Tupan In a interview to a brazilian magazine, the members of Torture Squad said that Hellbound is "our '...And Justice For All'".

I can not disagree. This album shows a high level of maturity, both in the musicianship and in the lyrical content. The songs are longer than the normal (for Torture Squad's standards) with more intricate arrangements, and less emphasis on chorus.

There's also the inclusion of more keyboards and acoustic passages than on their previous releases, and we even can hear a sitar on the last song, the epic Hellbound. The sitar is played by Fabio Golfetti, musician from the brazilian progressive band Violeta de Outono.

But the brutality still reigns in the Torture Squad sound. This albums is really a killer release, and a must-have for the fans of crushing thrash metal. Recommended!

Diogenes Like clockwork, German thrash metal kings Kreator are back with another slab of Teutonic metal for the masses. While their latest album, Phantom Antichrist, breaks a streak of album covers with malignant and disfigured faces on them (sort of; the dude’s pretty ugly, but it’s not an extreme close-up), the music features no such dip in quality. Of course it’s good!

Phantom Antichrist continues to develop the well-balanced, clean, and melodic thrash metal sound Kreator first adopted on their 2001 “revival” album, Violent Revolution. While there isn’t anything as melodic as, say, “To the After Burn,” Phantom Antichrist is not short on slick guitar harmonies, and they’re beautifully blended with the band’s trademark aggression and Mille Petrozza’s raspy vocals to form the modern Kreator style we know and love. Indeed, if you’ve heard the band’s past few efforts, there’s probably not much on this album that will surprise you, but that tends to fall by the wayside when the music is as tight and well-produced as it is here.

Frontman Petrozza has mentioned that Kreator went into the writing of Phantom Antichrist wanting to make their greatest album ever; while their landmark albums of the ‘80s will probably never be topped, it’s obvious that a lot of effort went into this. The transitions within the songs are absolutely sublime, as tracks like “Civilization Collapse” and “Until Our Paths Cross Again” trade melody for aggression so seamlessly that you actually have to, you know, pay attention to the music! There’s also a definite sense of urgency in the band’s playing, almost as if they know it’s their last album or that the world is ending this December (who actually believes this?) and they want to put one more solid notch in the thrash totem before they go out. This, again, goes back to the care put into Phantom Antichrist; just listen to the climax of “The Few, The Proud, The Broken” and tell me you don’t just feel every note in that anthemic guitar lead. Kreator have never been a band to mail in a performance (even when they didn’t really know what they wanted to play in the ‘90s), so this isn’t necessarily anything new, but they really hit the songwriting nail on the head this time around. The only thing on this album that I could definitely do without is the addition of clean vocals; for all his greatness as a harsh vocalist, Petrozza ain’t that good of a singer (at least, not anymore-who knows if he could have pulled it off 15 years ago), and the way they’re used seems awfully In Flames-ish. Please, keep the mumbling out of my thrash metal!

Thirteen albums into their career, Kreator shows that they can still bring it with the same intensity as their peers, even after going through enough sonic changes to put most other bands down for the count. I’d be lying if I said Phantom Antichrist is anything groundbreaking or surprising, but at the same time, it’s highly professional and executed well enough to appeal to almost anyone with ears. It should shock no one that this album is recommended, and will probably go down as one of the top thrash releases of the year.

dtguitarfan Oh, do I have fond memories of this one. This was, for me, the quintessential "album I did not want my mother to know I had." I have fond memories of blasting this one on the stereo system while my parents were gone, and practicing my air guitar and growly vocals. There really is not a weak track on this album, but every one seems to characterize what this band, and even really what Metal in this time period, was all about. Another thing I love about this album, and this could merely be a result of the sheer number of times I've listened to it, is the fact that it flows well: each track follows the previous very well, almost like they were part of a single composition. Obviously the track order was planned very well. The dueling guitar solos appear all throughout this album, the tunes are fantastic, and Dave Mustaine's growls, as always, are so unique and characteristic of the darkness of this Metal masterpiece. As I often do, I would like to highlight some of my favorite tracks on this album:

Symhony of Desctruction - of course, the importance of this song is undeniable, being one of the most well known Metal tunes of all time. The ONLY weakness of this track is the countless number of times I've heard it by now. [;)]]

This Was My Life - this song makes you angry with the band. It is filled with this simmering rage, the kind of rage that only comes out in under the breath mutters the party you are mad at can't hear, and in screams behind their back. You will be pounding your fist in the air with the chant at the end: "THIS....WAS....MY....LIFE!!!!"

Captive Honour - this has long been one of my all time favorite songs by Megadeth. It's almost like a Prog epic, in terms of song structure, the music telling a story along with the lyrics of a man committing a crime, being sentenced to jail, and the hell he endures there. The guitar solos near the end are among my all-time favorite metal guitar solos.

I've always considered myself more of a Metallica fan than a Megadeth fan (ducks)...but I will say that I have probably listened to this particular Megadeth album more than any Metallica album. This is absolutely a necessary piece of any Metal connoisseur's collection.

dtguitarfan It's hard to talk about a masterpiece like this because it feels like everything has already been said, and I would just be adding different ways of saying "I like it", and "it's so awesome, dude." But I will say, from the standpoint of a Progressive Metal fan, if you are into Progressive Metal and you haven't heard this album, GO LISTEN TO IT. Stop what you're doing. Right now. This is historically one of the albums from which Progressive Metal spawned. It is the inspiration behind, and influence of, some of the most well known Progressive Metal bands. If you want to understand how Progressive Metal came about, listen to this album.

Time Signature Only metal exists...

Genre: speed metal

Fuck yeah! Speed metal is back! And what better representative than Demona - a Canadian-Chilean underground band led by Tanza Godoy, daughter of Jackie Godoy and for a long time a one-woman speed metal killing machine who, despite facing all sorts of adversity, stuck to her guns and never lost sight of her goal: to make old school quality speed metal.

Now, all the hard work has come to fruition in the form of the debut album from Demona, now a full band, but still under Tanza's command.

We are dealing with old school speed metal here evolving around old school thrash and speed metal riffage chucking away at breakneck velocity, accompanied by fast - at time even punky - drumbeats and a nicely audible and round, almost warm-sounding, bass. There are plenty of shreddy guitar solos, some of which are provided by guest musicians, including Mr Godoy Senior.

The album is complete in its use of speed metal aesthetics, which means that there are a lot of bursts of melody and, at time, it sounds like NWoBHM in speed (just check out some of the more melodic parts of 'Nightmare' or the galloping, nay stampeding, riffage in 'Llagas'). The title track is a speed metal power bomb, featuring guest musicians from Warrant, Wardance, Sabbat (JPN), and Gurd, among others. As a bonus, there is a well-executed cover version of Wardance's 'Don't Play with Fire'.

The album contains a lot of Demona classics, some of which have been around since the very early days of the band. They have all been rerecorded with the present Demona line-up (with help from Hugo Uribe on drums), and thus there is both a lot of history and a lot of authenticity to the album. Tanza's vocals have fortunately not lost the unique quality that has characterized the sound of Demona since its inception.

The production is old school and unpolished, but not unbearably raw. Still, it does suit the overall DIY-feel of the album very well, and certainly adds to the speed metal authenticity of the album.

Speed metal to the bone, Demona's "Metal Through the Time" has everything that makes for good speed metal - it has the charm, the aggression, the influence from traditional metal, it has the production. Fans of old school thrash and speed metal are bound to love this album.

UMUR "Out of the Dark... Into the Light" is an EP release by German thrash metal act Kreator. The EP was released through Noise Records in August 1988 and bridges the gap between the two full-length studio albums "Terrible Certainty (1987)" and "Extreme Aggression (1989)". The original vinyl version features 5 tracks while the European CD version includes 3 additional bonus tracks.

The first track on the EP is "Impossible to Cure", which at the time was a new original track by the band, and if you are familiar with the material on "Terrible Certainty (1987)" and "Extreme Aggression (1989)" you probably won´t be surprised by the aggressive teutonic thrash metal style featured on the track. It´s short, aggressive and effective. "Impossible to Cure" is followed by "Lambs to the Slaughter" which is a Raven cover track. It´s slightly more melodic but still pretty aggressive and it´s certainly delivered with fierce conviction.

The remaining tracks on the EP (including the 3 bonus tracks) are live recordings of early Kreator "classics" like "Riot of Violence", "Terrible Certainty" and "Awakening of the Gods". Taking into consideration that these tracks were recorded live in the late eighties, the sound quality is actually pretty good and the performance by the band is equally satisfying. They are not 100% tight and I hear a few errors here and there, but it´s nice to hear "real" live recordings from a metal act in the more extreme end of the spectrum that sound this good.

"Out of the Dark... Into the Light" is a very successful release to my ears and a reminder that the EP format was something that you took seriously in the eighties. All recordings on the EP were unreleased at the time that "Out of the Dark... Into the Light" was released and therefore the EP was a worthwhile investment back then and still is today as I haven´t found evidence anywhere that suggest that these tracks are available on any of the compilations that Kreator have released so far. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is fully deserved and I might even have set the bar a little low here.

Phonebook Eater 8/10

"Black Future" is a toxic, fast, and catchy beast that emits a cheerfully dystopian light.

