SUICIDAL WINDS - Chaos Rising (2008)

SUICIDAL WINDS (sweden)
Chaos Rising (2008)
Pulverized Records

This album has been in my P990i music folder for the longest time.. I think for the last 5 months or so. I kind of heard it a couple of times but haven't written anything about this band till now.. Well, they're from Sweden and they play blackened thrash with death metal influences.. The guitars have thrash metal style of playing, blackened lyrics and death metal delivery.

At first, you may mistake the black and white cover artwork for a D.I.Y. cover but actually its just black and white styled to look like D.I.Y. Covers like that are quite a trend in the black underground.

The standard album has eleven thrash tracks but I got twelve including a bonus track that is actually just a bass doodle not really in the vein of the whole album.

Here are some of the thrash tracks:

Slowly We Frost/World's End
The intro is an entire song beautifully dark and evil with slight plucking from one of the guitarist while the other is laying the pavement by distorted guitar then after the whole melody is over it's the world's end with it's high voltage aggression. This song almost symbolizes the word "pulverizing" with its relentless fast lashing out. A relatively short song but done nicely with bass solo parts, a guitar solo and a strong fucking start that really pummels you down with pure harshness and force.

Annihilation And Chaos
This is another onslaught of thrash/death anti anthem. Gives you the picture that you're in the middle of a war zone of metal legions circling around and ready to bring the hurt. I actually like the short guitar solo here kinda reminds you of Kirk in his prime and without the wah-wah effect. Unlike the first song that lays you down gently.. This one is aggressive start to finish.

Chaos Rising
The title track in the middle of the album. This is the pinnacle and epicenter of the whole fucking maelstrom. Short but straight forward combining all their musical influences into a song with pure intensity. This will disintegrate souls.

Straight forward and no pretensions.. short and tight song without mood setting parts. This is pure pain delivered in a terrorizing style. One of the bands that you can practically hear everyone bring something into the sound scape. I love the subliminal bass tracks that spawns out every here and there through out this carnage. The songs may integrate and do sound much a like but if you listen closely these guys really create devastating riffs not found in thrash pretenders. This is truly one thrash album for our collections.



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mnrml/viralreviews/suicidalwinds/chaosrising

HELLISH CROSSFIRE - Slaves Of The Burning Pentagram (2007)

HELLISH CROSSFIRE (germany)
Slaves OF The Burning Pentagram (2006)
I Hate Records

Late night, bad cold, and a splitting headache. Same feeling as earlier doing the 'Sacrifice' review. I'm writing ths review in between cellphone replies and pGMs while this band plays in my Winamp. Great riffs and with raw sounding production.. This is not your average thrash metal band with their dark aura and sound with thrash metal and the extended guitar playing with break-neck speed.. This band is a favorite of the true underground community.

They are fierce and raw like the violent primitives that dwell in hellish places of our worst nightmares. Lurking with primal instinct to kill any foreign being that threatens their place. That place being the thrash throne of metal underground.

There are only seven tracks in this full length album but the tracks exemplifies real rawness of thrash and it's natural form with death and blackened influences to add to the visciousness of the venom they unleash.

Here are some of the tracks:

Claw The Reaper
A brutally fast track with tons of double kicks and staccato beats with he voice of a man maddened man by hellish torture. The riffs here are freakin heavy. From the intro into a mosh groove.. hm.. where have I heard this riff before. The third riff is somewhat in death metal fashion that bring this track further into the depths of hell. Stomping at your dying carcasses burying you deeper in soil.

Hallowed In Fire
This song picks up where the other song left off.. Fast and raw.. This has heavy punk influence.. They went a into a devilish groove of tempting melody in the middle of the song then comes back with an axe and in full speed right back at you with Slayerized guitar solo.. This time a bit shorter than the other guitar solos.. but effective as hell..

Demonic Sacrifice
The riffs here actually haunts me.. Its like a demonic laugh.. Its just me but the riffs here freakin scares me.. but I really don't like the first couple of bar in the guitar solo but they managed to still make it into something awesome by extending it and just blasts with shredding.. The song ends with the same scary riff.

This is an album that is not for everybody nor for those into melodic stuff. This is pure monotonous aggression in raw power. Picking up where the previous track lefts off but manage to add fuckin great riffs in the process. There's a not a whole lot of people that will freakin enjoy with this album because this album is for the criminally insane and that is what thrash metal is all about.


download:
mnrml/viralreviews/hellishcrossfire/slavesoftheburningpentagram

SACRIFICE - The Ones I Condemn (2009)

SACRIFICE (canada)
The Ones I Condemn (2009)
Marquee Records

Feeling freakin down because of this bad cold I'm having right now. Well, there's nothing to take away this feeling for the meantime so let's scan through thrash metal albums while I have no plans of leaving my room. Sacrifice is a Canadian thrash oldies from way back '85.. They're one of Metal Blade Record's gems before but when an unpredicted turn of knife into their career, they disbanded in 1994.. now with the resurgence of thrash, It breathe new life into this band teaching kids how thrash sounds like.

Their brand of thrash is melodic at the same progressive with prevalent influence of heavy metal than aggressive punk but there are really aggressive moments in the album.. Having influenced by Metallica and Slayer, They do not sound like them and that's a really good thing because they can't be labeled as clones of the two gigantic bands.

Here are some their thrash songs:

Give Me Justice
Fast and with high headbanging power.. One of the songs that I think will be a favorite in gigs of this band. Though it sounds a bit like a song from Lazarus AD but this has more intricate guitar lines.. This song is quite short with only 3 minutes plus but done with nice tastes.. the guitars compliment each other that further widens the sound scape of the band..

