhouse has more than stood the test of time and often ranks high on best thrash metal lists of the 1990s.

Existing at the time when the Soviet Union underwent a complete collapse and the former republics that once constituted the empire were going their separate ways, ASPID is a prime example of a group of young ambitious musicians overcoming the daunting odds of getting its product to market and eventually capturing the attention of the entire international metal scene. Originally released under the title Кровоизлияние which translates as “Hemorrhage,” the vinyl only release wouldn’t find its way onto a remastered CD until 2007 when it was retitled “Extravasation.”

Due to the fact this one was released twice, first in the Russian language and then in English, word has it that on the remastered versions the production was also sped up giving that version a completely different style. For the record, i’m reviewing the original version which appears in the Russian language with the decent but not outstanding production job. However for raw extreme metal, production is not a priority as i always prefer outstanding musicianship over any bells and whistles and in the compositional department, ASPID were indeed seasoned veterans of technical thrash metal.

Кровоизлияние featured eight tracks beginning with the trippy keyboard dominated atmospheric intro. The real meat of the album follows with the ten minute “Он пришёл (Аспид)” which exposes the band as a competent tech thrash metal band in the vein of Coroner and Sadus and fits into that category of metal that sounds like thrash metal evolving into death metal much like early Death, Hellwitch or Obliveon. While the twin guitar attacks are clearly in the thrash metal department with stomping riffs and sizzling guitar solos courtesy of Alexander Sidorchik, the complexities are verging on progressive metal but don’t quite step over the line into that arena.

Graced with an energetic delivery system completely with rampaging rhythmic bombast and technical uncommon time signatures, at least for thrash metal of the era, Кровоизлияние is a satisfying display of feisty uncompromising thrash metal fury unleashed in a satisfying ever-changing procession of variations that keep the album from ever sounding like it’s in danger of stagnating. “Там где ночь” for example displays that perfect mix of “Rust In Peace” era Megadeth with a more ferocious speedy attack in the vein of Sadus but with the fine-tuned finesse of the likes of Coroner.

Unavailable to Western nations for the first half of its existence, ASPID is now considered one of Russia’s most prominent contributors to the early metal scene and while bands like Aria were clearly Iron Maiden imitators, ASPID deftly blended its influences into a steaming hot cauldron of molten metal more than ready for primetime. The only problem was that the band never released a followup thus leaving this sole artifact of the chaotic 90s as its only proof that it existed but if a band is going to drop one bomb on the world and then disappear forever, they couldn’t have done much better than Кровоизлияние which is a brilliant display of Russian metal made all the more exotic by the lyrics in the mother tongue.