Vektor are an American Thrash Metal band: “Black Future” is their third studio length LP. By most of the Thrash community highly praised, this band is unique thanks to their spacey themes and peculiar, Black Metal influenced vocals. “Black Future” is, so far, the album that most faithfully and best represents their attitude and philosophy, becoming one of the best Thrash Metal albums this reviewer has ever heard in recent years.

The thing that you first notice in this colossal album is the clean production, a characteristic that doesn’t usually suit neither Thrash nor Black Metal: but here, it does nothing but compliment the music. The guitars are edgy and loud, the vocals have been mentioned for the most part, except for the fact that they are very varied and different sounding every time; sometimes they’re more like ghostly screams, other times they are raspy and lower pitched. Then the rhythms are pretty standard for the genre, but they are constantly changing, giving a pretty strong technical feel to the compositions. With these characteristics, Vektor play around with some progressive-like structures and mix in some slower, usually guitar driven passages, as well as some futuristic-machinery sound effects.

In most of the lyrics, there is an evident science fiction/dystopian theme, usually of something that has or is dominating earth, physically or psychologically: whether it be nuclear explosions, asteroids, dark nebulas, or genetically modified creatures. Exceptions include “Forests Of Legend”, the narrating of a once fantastic forest, where Giants and massive creatures lived. Anyhow, there’s almost always a sort of changed-as-we-know-it end of our world.

Over an hour long, “Black Future” never manages to bore or to exasperate the listener: the songs are elaborate and complex but not hard to follow. The pillars of the album are definitely the songs that pass the ten minute border: “Forests Of Legend”, “Dark Nebula” and “Accelerating Universe”. Within these ten minutes Vektor bring chaos to earth, as if zombies just came out of a spaceship and are running around,destroying everything they see; they also manage to give some calmer, slower moments within them, making them even more interesting. The remaining six songs however are not less effective: “Asteroid” is fast, catchy, and technical, just like the more Black Metal influenced title track, or “Oblivion”.

An album like no other, “Black Future” is sure the LP that should stick in the minds of Thrash Metal fans for quite some time. This is a great alternative to bands like Metallica and Megadeth; Vektor are a band that perhaps should be learned more of, even by the people who don’t care about Thrash.

UMUR "Drowning in Blood" is the 7th full-length studio album by Brazilian death/thrash act Vulcano. The album was released through Renegados Records in September 2011. The Santos, São Paulo based group are quite a seasoned act having existed since 1981. Their debut full-length studio album "Bloody Vengeance" was released as far back as 1986. Vulcano are widely considered one of the first South American acts playing extreme metal.

The fact that Vulcano are relatively "old" guys is not audible in any way in their music though. We´re talking fiercely aggressive death/thrash with the emphasis on the thrash part. The vocals are really aggressive and delivered with great conviction, the riffs are fast-paced (occasionally mid-paced and heavier) and overall there´s a strong Slayer influence in the music. It´s Legion of the Damned and their aggressive death/thrash I´m mostly reminded of though. Although Vulcano are a very seasoned act I´m actually not that impressed by the musicianship. The delivery is not 100% tight and especially the lead guitar parts sound a bit amaturish to my ears. The sound production is not spot on either. Especially the clicking bass drum sound is completely powerless.

Other than that "Drowning in Blood" is a pretty good album and I´m sure fans of aggressive death/thrash will enjoy it despite the above mentioned issues. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.

Kingcrimsonprog Omen was the seventh-full length studio album by Soulfly, it was released in 2010 and ended up being the final album to feature Bobby Burns on bass and Joe Nunez on the drums.

For some fans, it will be appear a lot more straight-forward and direct than any previous Soulfly record, and continuing further down the same path that they have been following for the previous few records towards a faster, heavier and much more streamlined version of their original style.

The band had stated in interviews that it was similar to Slayer’s Reign In Blood but those similarities aren’t all that noticeable in all honesty beyond mere succinctness. The opening track ‘Bloodbath And Beyond’ and ‘Vulture Culture’ have an almost Hardcore-Punk sound to them in parts, and most tracks are generally fairly short in length but otherwise the music is very much like the previous couple of Soulfly albums.

This directness is a double-edged sword however, because a lot of what made Soulfly stand out from the crowd when they first came out is now missing, and some fans who loved the band’s first two albums may be saddened to find that the tribal drums, new-aged guitar sections and big simple Nu Metal riffs are gone.

Not all of Soulfly’s calling cards have been lost however. As with all Soulfly albums, some outside musicians make a guest appearance, in this case Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan on ‘Rise Of The Fallen’ and Tommy Victor of Prong on ‘Lethal Injection.’

In addition to the guest appearances, Max’s lyrical style is very much the same, with all the same topics covered and usage of puns, contractions and portmanteaus. Furhtermore, Mark Rizzo’s lead guitar style continues in the same vein it has since he joined the band.

Album highlights include the brief but perfectly formed ‘Jeffery Dahmer’ and the Thrashy ‘Off With Their Heads’ as well as the album closer ‘Soulfly VII’ which takes the usual sound of one of their self-titled tracks and pushes the envelop a little bit.

In summary; if you like the general sound of Soulfly and aren’t yet sick of it, then Omen is one more record for your collection, however if you have tired of Soulfly’s style or if you only liked their early work then it isn’t utterly essential listening.

Kingcrimsonprog Nuclear Assault are one of Thrash Metals true geniuses but unfortunately never garnered the sort of lasting legacy that other great Thrash bands like either the Big Four, Exodus or Testament did.

Their 1986 debut album Game Over is as good as any Thrash album that gets called a timeless classic, their 1988 album Survive improved upon the formula by mixing in some more variety and then came this album, Handle With Care. Their third full-length studio album.

Handle With Care is essentially the fastest, hardest and most extreme Nuclear Assault album. The level of energy is really high, the quality of musicianship is high and the production value is comparatively high when stood against their rawer debut album and also The Plauge EP. Handle with Care is a monster full of high speed drumming, technical riffing, rattling bass and John's traditional high pitched vocal wail.

Standout songs include the ultra-catchy 'Critical Mass' and 'The New Song' which will have you singing along and the final track is an atmospheric epic which proves that the band are more than just speed. That, and there are still a few joke tracks and wry ironic lyrics among the otherwise tasteful and well written Thrash.

Overall, if you like Thrash Metal but don't yet know Nuclear Assault you should consider checking them out right away. If you already like the band, this third album is highly, highly Recommended.

UMUR "My Blood" is the 6th full-length studio album by Danish thrash metal act Artillery. The album was released through Metal Mind Productions in March 2011. it´s the second album with vocalist Søren Adamsen and the second album since the band´s comeback album "When Death Comes (2009)".

The album opens with the middle eastern tinged "Mi Sangre (The Blood Song)", which is structurally a pretty complex track lasting 7:33 minutes. It´s definitely one of the standout tracks on the album but there are plenty to pick from. The music style is the usual thrash metal meets melodic heavy/power metal that the band have practiced from day one maybe with a bit more emphasis on the melodic part these days compared to the early releases by the band. We´re talking killer thrashy riffing, powerful but also melodic singing, well thought out songs and a suiting powerful sound production. These Danish veterans know exactly how to write effectful and memorable material and at the same time deliver it with passion and conviction.

"My Blood" is of course a must for fans of the band and in particular fans of the last album, but more casual fans of melodic thrash metal should find lots to like here too. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "The Greatest Joke" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Brazilian thrash metal act Kremate. The album was released through Urubuz Records in 2011. The band´s debut full-length studio album "Death: In the Name Of (2005)" was actually just a re-release of the 2003 "Watch the End" promo, so "The Greatest Joke" is actually the band´s first "regular" studio album.

On "The Greatest Joke", Kremate embrace an old school thrash metal sound with more than a few nods towards early Slayer. It´s mainly the guitar riffs that remind me of that band. The vocals are raw and shouting with an audible accent. The band take on a socio political angle in their lyrics, so it´s not one of those "zombie/drinking beer" type retro thrash metal albums, which I initially thought after looking at the cover artwork.

The sound production is raw and maybe lacking the hand of a professional to elevate it to the level of the better thrash metal productions out there.

To my ears "The Greatest Joke" is a pretty standard old school thrash metal release. It´s decent and enjoyable while it plays, but soon forgotten after it ends. A 3 star (60% rating is warranted.

Conor Fynes 'Youniverse' - Dynahead (6/10)

Along with their fellow countrymen in MINDFLOW, DYNAHEAD give me the impression that Brazil's progressive metal scene is one marked by the eclectic approach of its bands. This is not to say that this group contrasts polka-funk-ambient with metal and traditional gamelan instrumentation, but rather that they find influence from a number of different sounds within the progressive metal genre itself. Although one might like to think of 'prog' as something inherently forward-thinking, metal is one place where the sound is really showing its age, and it's almost canon nowadays for a new band to sound either like Dream Theater, Opeth, or- to a lesser frequency- Pain of Salvation. If it's any slight innovation, DYNAHEAD incorporate all three of those bands into their blend, and while this does make for a more interesting listen than another Dream Theater clone, nothing about DYNAHEAD's second album particularly excels.