The Great Wall
This is a slower song with darker groove than the previous song and longer because this song has two parts, the dark groove song proper and the somewhat encore that totally thrashes your eardrums to an unusable state. This is a bit of the new influence they've been affected these times but their execution of groove remains in the thrash area.

Hiroshima
Probably one of the thrashiest songs in this triumphant return. Tight and aggressive, this song is a destruction to all those that oppose. There is a part when it slows down to a state where the tunes picture out death and destruction and there are even seconds of bass solo fills. This is pure Canadian thrash.

This is one of the bands that deserve wider audience and appreciation because they stuck to their roots even with the trend that's going on.. this guys rose from the dead and lashed out the world filled with fake aggression taking the thrash genre for themselves. This is carnage and with blades of steel that supports the extreme metal genre called thrash to remain alive and in its throne.




download:
mnrml/viralreviews/sacrifice/theonesicondemn

FORGERY - Harbouring Hate (2009)

FORGERY (nor)
Harbouring Hate (2009)
Candlelight Records

As I have read from other people that already followed this band from the beginning, this guys started way back 1990's but has went to a hiatus after releasing a few demos. They re-emerged in 2002 to release a full length album then went back to hibernating. And finally now in the present year they came back to release another full length album.

For a band that existed since the 90's they do sound modern. There are thrash components and hardcore aggression done in modern production. I'm a fan of old school thrash so this is not really impressive for me. But for the people that digs the modern aggression, this might work for them.

Here are some of the tracks:

Equilibrium
This reminds me of "Big Truck," the song from Dez Fafara's defunct Coal Chamber. Only this song is faster and has more thrash elements but as most of the newcomers today, the guitar solo only lasted 5 seconds and it was barely a guitar solo. The aggression in undeniable and gets you off your seat into a destroy mode and go circles rampaging. This is a great example of mindless aggression at the center of the mosh pit intoxicated by alcohol and high in meth.

Harbouring Hate
The title track of this very aggressive album. This picks up what the previous song left off. Harsh melodies, stomping and raging the speakers. A very hardcore song that never has time to shift the tempo too much. This is a very bitter song of rampage. A state of mind where you go over the top and just blasts out your angry tank till it's empty. Kind of reminds me of that Crank movie. This never stomps running.

Sever
The longest song of this album. Starts fast and vicious pauses a while then comes running back with claws and axes eager to murder again. There's a lot of chugging riffs here and big grooves that is what everybody is doing right now. There are even slow doomy parts here where you can catch your breath then come running back again. Perfect mosh pit songs to be you worked out to a bloody pulp with broken ribs and jaw.

This album is somewhere between Coal Chamber and Diesel Machine. Hardcorish repetitive riffs comprising of two or three chords and this method will go on for almost an hour. This will really test your endurance. Though I wouldn't listen to this three times a week. you should listen to this once a while then bury it for a year or so then put it on again next year.


download:
mnrml/viralreviews/forgery/harbouringhate

SAVAGE MESSIAH - Inresurrection Rising (2009)

SAVAGE MESSIAH (Eng)
Inresurrection Rising (2009)
Candlelight Records

The cover artwork alone can awe you to scoring this album by any means possible. An English thrash band that doesn't fail to impress with their musicality. They're not aimed to be the next underground brutal band, the have their influence focused on bands like Megadeth. The right mix of thrash aggression and heavy metal classic formulas. They don't force themselves to be heavier than necessary and strays away from the grasps of death metal. After going criminally insane with mindless headbanging from heavier-than-usual bands, Its a refreshing change to listen again to classic heavy metal with sense and melody but with the same integrity.

This is my first time to listen to a record from this band and I'm just lost for words listening to this band while writing this review. Reminds me of Megadeth with high-pitched background vocals similar to Pantera's only thrash album "Cowboys From Hell.." These fellows actually have talent.

Here are some of the tracks:

Inresurrection Rising
The head track. It has a sample at the beginning for a second then straight into a riff fest of heavy fuckin metal the way it should be. Proper pacing and mature songwriting not trying to be uber-heavy. The vocal melody here kind of reminds me of Sebastian Bach and Dave Mustaine with it's hard rock approach yet snarling but blends just right to the music. This song has a high headbanging groove that is irresistible not to get into a headbanging frenzy. The guitar solo is slick and a classic. Not the kind guitarist nowadays do. This is decently longer than the average 5 seconds modern guitar solos.

In Absence Of Liberty
Now this sounds almost like Megadeth in their focused state. Great melody and with the use of acoustic fillers, subliminal bass tracks that break away from the guitar. A cool mellow epic guitar solo that has enough confidence to really bend the notes and show off the skills and it really did great. This song can easily go up the classic metal records.


The Serpent Tongue Of Divinity
The longest title in the album of nine songs and this takes you back to the Cowboys From Hell and Countdown To Extinction era. Though the chorus only says "the serpent's kiss" the actual title is much longer. you can't really deny the similarities with Megadeth and you'll go on rambling over and over while the band unleashes it's fury.


This band will go a long way and they are by far one of the best bands that rose from the thrash metal revival these times. And not actually sounding like Slayer but still earns the thrash title. This goes to show that you don't need to scream all the time to be heavy or aggressive. You don't have to break every speed record known to man just to make a name for yourself. It's just the right influence and proper pacing. This album has it all and even great production of the recording.


download:
mnrml/viralreviews/savagemessiah/inresurrectionrising