Technically proficient musicianship is virtually a pre-requisite to be labelled a 'prog metal' band at this point, and that is something that DYNAHEAD do not fail to deliver. Thankfully, their music never devolves into an indulgent exploration of scales as at least one of their influences are infamous for, but DYNAHEAD demonstrate their talent within the confines of fairly concise songwriting. Although the band touches upon virtually every popular style of progressive metal, their compositions are built around a thick rhythm guitar. Reviews I have read of 'Youniverse' describe it as a thrashy guitar sound, but it's given a fair bit more restraint than that genre-tag might imply. Keeping in line with the band's metal sub-genre surfing, Caio Duarte's vocals tread the border as well, simultaneously melodic and gruff. During the closer 'Onset'- DYNAHEAD's grab at Opethian death metal- he even growls, and it actually tends to fit the band's dark style more than his conventional heavy metal vocals do.

Although DYNAHEAD emulate the OPETH sound best of all, that approach is fairly fleeting on 'Youniverse'. Djent, or 'the MESHUGGAH sound' is also dabbled with on songs like the particularly heavy 'My Replicator', and demonstrates a real promise for DYNAHEAD. However, in constantly comparing this band to others, it may also be implied that they are lacking an identity of their own, and this is where 'Youniverse' is truly held back. Although the band is graced with a tight performance and fair production standards, it's difficult to get an impression on what this band is about, even after several listens. The ground is fertile for something cool, but unless DYNAHEAD plants something firm, their potential will remain untapped.

Warthur World Painted Blood sees Slayer consolidating the impressive musical gains made on Christ Illusion, with the reformed classic lineup that made that album such a success going from strength to strength. Finally balancing their classic thrash approach with the angry punk influences which have often bubbled under the surface in their music, the band produce an album which might not redefine the rules of thrash metal in the same way their absolute best releases did, but at the very least keeps the thrash flame alive and will appeal to any fan of their classic run of albums from their debut to Seasons In the Abyss.

UMUR "The Experience of Horror" is the debut full-length studio album by German death/thrash metal act Assorted Heap. The album was released through 1 MF in 1991. The original vinyl version only contained 6 tracks while the CD version featured 9 tracks. I´m not sure why because the vinyl version is definitely on the shorter side with it´s 27:20 minutes long playing time and even if they had added the CD bonus tracks to the vinyl version it would still only have lasted around 37 minutes. You can´t excuse that with loss of sound quality, which was sometimes the explanation with vinyl albums longer than 45 minutes.

The music on "The Experience of Horror" is US influenced death/thrash (or brutal thrash metal if you will). As far as I recall it´s not often I´ve heard music like this coming from a German act. There´s not a hint of teutonic thrash here. Instead the music is aggressive and at times brutal thrash metal played with great technical skill. Acts like Dark Angel, Devastation and early Invocator come to mind. The tracks are well written, energetic and powerful and while the sound production isn´t without flaws, "The Experience of Horror" still comes off as a quality death/thrash release. I guess some tracks could have been a little more memorable, like for example the title track is, but it´s not a major issue.

"The Experience of Horror" is a rather obscure release and probably not that easy to find, but if you are a fan of late eighties/early nineties death/thrash and you are able to find a copy, I´d recommend a purchase. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Phonebook Eater 7/10

"The Way Of All Flesh" is a ferocious grip, fast-paced like no other album by the band.

Gojira's fourth album is the first one after the seminal “From Mars To Sirius”, and shows that they still are a strong band that can release solid efforts. While not as well developed and written as the previous album, “The Way Of All Flesh” is nevertheless an album enjoyable from beginning to end, with only very few, slight bumps during the ride.

This last effort is a somewhat return to the band’s older days: a more thrashy, groove metal influenced take on Death Metal, with extremely tight compositions and a high level of technicality. Joe Duplianter’s vocals are, as usual, perfect growls, strong, powerful, and mighty, and give yet another touch of violence to the sounds. The production is top notch, better than ever before, with almost flawless mixing (some moments I wish the vocals were louder).

With more than an hour of music and with twelve, average-length pieces, “The Way Of All Flesh” keeps the entertainment rate high, starting with the first two tracks, “Ouroboros” and “Toxic Garbage Island”, this last one definitely the best, most brutally technical song of the record. Then, we have songs like the energetic, quasi-metalcore feeling of “All The Tears”, “Vacuity”, the tribal “The Art of Dying”, or the mighty title track that boasts amazing performances by all the musicians. Some songs like “Wolf Down to Earth” or “ A Sight To Behold” are little too plain and don’t add much to the album, same for “Yama’s Messenger”, a plain, destructive episode that simply doesn’t add anything at all.

Despite the few flaws “The Way of all Flesh” is another extremely impressive piece of work from Gojira, a band that so far has shown immense talent and absolutely worthy of their reputation.

Phonebook Eater 8/10

"From Mars To Sirius" is Gojira's best release so far: a modern Death Metal classic.

Gojira are one of the main Progressive Death Metal acts of the new millennium also because of “From Mars To Sirius”, the extraordinary third album. This French band had been active for nine years before this release, but it is known that great albums take time and a certain level of maturity.

Compared to earlier albums, “From Mars To Sirius” has a much rougher production: everything sounds incredibly large, wide, and spacey in this album, contrasting the tight compositions of the early days. Even the technical point of view has toned down quite a bit, in favor of a more sludgy take on Death Metal: the guitars are strongly reminiscent of bands like Mastodon, Neurosis, or Isis. But the typical Gojira vocals, by Joe Duplianter, never leave the stage, and still give that touch that brings together all releases from the band.

The album presents a bunch of solid, well-written and executed songs that, put together, maintain a strongly consistent level throughout the entire hour this albums lasts: the more famous, classic Gojira songs like the Post-Metal vibes of “Flying Whales”, the fiercely dramatic guitar tapping of “Global Warming”, or the energetic “From The Sky” are stuck into the imaginary collective of modern Death Metal. But the other songs present here are not less powerful: “Ocean Planet”, the album’s opener, is an almost devastatingly executed song with one of the sludgiest riffs of the entire LP, “World To Come” and “Oceanbone” simple songs with excellent riffs and songwriting. The more technical, thrashy moments are still present here and there, like in “The Heaviest Matter Of The Universe”, one of the most intense songs Gojira has ever created.

An album with little imperfections, with a tremendously engaging flow, and with a consistent high level of execution, “From Mars to Sirius” shows all of Gojra’s talent, and remains a key album for Progressive Death Metal.

UMUR "Undisputed Attitude" is the 7th full-length studio album by US thrash metal act Slayer. The album was released through American Recordings in May 1996. "Undisputed Attitude" is an album featuring covers by punk, crossover and hardcore acts that have influenced Slayer plus the original composition "Gemini".

Most tracks on the album are in a fast-paced, simple and aggressive hardcore/crossover style. The delivery is intense and energetic. It´s no surprise Slayer can pull this off with ease. The tracks are by artists such as Verbal Abuse, Minor Threat and DRI. The album also features a couple of tracks by Pap Smear, which was a shortlived punk project of Jeff Hanneman (Slayer), Dave Lombardo (Slayer) and Rocky George (Suicidal Tendencies). To my ears the most interesting cover track on the album is the mid-paced DI cover "Richard Hung himself". It´s got a nice memorable hook and after listening to predominantly fast-paced material for most of the album´s playing time, it´s nice to listen to something with a slower pace. That also goes for the original composition "Gemini", which is also a pretty heavy track. It´s not a spectacular Slayer track but stylistically it could easily have fit on "Divine Intervention (1994)" and that´s good enough for me.

For a cover album "Undisputed Attitude" is a very consistent and cohesive album. The style of music played on almost every track on the album are pretty much in the same fast-paced and aggressive hardcore/crossover style. Most cover albums try to cover so much ground that they often end up a confusing listen and that´s certainly not the case with "Undisputed Attitude". On the other hand "Undisputed Attitude" does come off as slightly one-dimensional, but as it is only 33:28 minutes long (the non-US releases are sligthly longer with one or more additional tracks) I think it´s forgivable. A 3 - 3.5 star rating is warranted.

Warthur Backing away from Metal Black's attempt to recast the band as a proto-extreme metal group (which they never really were - it took other acts to take the raw, nearly-thrashy speed metal of their early albums and transform it into the black metal we know and love today), the delightfully unpretentious Hell provides a short sharp burst of raw and dirty thrash with a punky edge reminiscent of the first two Venom albums. La Rage does a reasonable job on the guitars, Cronos' vocals sound as pissed off as ever, and on the whole the band focus on doing what they've always done best - making a godawful racket and having a heap of fun doing it.

Phonebook Eater 6/10

"Terra Incognita" is an overall successful mix of technicality, heaviness, and aggression.

Gojira are a French Progressive Death Metal band that have a loving fan base, thanks to albums like “From Mars To Sirius” and “The Way Of All Flesh”, both of them regarded as modern Death Metal/ Progressive Metal classics. Before their rise to recognition, “Terra Incognita” was released, back in the year 2000, overshadowed by so much more brilliant music despite being an overall decent listen.

The level of maturity in this debut album is already quite impressive: the production is top notch, the riffs are nice and heavy, some even worth of an album like “The Way Of All Flesh”. There is a flavor of Nu Metal/Alternative Metal in the concept and image of this album: it almost feels like a much heavier, technical, and fierce version of a Sepultura album, also because of it’s Latin American mysticism-inspired lyrics. The heaviness of the album is what would turn on metalheads: the vocals are also extremely brute, and they truly feel shouted from the inner guts of singer Joe Duplianter. This in-your-face take is accentuated with a strong, technical feeling: the riffs can be extremely fast, or heavily syncopated to the point where calling it Progressive Metal is more than a safe thing to do.

The flaws this album has, however, are a few, the first one is the one that mainly kills some more potential entertainment this album could have had: it doesn’t feature as much variety as the following albums by the band. You might enjoy quite a bit the first half hour or so, but then, it’s not hard to notice, eventually, how the musical diversities from song to song aren’t very many, making the listen a rather monotonous ride. By the end of the album, the listener can easily feel sick of that kind of music, and would wish to lay off it a bit.

Some of the songs here though are extremely enjoyable for one who enjoys this kind of music, starting from the straight-to-the-point opener, “Clone”. “Lizard Skin” and “Blow Me Away You(niverse)” are great concerts pieces that give further blood rushing in the listener’s veins. But the best song is easily the closer, “In The Forest”, the most fiercely technical piece here, added with a potent dose of heaviness.

“Terra Incognita” has some standout moments and tracks that could have become Gojira classics, but as a whole, it stretches out a little too much and doesn’t offer much more than aggression. Still something worth while listening to, especially if you’re a fan of the band, and want to hear their earlier days.

Time Signature Two in one...

Genre: prog/tech death-thrash

Granted, CB Murdoc sounds more like the name of a late 80s second rate glam metal band, but, make no mistake, this Swedish sixtet play fierce death-thrash which teems with evil and brutality.

And they make this very clear right from the explosive opening of the very first track which features a brutal death metal-style riff and blastbeating drums. Adding to the overall intensity that characterizes the album, a track like 'Patch' feature both dissonance and more post-hardcore styled riffage, while "Two In One" is an all out raging thrasher.

But, CB Murdoc is not all about brutality. In fact their brand of death-thrash is quite technical and even progressive, as they often go off into rhythmically complex passages and mind-boggling breakdowns. Their style is slightly djent-informed and also includes some elements that you might recognize from metalcore. However, before the djentophobes and metalcorophobes go running back to mamma, I should point out that these elements are far from dominant, and that they are included into CB Murdoc's overall quite eclectic style, which also includes post-metal, sludge-metal, death metal and even a slight jazzy feel.

The overall eclectic approach often results in what appears as a chaotic sound, but in this case, it is a positive feature, because it does not sound forced and there still is a sort of natural dynamics to the song structures. Just check out tracks like 'Changeling', 'Adore', and 'D.I.D.'.

Needless to say, the musicianship is top notch, and the screamed vocals suit the overall order-from-chaos character of the music on the album. Production-wise, the sound is dark and brutal and has a certain organic feel to it, and it does not sound like it has been overly processed.

Overall, "The Green" is a pretty well put together album which is both aggressive and brutal but also experimental and challenging to the listener in many ways. Fans of prog/tech thrash and death metal should definitely check it out.

Bmiler This album is very raw and in your face, the debut album from Suicidal Tendencies. They later became a straight up thrash band, but this debut was hardcore punk. But it also demonstrates how that genre had an impact on the metal scene, particularly the speed/thrash scene. All the songs on this album are very short and brief, so they never get a chance to outstay their welcome. "Institutionalized" is a classic. I remembered when I first saw the video to it that I was just laughing! Here's a teenager (actually Mike Muir) having problems with his parents, his parents thinking he needs to be in a mental institution. It's obviously in a suburban setting (likely in Southern California, as the band is from Southern California). Who can forget that "All I want is a Pepsi, and she wouldn't give it to me. Just one Pepsi". So much more to enjoy like "Two Sided Politics", criticizing the culture that marginalizes certain segments of society. "I Shot the Devil" mostly sticks out for the "I shot Reagan" part, but since it's so hard to understand what Mike Muir is saying, he was apparently also referencing Anwar Sadat, Pope John Paul II, and John Lennon, people who were either assassinated, or had an assassination attempt. Other goodies include "Subliminal", "I Saw Your Mommy", and "Suicidal Failure". The band often included humor in the music. Little wonder why this album gets a lot of praise. It's enough to scare off any Kenny G. fan, and the music really has that raw and aggressive sound. Listening to this, it's little wonder why metalheads would love this as much as those into hardcore punk.

UMUR "Chaos of Forms" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US death/ thrash act Revocation. The album was released through Relapse Records in August 2011. The band have earned themselves quite a good reputation, with their first two albums, of being a greatly energetic and powerful death/thrash metal act with the occasional twist.

...I´d say that tendency continues on "Chaos of Forms", which is not your regular straight ahead death/thrash album, even though it´s rooted in that style. The vocals are predominantly sneering and fiercely aggressive, but this time around the band have also incorporated occasional clean/raw melodic singing to great effect. It provides an anthemic element to the band´s sound. The playing is on a really high level. At times almost to the point of me losing my breath and dropping my jaw in amazement. These guys have such a powerful and energetic delivery that it´s impossible not to be impressed. The songwriting is also of high quality and while the music is rooted in death/thrash and aggression certainly is a key element on the album, we´re treated to quite a few other elements too. First of all the melodic guitar solos are a real treat. Played with great skill and precision. They remind me sligthly of the guitar work of Jeff Waters (Annihilator). The tracks generally also feature a lot of tempo changes and elements from other music styles, while maintaining the aggressive death/thrash basis. I guess you can say that "Chaos of Forms" is a "lighter" and more fun death/thrash album than most.

I enjoyed the first two albums by the band, but "Chaos of Forms" takes Revocation to the next level. Powerful sound production, excellent musicianship and intriguing songwriting, "Chaos of Forms" has it all. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

Warthur Though I concur with the general consensus that the Slayer sound went a little off-course after Seasons In the Abyss, I actually think God Hates Us All represented the beginning of the band pulling things together. The comeback was firmed up on Christ Illusion, with the return of Dave Lombardo reuniting the classic Slayer lineup. Though I don't want to cast any doubts on Paul Bostaph's ability as a drummer, I have to say having Lombardo back with the band really helps Slayer on Christ Illusion; his drumming adds just the right bit of extra fire and fury which is needed to take the material on here to the next level. If I had to highlight a weak point of the album, I'd say Tom Araya's vocals are rather grating - whereas on classics like Reign In Blood he seemed to be in the middle of an angry rant, here he just seems to be yelling to be heard above the music. Still, on the while I'd say Christ Illusion is something of a return to form for the band.

Warthur With the departure of Mantas following Resurrection, Cronos had made his authority over Venom complete; however, if Metal Black is anything to go by he doesn't seem to have done much is interesting with it. Giving the album a title that is clearly intended to be a callback to Black Metal is a fairly clear statement to intent, but I honestly don't think this one is going to nearly have as much influence on extreme metal as its predecessor. It's got a noisy, raucous, even mildly dissonant sound, resulting mainly from the rather eccentric mix which seems to be intended to make the music sound more extreme and blackened and generally disguise the fact that this is the same old proto-thrash Venom have always churned out. On the whole, it feels like a big misstep to me.

UMUR "The Great Bludgeoning" is the 7th full-length studio album by Danish thrash metal act Hatesphere. The album was released through Napalm Records in September 2011. Hatesphere has been through several lineup changes in the past and that trend continues on "The Great Bludgeoning". Most notably lead vocalist Jonathan "Joller" Albrechtsen, who sang on "To the Nines (2009)", has been replaced by new vocalist Esben "Esse" Elnegaard Kjaer Hansen. So Jonathan "Joller" Albrechtsen only lasted one album, after he replaced long time vocalist Jacob Bredahl (who´s last recording with the band was "Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes (2007)"). The rythm section of drummer Dennis Buhl and bassist Mixen Lindberg have also been replaced for the recording of "The Great Bludgeoning". New drummer is Mike Park Nielsen and new bassist is Jimmy Nedergaard. So basically the only two remaining members from the lineup that recorded "To the Nines (2009)" are guitarists Peter "Pepe" Lyse Hansen and Jakob Nyholm.

Bearing in mind all the lineup changes, it´s actually surprising how little Hatesphere have changed. They still sound unmistakably like Hatesphere. But that´s probably due to the fact that band founder and main composer Peter "Pepe" Lyse Hansen has always stuck to his guns and never panicked because of changing trends. As long as Peter "Pepe" Lyse Hansen is in control of the band, he will probably always make sure to bring crushingly heavy and aggressive thrash metal to the people. However sticking to your guns in this case doesn´t mean the band haven´t developed over the years. There have been little tweaks to the sound and incorporation of new elements, but the basis of the band´s sound has always been brutal thrash metal. That´s also the case on "The Great Bludgeoning" which features several fiercely aggressive, fast-paced and crushingly heavy thrash metal tracks like opening track "The Killer", "Smell of Death" and the title track. The 6 minutes long "Venom" is where the band make a little tweak. Especially the ending of the track which includes keyboards is quite unusual for the band but works really well for them.

"The Great Bludgeoning" is a relatively short album with only 9 tracks distributed over a 36:58 minutes long playing time. "The Wail Of My Threnode" is even a short instrumental interlude, so there are only 8 "real" thrash metal tracks on the album. There´s nothing to worry about though as the quality is high throughout. Powerful and well sounding production, excellent musicianship and for the style varied songwriting are some of the assets of the album. Hatesphere leave no doubt that they are still the kings of Danish thrash metal and fans of brutal thrash metal in the vein of early The Haunted and Dew-Scented should find lots of like here. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is warranted.

Diogenes If you’ve heard Overkill’s previous album, Ironbound, then many of the elements on their sixteenth full-length will probably seem familiar to you: a catchy, groove-tinged thrashfest with killer drumming, a clean production, and the unmistakable vocals of Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth. As such, comparisons to that album will be inevitable; after all, it did put the mighty ‘Kill back on the map for those who began to dismiss them. So, here are your comparisons: The Electric Age is beefier. It’s darker. It’s got even more aggression and even more attitude. Don’t think Overkill could get any better? Well, they just did.

Jumping right into things, The Electric Age proves that more than anything, Overkill are still extremely capable of writing great thrash songs. It does this by making three compelling arguments: “Come and Get It,” “Wish You Were Dead,” and “Drop the Hammer Down,” all of which are good enough to be placed among the band’s best, regardless of the era. The reason for this is that Overkill explore longer song structures on this album, giving Dave Linsk more room to work (which is a good thing). There’s plenty of space for face-melting riffs, and as those who are familiar with D.D. Verni know, he has an endless supply of them (leading to many more good things).

But the big reason why this progression in songwriting is key for The Electric Age is that it allows Overkill to turn up the speed on the rest of the songs without sounding too repetitive. They’ve never been a band to write many ballads, but The Electric Age goes balls-to-the-wall from the beginning to end, with the only real slow-down being in the intro of the final track, “Good Night”. It’s really the best thing an Overkill fan could have hoped for: the riffing of the old days combined with enough progression to keep the sound fresh, all without falling into a rut of any kind.

Honestly, I shouldn’t even have to discuss the lineup, because these guys have been doing the same killer job for a very, very long time. D.D. Verni and Ron Lipnicki remain one of the tightest rhythm sections in all of thrash, and Dave Linsk and Derek Tailor provide their usual killer guitar work. But Blitz? My god. He’s stepped up his game, BIG TIME. Sure, he still sounds like a pissed-off, rabid hyena (very comfortably, I might add), but regarding his vocal range, it seems like he’s found the fountain of youth; there are some screams on The Electric Age that would lead you to believe the man is in his mid 30s at the latest, and certainly not 52. It’s unbelievable that a guy who’s been doing this for so long can still sound this amazing, but tracks like “Electric Rattlesnake” and “Black Daze” prove that Blitz is still one, if not the best frontman in the business.

When I listened to Ironbound for the first time, I couldn’t help but reflect on Overkill’s legacy; if they somehow released another album as good, I thought, it might just force them to the top of the thrash elite, where they had deserved to be for so long. However, I absolutely did not think that album would end up being Ironbound’s immediate successor, and yet here we are with another modern thrash masterpiece. This time, it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back: Overkill is the greatest thrash metal band ever, with the Electric Age being the oh-so-delicious cherry on top of a legendary career. Buy this with pride, my friends.

Valarius 'Creeping Death' the EP, which included the 'Jump in the Fire' EP on the same disc, is a nice little collectable for die-hard Metallica fans, although being difficult to find nowadays, it's not really worth the effort since all the songs are availble elsewhere.

The title track is arguably one of the best tracks from the album 'Ride the Lightning', and the two covers accompanying it are good, but can be obtained a lot easier on the 'Garage Inc.' album. These are 'Blitzkrieg' by Blitzkrieg, and 'Am I Evil' by Diamond Head, a song Metallica have covered so well and so often, that it has more-or-less become their own.

Unfortunately it's the 'second half' of this EP that ruins it for me, the 'Jump in the Fire' EP.

Whilst I like the album 'Kill 'Em All', 'Jump in the Fire' isn't one of the more memorable songs for me, and the two 'live tracks' (rumoured to be normal tracks with crowd noises dubbed in) sound awful by the standards of todays live albums.

Overall this is a cool addition to the collection if you love Metallica, but since this can be pretty tricky to find anyway, it's really not worth the effort.

J-Man Awaken the Reason is the third album from the tech-metal monsters in Outcast, and this time around the Frenchmen have cooked up another groovy, technical, and heavy platter of extreme metal. While the band's primary influences draw from modern thrash metal, liberal dosages of Obscura-like technical death metal and groovy math metal in the vein of Meshuggah keeps Outcast from sounding like the hordes of other modern thrash outfits on the scene. Most metal listeners will notice a strong influence from the likes of Meshuggah and Gojira in Outcast's sound, and while these comparisons are completely valid, Outcast has a unique edge that gives them a rather original sound. Overall, Awaken the Reason is a pretty solid album that should appeal to fans of modern, groove-based technical thrash.

A good portion of the riffs contained within Awaken the Reason are very djenty, but unlike many other modern acts that subscribe to this downtuned, polyrhythmic style of riffage, Outcast makes these riffs groovy and infectious rather than sterile and boring. Of course, this is also due to the fact that the band mixes up the composition style quite a bit throughout Awaken the Reason - in addition to djenty riffs, you've also got plenty of full-on death metal assaults, mind-boggling technical portions, and even some melodic sections. Outcast does occasionally fall into the 'technicality before memorability' trap, but this album is generally quite interesting throughout its full duration. The amount of time-signature shifts, crushing breakdowns, and complex rhythms always keeps the listener thinking, even as their ears are being assaulted with some very dense extreme metal.

The predominately shouted vocals could've used a bit more variation, but they are still very passionate and well-executed. All in all, Awaken the Reason is a very solid effort in my opinion, and while it does occasionally sound a bit too mechanical and sterile for my tastes, the quality of this release is undeniable. Fans of Meshuggah, Gojira, and Obscura will definitely want to hear this!

Time Signature Blast...

Genre: crossover-groove-thrash

The Slovaks are back with their sophomore album and follow-up to the 2007-debut "Dies Ad Quem". "The Sun And The Flood" is a neat package of no-frills hardboiled thrash metal which rocks hard from beginning to end.

The main style on the album is thrash metal, but the band venture into death metal and hardcore punk territory. Thus, tracks like "Sick Society" and "God's Bite" feature simple death-thrash riffs side by side with heavy grooves, while songs like "Redemption" and "Self Possession" are crossover thrash tracks that also contain death-thrash elements. Needless to say, this formula works pretty well.

Not unlike Pro-Pain Eye Beyond Sight make good use of the power of groove, and I think that "The Sun And The Flood" is yet another piece of evidence that that groove and metal combined is not per se a bad thing - it all depends on how the groove implemented, and on this album it is done the right way. This is heard among others inJust check tracks like "From Stars to Scum," "That Hurts" and "Blast". There are even a couple of metalcore-like break downs now and then - but, metal purists, fear not, because this is all out metal when it all comes down.

To vocals are harsh and range from hardcore yelling to semi-growling (think Max Cavalera when he was in Sepultura). This is perhaps not something that appeals to everyone, but I think it fits both the heavy and groovy riffs and the more aggressive and uptempo thrash and crossover metal riffs equally well.

If you like simple but aggressive thrash metal that contains both groove and hardcore elements, then there is good chance that you will enjoy "The Sun and the Flood".

Time Signature Death machine...

Genre: death-thrash

"To the Worms" is the debut album from Dutch metallers Seven Ends (the band was formed in 2007 and released one demo in 2009), and I must say that this is a really strong debut full length the five Dutchmen.

Stylistically, we are dealing with ferocious death-thrash, and right from the first track "Deathmachine" Seven Ends show that they are here to kick ass. After a solid thrash metal passage, the listener is thrown into a stampede of brutal blastbeating followed by a series of more Slayer-esque passages. The same track also contains some heavy sections which constitute a fine contrast to the more aggressive elements. The title track continues in the same aggressive Slayer-inspired vein (without the blastbeats though), and "Cadaver Throne" features a riff that reminds me of the main riff in Sepultura's "We Who Are Not As Others" (and this works quite well), plus a kinda groovy breakdown. These three tracks virtually set the tone for the rest of this excellent album.

There are some breakdowns on this album; however, these are more along lines of classic thrash breakdowns known from Exodus and Anthrax and other thrash masters of the 80s. So, do not worry, there's no metalcore on here. On the other hand, there are plenty of powerful thrash metal riffs that should appeal to fans of Slayer, Exodus, Kreator and Artillery.

Musically, the album is very focused, but also quite varied and definitely not boring. There is simply too much aggression and energy in the music for one to get bored.

UMUR "TH1RT3EN" is the 13th full-length studio album by US thrash metal/heavy metal act Megadeth. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in November 2011. The album is notable for featuring the returning bassist Dave Ellefson, who had not recorded with the band since "The World Needs a Hero (2001)".

The music on the album is thrashy heavy metal, which of course is no surprise if you are familiar with the band´s back catalogue. Some of the band´s albums have swung more towards heavy metal than thrash metal and visa versa. "Endgame (2009)" was one of the more thrash metal dominated releases by Megadeth, but with "TH1RT3EN" I think the band have swung a bit more towards heavy metal than was the case on the predecessor. This isn´t as such a bad choice as the band are fully able to deliver powerful, well written and well performed heavy metal as well as thrash metal.

One of the greatest assets on the album is definitely guitarist Chris Broderick who delivers one shredding, melodic lead after another. He is able to lift even some of the more standard tracks to a higher level with his diverse and skillfull playing. The rest of the band are also, as usual, very well playing including frontman Dave Mustaine who delivers yet another sneering and distinct sounding vocal performance. He shows his softer more melodic side on occasion though. His performance in "Millennium of the Blind" is an example of that.

Besides the slightly dry drum sound, which I´m not too fond of, the sound production is really powerful sounding.

"TH1RT3EN" is through and through a quality product and while I don´t find it quite as accomplished as "Endgame (2009)", it´s one of the better post 2000 albums by the band and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

Warthur Although it does begin to flag a little towards the end, The System Has Failed is a reasonable enough comeback album for Megadeth which nonetheless doesn't quite scratch the itch. With another Bush in the White House, there's plenty of real-world political shenanigans for Dave Mustaine to comment on, and unlike his recent foot-in-mouth incidents a lot of what he has to say will probably resonate with most listeners. Still, even though Vic Rattlehead is back in his business suit, the album doesn't quite measure up to Rust In Peace, or Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? - it kicks off with good material, but the band don't quite maintain that momentum over the running time.

RuneWalsh2112 I'm sure that fans of the band's EP were not disappointed with the material that they've got to experience of Helloween's full length album. "Walls Of Jericho" not only shows signs of progression from the raw and unpolished sound of their debut EP but there are also a few more sounds and sights added to the mix.

The album's obligatory intro followed by another classic Hansen scream are just as epic as they were on the EP but then Helloween delivers the track that can easily be considered their best fusion of the Thrash/Speed Metal styles with a hint of Power Metal sprinkled just to add some flavor to the mix. "Ride The Sky" is easily my favorite track on the album, even though the closing number "How Many Tears" does come close to excellence as well on a few occasions.

Unfortunately I've never really enjoyed the more straightforward approach of "Reptile" and "Gorgar", both of which began a trend of filler tracks on all the consecutive Helloween releases. "Guardians" can be considered the first true Power Metal track and it's quite an enjoyable introduction to the sub-genre that the band would be known for in just a few years time. "Phantoms Of Death" and "Metal Invaders" remind me a lot of "Murderer" and "Warrior", from the EP. Both are pretty enjoyable in their own right.

"Heavy Metal (Is The Law)" is a straightforward head banging anthem that I have a love and hate relationship with. It's a pretty awesome track that I love to spin on a few occasions but can never listen to it all the way through because of it's repetitive nature. "How Many Tears" returns the band to greatness. This time it's actually Weikath who shows that he's quite a composer in his own right and that's pretty much everything I have to say about this track!

"Walls Of Jericho" is definitely an excellent debut from a band that we're clearly on their way to greatness. The next two albums might have made them the icons that they are today but I really hope that fans won't overlook the band's humble beginnings since they are definitely worth your time and attention!

***** star songs: Walls Of Jericho (0:49) Ride The Sky (5:57) Guardians (4:19) How Many Tears (7:17)

**** star songs: Phantoms Of Death (6:37) Metal Invaders (4:11) Heavy Metal (Is The Law) (4:02)

*** star songs: Reptile (3:45) Gorgar (3:55)

RuneWalsh2112 We're loud, heavy, melodic and we don't give a f@@k!

The first official recording from Helloween is an obnoxiously wonderful piece of music that most fans of their later material wouldn't have expected from the classic Hansen/Weikath/Grosskopf/Schwichtenberg lineup! Right off the bat we're treated to a massive scream from Hansen and then "Starlight" basically sweeps the listener into submission. "Murderer" and "Warrior" both feature loud and heavy drumming/guitar attack that actually resembles more of the Thrash Metal genre more then the Speed/Power Metal style that the band would be known for in just a few years time.

"Victim Of Fate" is probably the most effective piece of music here. This is where Hansen finally manages to combine his great vocal ability with the songwriting and we're even treated to a slow and heavy section right in the middle of the track that shows the band's ambition of composing epic compositions that would become even more ambitions in a few years time. I'm not really sure why but I've just never been much of a fan of "Cry For Freedom". On paper, it's definitely as interesting as "Victim Of Fate" but I just never dug it as much as the predecessor.

The debut EP from Helloween is easily my favorite piece of music from the classic lineup. The music would get even more ambitious and sleek over the years, but with it the band also lost a lot of their crazy raw energy that I find such an essential part of their sound. Highly recommended to all fans of metal music!

***** star songs: Starlight (5:18) Victim Of Fate (6:38)

**** star songs: Murderer (4:26) Warrior (4:01) Cry For Freedom (6:03)

Conor Fynes 'Outer Isolation' - Vektor (8/10)

Vektor are one of those bands that have been inspiring excitement since they first began releasing music. With vicious musicianship, complex composition and a futuristic sci-fi theme, Vektor recall the glory days of Voivod. Although I rarely call myself a fan of thrash metal, I fully admit that I jumped on the fan bandwagon shortly after hearing their debut, 'Black Future'. 'Outer Isolation' is now the band's second full-length effort, and here they have emphasized some of the things I liked so much about the original, namely their technicality and progressive approach. Sure enough, Vektor have proven that they aren't simply a one-album wonder anymore.

Voivod, Watchtower, and Coroner are all bands that pop into mind when listening to Vektor. As part of this thrash revival movement that's been going on over the past couple of years, Vektor have chosen to represent the technical end of the genre. Although the music here can be just as fast as your typical Slayer song, there is alot more going on in terms of musicianship. With particular regards to the guitar work, there is an impressive attention to keeping things complex. Best of all, the band sacrifices none of their intensity as a result. What we have ultimately is a band manages to take the thrash aggression and marry it perfectly with progressive ambition.

A staple of Vektor's sound has always been the hear-it-to-believe-it voice of frontman David DiSanto. His vocals usually take one of two forms; either a black metal rasp, or an ear- piercing falsetto. The raspy vocals generally take up most of the time, but it's when DiSanto uses his range where it becomes easy to be impressed. The vocals this time around do not have the same shock value as they did on 'Black Future', and though DiSanto attempts to broaden the scope of his vocals with some half-hearted cleans, part of what made DiSanto's vocals so intense on the debut was that they were fresh. Here, the vocals are still spot-on and impressive, but it's largely the same tricks that were pulled with the debut.

'Outer Isolation's musical complexity and technical approach to thrash metal is a bold and consistently impressive achievement. Although it may not be as instantly exciting as 'Black Future', it's definitely a musical improvement over the predecessor, sharpening their musical skills and upping the techy direction to new extremes. If there are any complaints, it would be that each of the songs sound too much alike; although each is immaculately performed and brilliantly composed, the speed and intensity feels somewhat like deja vu by the time this album is over. Regardless, I think the most important thing here is that Vektor cannot be considered anymore to be a band who put out one great album, but rather an act dedicated to releasing consistently impressive music. Without a doubt, this is one of the greatest thrash albums of the new millennium.

Conor Fynes 'Negatron' - Voivod (4/10)

For whatever reason, there came a point in Voivod's career where everything went to hell. up until 'The Outer Limits', Voivod were releasing album after album of classic, engaging, and even groundbreaking material, turning the thrash metal world on its side with a spacey, forward-thinking approach. Sadly, Voivod's vocalist Snake Belanger leaves after an impressive tenure with the band, and in comes his replacement, Eric Forrest. Not to mention that Voivod is just a three-piece at this point, the band has all but split up for all intents and purposes. What is left is a hollow shell of a band that once created some of the best albums metal has ever seen. Although the band would eventually pick themselves back up with Snake's return, 'Negatron' and its follow-up 'Phobos' represent the darkest period of Voivod's career.

AWhile band members have changed, so has the style. The music here would be completely unrecognizable from Voivod's signature prog-thrash sound, were it not for Piggy's distinct style of playing. Incidentally, Piggy's dissonant edge is the best thing about 'Negatron'. As for the rest, Voivod has gone down a fairly lo-fi avenue, throwing away their growing sense of melody in exchange for aggression and noise. In a sense, it is quite like Voivod's two earliest albums, but as all 'back-to-roots' albums usually end up, it doesn't possess the same power. Eric Forrest's contributions are the biggest disappointment. Although some of his vocals manage to get a strong aggression across, he usually sounds like he is trying to scream parts that should have been sung by Snake. Perhaps this is just a fan's bias, but the music feels the loss.

'Negatron' is a darker album than much Voivod work, and that does work to its benefit. I think that the style they chose to go in here is not inherently bad, but the uninspiring songwriting and lackluster ideas lead the album down a path to mediocrity that is best left forgotten by Voivod and their fans.

Warthur Discouraged by their albums languishing in obscurity, shaken by a terrifying bus accident, and disgusted by their record label trying to force them to ditch drummer Andy Galleon rather than waiting for him to recover from his injuries from the crash, Death Angel called it a day in 1991, returning 13 years later with this intriguing reunion album.

It's fairly standard thrash stuff, and on the whole I wouldn't say it's on a par with their original three albums - but it does come pretty close, to the extent that I'd be very interested in hearing more of the post-reunion material (particularly since, judging from the ratings on here, they improve from this point on). To be honest, this album is precisely as good as it needs to be, and no better: it didn't need to be an all-time thrash classic, and it isn't that, but it did need to prove that Death Angel could still thrash like champs, and it certainly does that.

Valarius As I've already said in my review for 'St. Anger'; I'm not a hater of this album. Whilst I recognise it's flaws and why is has been so badly received by music fans, that hasn't stopped me from digging some of the tunes and riffs. And whilst 'The Unnamed Feeling' is one of the stronger tracks from the album, this EP really doesn't do it any justice.

So we have here seven songs in total, the title track of the disc and six accompanying live tracks. 'The Unnamed Feeling' is a good song, and probably one of the more well-received tracks from 'St. Anger', if there were any at all. Unfortunately the live tracks are pretty dull. Bearing in mind that these were recorded in 2003, a time when the band were still finding themselves again and Hetfields vocals were pretty awful, you'd be better off listening to any of the many other live versions of these tracks, and there are plenty of them.

I won't dwell on this one too much. If you're a loyal Metallica fan then this belongs in your collection. However, if you didn't like 'St. Anger' (and that basically means everyone), this EP really isn't worth getting, and the live tracks certainly won't give you any incentive.

UMUR "Set the World on Fire" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Canadian thrash/heavy metal act Annihilator. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in August 1993. The band were on a high roll after releasing two consecutively successful studio albums in "Alice in Hell (1989)" and "Never, Neverland (1990)". Both sold really well and placed Annihilator among the elite of late eighties/early nineties thrash metal acts. However except for bassist Wayne Darley (who would leave shortly after recording the album) and band founder/guitarist Jeff Waters, the whole lineup had been changed before recording "Set the World on Fire" and paired with a more melodic/mainstream songswriting approach, that had some impact on how "Set the World on Fire" ended up sounding.

...while the basis in the music is still thrash metal, Annihilator were always on the more melodic side of the fence and their music also always featured a lot of more traditional heavy metal elements. The music on "Set the World on Fire" generally lean more towards a melodic heavy metal sound than a thrash metal ditto even though tracks like "Set the World on Fire", "No Zone" and "Brain Dance" certainly still feature high speed thrash metal riffing (on a related note, the guitar solo in "No Zone" is nothing short of breathtaking). As a result the album is actually quite a varied listening experience but as a consequence of the variation not necessarily the most consistent one. While his two predecessors were more raw type thrash metal vocalists, new vocalist Aaron Randall is more of a "real" singer who employ a thrash metal singing style.

Other new faces in the lineup are the extremely skilled drummer Mike Mangini (Dream Theater, Extreme, James LaBrie, Steve Vai...etc.) and second guitarist Neil Goldberg. A class ensemble through and through and that´s audible. Paired with the very well sounding production, everything seems to be working in favor of the album. But...because there is a "but" here. Some of the tracks on the album are either not that memorable, formulaic or a little too mainstream pop/rock oriented (some of the lyrics are also downright cringe worthy) and while the best tracks on the album easily warrants at least a 4 star (80%) rating, the tracks that aren´t that interesting bring my rating down to 3.5 stars (70%). We´re still talking a quality release but it could have been better.

Time Signature Clockwork...

Genre: modern thrash metal

On The Age of Hell, Chimaira play a sort of modern thrash metal with references to both industrial metal and alternative rock. Think slayer meets Fear Factory meets Alice in Chains – sounds like a combination destined to be a failure, but it actually works quite well.

The album starts out pretty aggressively with the title track 'The Age of Hell', which is quite the kick-ass track, but on the second track 'Clockwork', Chimaira shows that they are much more colorful with the insertion of melodic choruses sung in a clean, but sort of grungy voice, while the verses are growled. The entire album is a well balanced combination of aggressive furious Slayer-esque thrash metal riffs combined heavy and groovy riffs, some of which have a Machine Head feel to them while others are more in the vein of Fear Factory's mechanico-nightmarish riffage. And as a nice dynamic touch, there are these passages where the guitars a clean and have a more alternative rock feel, and these ar often accompanied by the above-mentioned clean, but grungy, vocals. There are also a couple of really nice metalcore-like breakdowns every now and then, without Chimaira ever susceptible to accusations of relying on breakdowns.

The Age of Hell is a nice reminder that, amidst the horde of retro thrash metal bands (and don't get me wrong, I really like how old school thrash metal has stormed back onto the metal scene over the last couple of years), there are also artists, like Chimaira, who look ahead and move thrash metal forward, while still remaining true to the essence of the art form that is thrash metal.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)

UMUR "The Age of Hell" is the 6th full-length studio album by US thrash/groove metal act Chimaira. The album was released through E1 Music in August 2011. After a couple of lineup changes Chimaira is back with a new hard hitting assault. I´ve followed the band sporadically over the years and while they´ve always maintained a quality level higher than most of their contemporaries, my interest in their releases has been a bit up and down. I think they´ve had a hard time topping "The Impossibility of Reason (2003)", which IMO is their best album. "The Age of Hell" is fortunately in the better end of the scale when it comes to releases by Chimaira.

The music on the album is not easy to tag, as it is essentially a hybrid of thrash, metalcore, deathcore and alternative metal. It´s always been like this with Chimaira though, so it´s not like they´ve changed their core style much on this album. However they´ve written more memorable tunes than usual this time around and I find myself greatly enjoying album. The groovy mid-paced riffing, the occassional fast paced thrashy Slayer-type riffing, the ultra heavy breakdowns, the aggressive vocals (which a few times are close to growls), which are occasinally spiced up by clean Alice in Chains-type clean vocals, and the powerful sound production are all elements that make this album quite the effectful listen if you desire to have your head bashed in, but also desire an occasional more commercially assessible sound. The tracks aren´t terribly adventurous, sticking pretty closely to a vers/chorus formula, but there are little surprises along the way that keep the album fresh. An example is the ambient part a couple of minutes into "Clockwork".

I wouldn´t say Chimaira have reinvented themselves or anything like that, but they´ve upped their game with "The Age of Hell", and the album is certainly a worthy purchase if you´ve enjoyed earlier releases by the band but it would also be a great starting point if you are new to the band´s music. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is warranted.

Kingcrimsonprog Fronted as always by Max Cavelera, Soulfly have lived through enough line-up changes in the past to carry on strong no matter who joins or leaves their fold and deliver more of the same Thrash, Groove and World Music inspired Metal that the band have been creating since their inception a decade and a half ago.

Enslaved is the band’s eighth studio album. It was released in 2012 and finds the band recording with a new rhythm section as bassist Bobby Burns (who had been in the band since 2003) and drummer Joe Nunez (who was in the band since 2000, except for one album) get replaced by Tony Campos of Static-X and David Kinkade of Borknagar.

Lead guitarist Marc Rizzo is now the band’s second longest lasting member behind Max himself, and has become more and more integral to the band’s sound and direction since joining in 2003 (in addition to appearing in alongside Max in his other band Cavelera Conspiracy.)

Where Enslaved fits in with the rest of the band’s catalogue is definitely closer in style to the sound found on the faster and darker albums like Dark Ages than the fun and bouncy tribal sing along albums like Primitive. It is probably the most straight forward, serious and un-experimental sounding album the band have ever done, which counter-intuitively lends the record a really interesting an vital sound.

The style at this stage is completely absent of any Nu Metal influence, with the drumming and guitar generally a lot more clinical and thrash influenced than ever before, however the manage to do so in a manner that feels entirely modern and nothing like homage to the 1980s. The main riff of ‘Treachery’ for example feels almost like it could have been written by Chimaira’s Rob Arnold, and the huge string bends at the beginning of 'Chains' sound a little like recent Cannibal Corpse tracks in a subtle sort of a way.

Enslaved also carves its own position in the Soulfly catalogue by having removed all traces of the World Music interludes, intros and outros that had peppered all of the band’s previous work to at least some extent. Furthermore, the band even went as far as not including a Self-Titled instrumental track in the main album like they had always done on previous records (although one does crop up on the special edition. )

One thing that Soulfly have never been able to stop themselves doing however is include guest appearances by other famous musicians, and on Enslaved this once again proves to be the case as Dez Fafara of Devildriver sings on the track "Redemption Of Man By God," while Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation appears on the surprisingly Death Metal influenced lead single ‘World Scum.’

Overall, Enslaved is a strong, well written and immaculately produced album by a confident and mature band. The direction is dark, precise and heavy modern metal music with a lot of shredding, a lot of speed and no messing around. If your favourite Soulfly albums were the first two and you don’t usually enjoy any Thrash or Extreme Metal then it might not be what you wanted, but if you have enjoyed the direction that the band have been heading in for the last three or four albums then you will be happy to find them charging further down that path and sounding good doing it.

optisailor2002 When Metallica released their "comeback" album, Death Magnetic in 2008, Evile came highly recommended by a friend who was into bands like Metallica as well, claiming that Evile sounded exactly like Metallica. Despite that, and numerous recommendations to listen to Evile, I kept putting it off since Death Magnetic bore me out easily with the long and almost uninspired sounding tracks. However, with Five Serpent's Teeth (and my recent foray into thrash metal), I decided to finally give Evile a chance and gave it a few good listens.

And right from the opening track Five Serpent's Teeth, the comparisons to Metallica became extremely clear to me. The introductory section sounded like what the band would have written back in the 80s, and as the song begins proper, the riffs sound like it could easily come off a track like Battery. If that wasn't sufficient enough to prove the comparisons, just wait for Matt's vocals to come in, sounding extremely similar to James Hetfield not only in terms of his vocal quality, but also in how he chooses to articulate his words and his style of barking out of the lyrics. The riffs of Matt and Ol all sound like Metallica-worship, with references to earlier Metallica material extremely clear and obvious in most of the tracks, and Ol's guitar solos alternate between the chaotic style of Slayer's Kerry King and that of Kirk Hammett. Even drummer Ben's style is reminiscent of Lars Ulrich, with drumming patterns that are a fitting tribute to him., though Ben includes a considerably higher amount of energy in his drumming.

Songwriting-wise, the band also seems to follow the path in the later Metallica stuff, with half of the material on the album being rather mid-paced, rather than the frantic pace that bands like Exodus and Slayer prefer, though the influences from these other Bay Area thrash bands also appear throughout the album, such as on Origin of Oblivion where a Slayer-esque riff greets the listener. Songs like In Dreams of Terror also bring in some melodic moments in the middle of the track, preventing things from getting too dry on the album. There is even a ballad In Memoriam present, like most Metallica albums do.

Unfortunately, the album suffers from being slightly too repetitive, and Matt's vocals tend to get slightly irritating after a few songs, with his monotonous style, and songs on Five Serpent's Teeth lack the charm and hooks that make it memorable, with few songs and moments that really stick in the listener's head even after numerous listens, though the brilliant guitar solo work on the album by Ol and the few faster and energetic tracks like Eternal Empire certainly save the album.

If you found Metallica's Death Magnetic, and the shit that is Lulu disappointing, perhaps you could find some solace in Evile's Five Serpent's Teeth, as they do the Metallica worship extremely convincingly. Or you could simply go back to the early Metallica albums when they did not suck yet.

Originally written for http://www.heavymetaltribune.com/

UMUR "Worship Music" is the 10th full-length studio album by US thrash/alternative metal act Anthrax. The album was released through Megaforce Records/Nuclear Blast Records in September 2011. "Worship Music" is the first album by the band since "We've Come For You All (2003)" and marks the return of former frontman Joey Belladonna who hadn´t recorded original material with the band since "Persistence Of Time (1990)".

After waiting 8 years for a new album expectations have been high from the fans, and listening to "Worship Music" I´m pretty sure most of them are satisfied with what they hear. While definitely not a full fledged thrash metal album, "Worship Music" features more thrash metal elements than any of the four albums released without Belladonna and I think it´s a relief to many. When that is said the album also features traditional heavy metal and alternative/groove metal elements, but it all come together in a style that´s unmistakably the sound of Anthrax and display that the band are neither retrospective nor stagnant in their songwriting style. They´ve always sought to challenge themselves and the metal scene in general and "Worship Music" is another example of that.

The album features several kickass tracks like "Earth on Hell", "The Devil You Know" and "I'm Alive", but also a power ballad type track in "Crawl" and several more melodic tinged tracks like "Fight ´em til You Can´t" and "The Constant". The latter features melodic guitar themes that somewhat remind me of "Potters Field" from "Sound Of White Noise (1993)". So all in all it´s a varied tracklist but at the same time it´s overall a cohesive album. Having Joey Belladonna back behind the microphone doesn´t change that much IMO. He has a slightly more melodic singing style compared to John Bush, but I like them both, and I could easily hear John Bush singing the tracks on "Worship Music" and do them as much justice as Joey Belladonna does. The musicianship is of course excellent throughout the album and the powerful sound production is only another strong asset that makes "Worship Music" a successful release.

"Worship Music" is Anthrax sounding as fresh as ever. I like the fact that even though they´ve somewhat returned to a more thrashy sound, they don´t sound retro. I think they have a pretty contemporary sound without losing their integrity and that´s a pretty hard balance to strike. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

Warthur I don't get why God Hates Us All is so overlooked in the Slayer discography - personally, I see it as the point where things got on the right track after Diabolus In Musica. Is it a perfect album? No, not by any means - in particular, I don't think Paul Bostaph brings a particularly good performance to bear on the drumming, which isn't nearly aggressive enough (though perhaps a tweak or two to the mix might have helped this). Still, it's loud, fast, angry, ugly, thrashy Slayer - you know, the sort of Slayer we all like, right? It's not a classic but it's still an appealing album which fans of their earlier work will like.

UMUR "Epidemic" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Seattle, Washington based thrash metal act Panic. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in June 1991. Panic was formed around 1987 - 1988 and disbanded around 1993 after releasing two albums.

The music on "Epidemic" is US thrash metal influenced by the likes of Overkill, (early) Annihilator and Exodus. Especially the snarling "Fuck you" attitude of the first mentioned is very present on the album. Especially in the way that lead vocalist Jeff Braimes sound. The man oozes attitude. Panic had close ties to Exodus and "Epidemic" is produced by Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt. Both provide guest guitar solos on the track "I Stole Your Love" and Steve "Zetro" Souza also appears as a guest vocalist on that track. But while there are elements in the music that make me think of Exodus, Panic are generally a bit more techncial in their playing style and there are some really impressive riffing on the album. Hence the mention of (early) Annihilator. The opening track "Blackfeather Shake" (which the band also released a promo video for) will tell you all you need to know about the music on "Epidemic". Well played, energetic and attitude filled US thrash metal at it´s best. If I have to voice a slight complaint, it would be that the tracks don´t differ much from each other and that it takes a while before you´re able to tell them apart, but it´s a minor issue, when the delivery is as convincing as it is on this album.

The album is very well produced. It´s the kind of thrash metal production that threatens to tear your head off. I´m very fond of the sound.

People always talk about finding forgotten gems, and "Epidemic" is just that. Being released in the thrash metal hostile year of 1991, Panic sadly never succeeded in the way this quality release should have warranted and the band would turn towards a more alternative sound on their 2nd album "Fact (1993)". Unfortunately they weren´t successful with that sound either and they folded soon after the release of "Fact (1993)". "Epidemic" should please fans of late eighties US thrash metal though and I can highly recommend a purchase. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Time Signature Primitive beast...

Genre: thrash metal

It is time for old school thrash metal courtesy of Monumentor from Germany in the form of their debut EP "Medusa's Throne". And the four tracks on the album are definitely very solid efforts.

After maybe a sort of symphonic intro (which is repeated as outro) the actual style presented on the EP is kicked into gear. We are dealing with old school thrash metal which also contains elements known from very early black metal; that is, this is thrash metal that has much in common with Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost. Like Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, Monumentor seems to also be inspired by crust punk as some hardcore-esque elements pop up every now and then, which gives the EP a slight crossover fell.

The production is gritty and organic, which fits the music quite well. The music itself is, you see, quite organic in nature, and there are a couple of charmingly untight moments every now and then (which is quite okay in this kind of music). The band's two members were previously active in the black metal act Old, so we are definitely dealing with experienced musicians here, and the organic, unmechanical nature of this EP is, I am sure, something they have deliberately aimed for.

"Medusa's Throne" is probably never going to appeal to fans of modern metal, but you love Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, and old school thrash metal and crossover in general, you should certainly buy this EP.

Time Signature Queens of sodomy...

Genre: black-thrash

German black-thrashers Desaster have been at it since the late eighties and are obviously very experienced metal musicians.

On "The Arts of Destruction", like on previous editions releases, the seasoned German band offers hateful and satanic black-thrash. Now, black-thrash often turns out to be rather one-dimensional, and this is obviously something that many see as a positive quality, while others find it monotonous and boring. Desaster do not even have to worry this about, because on this album they manage to capture the primitive energy that constitutes the core of black-thrash, but, at the same time, they ensure that the album as a whole is varied and interesting to listen to.

After a dark and epic intro and the first real song of the album (which is also the disc's title song and an all out black metal affair with some old school metal elements) Desaster reveal their core style in "Lacerate With Hands of Doom", which is an uptempo thrash metal song, based on a few but powerful riffs - some of which are even kind of melodic. The melodic aspect is further explored in "Phantom Funeral" and the epic black metal-oriented "Possessed and Defiled", while "Splendour Of The Idols" is quite heavy. The rest of the album consists broadly of fast and aggressive thrash metal songs that are comparable to early Slayer and early Sacred Reich, as well as Sodom and Destruction.

Production is not exactly polished, but cannot be said to be raw either. There is lots of reverb on the guitars and vocals, which is probably a tactic is meant to emulate the typical metal productions of the 80s.

On the whole, this is an excellent release: it is evil and primitive, but still varied and sometimes melodic, and it will certainly appeal to fans of primitive black-thrash, more melodic thrash metal and black metal .

Time Signature Trademark strangulation...

Genre: death-thrash

Get ready for a barrage of tasty death-thrash in the form of Mordax' debut album "Violence Fraud Treachery".

Solidly rooted in authentic thrash metal, the Danish metal act Mordax also draw on more modern melodic death metal, and this combination of aggression and melody works extremely well on this album, which is full of changes from uptempo brutality to melodic harmonies with groovy riffs to nearly atmospheric passages and so on. Several of the tracks on the album are based on good old fashioned thrash drumming, but the band merges several more groovy and heavier passages into their style of death.thrash, which generates an interesting dynamics.

Mordax are skilled musicians who know exactly what they are doing. The rhythm section is rock solid, and the rhythm guitars are precise, while the guitar leads are both technically advanced and simpler and full of feel.

This album is a fine death-thrash release which combines the best of old and new - traditional and modern - and I think that especially fans of Kreator, Slayer and early Sepultura will adore it.