Mutilator (Bra) - Immortal Force

Artist: Mutilator (Bra)
Release Title: Immortal Force
Year: 1987 (2016 reissue)
Label: Cogumelo Records (Greyhaze Records reissue)
Genre: Thrash/Death Metal
Tracklisting (original):
1. Memorial Stone Without a Name
2. Blood Storm
3. Butcher
4. War Dogs
5. Mutilator
6. Brigade of Hate
7. Immortal Force
8. Tormented Soul
9. Paranoic Command

Reissue Tracklisting:
1. Memorial Stone Without a Name
2. Blood Storm
3. Butcher
4. War Dogs
5. Mutilator
6. Brigade of Hate
7. Immortal Force
8. Tormented Soul
9. Paranoic Command
10. Evil Conspiracy (Demo)
11. Visions of Darkness (Demo)

Formed back in 1985, Brazilian death/thrash metallers under the name Mutilator were one of the handfull of acts at the forefront of the country’s extreme metal explosion that laid the foundation for the majority of acts to come in the later years to follow. One of the more important and influential albums in the original scene, the groups’ full-length debut was originally released in May 1987 on legendary Cogumelo Records before a variety of reissues including a vinyl version on June 10, 2016 on Greyhaze Records.

Given their time of activity and country of origin, there’s little surprise about what to be found in this release as it’s quite familiar in its approach. This offers up plenty of rabid thrashing rhythms in chaotic, frenetic patterns which offer barely-contained rhythms that explode in energetic outbursts after sections of quiet sprawling between these sections. This set-up, familiar to a large variety of bands from this scene, makes for quite a schizophrenic act with the rather ferocious, raw riff-work throughout here leaving the album full of fast-paced work with wild soloing and plenty of blistering drumming to accompany the frantic work within. Given all this frantic and wild material, there’s a lot of utterly vicious thrashing on display which is surely given a phenomenal boost by the atypical production work. This features that wild and raw sounding production which comes off making the material sound just that extra bit of sloppiness to appear unrehearsed and off-the-cuff like a typical jam session caught on tape, and yet for this album it works perfectly in letting the razor-wire riffing attain that style of speed and urgency which makes for a wholly defined sense of chaos within the music. This is one of the album’s strengths and helps to strengthen the connection between these acts and the more extreme works to come later on, giving this the feel of an important stepping stone in history while enhancing the enjoyment of the work isolated from its legacy. Some might not take that to mean much as it can come off sloppy and disorganized, but it makes for a great time here.

Being quite the impressive and truly vicious thrash release, this is one of the more important releases in the crowded scene from that time-period and works more often than not, making this one a rather influential release and this version of the album essential for all fans of raw, rabid early death/thrash metal.

Score: 95/100

Does it sound good? Order the reissue from here:
https://greyhazerecords.bandcamp.com/album/immortal-force

Deathtale - Whole World Burns

Artist: Deathtale
Release Title: Whole World Burns
Year: 2016
Label: Terrasound Records
Genre: Thrash/Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. The Fallen
2. Flesh for Sale
3. From Hell
4. Everything Changes
5. Before Blood Flows
6. Death Machine
7. Whole World Burns
8. Phoenix Theory
9. Warpath
10. Into the Abyss
11. Silent Eulogy
12. From Hell (German version)

Following the acclaim of their previous release, Austrian thrash/death metallers Deathtale carries on with the rabid style of 80s influenced thrash with the fury and intensity of death metal into a more powerful, vicious entity. Enduring a host of line-up problems with the loss of guitarists Max Dengler and Peter Musch for Arian Rezale as well as seeing vocalist Jan Geyer being replaced by Patrick Pieler, their second full-length release is originally released February 12, 2016 on Terrasound Records.

For the most part throughout here there’s a strong and extremely well-defined mixture of ravenous thrashing and plenty of deep, churning riff-work that manages to get plenty of rather explosive rhythms and charges throughout here. With their more enhanced and balanced writing bringing out a strong series of vicious, cutting riff-work that takes on the more intense end of the thrash scene with more violent rhythms from the death metal style aggression packed into them, the whole effort has a rather engaging intensity that allows for plenty of enjoyable energetic rhythms that pack plenty of solid moments throughout here. By furthering those intense rhythms with a stuttering modernized metalcore-style series of riffing that packs in sprawling tempos alongside the tight, speed-driven rhythms and utilizing a strong melodic framework in the soloing and intros that’s exceptionally pleasing and enjoyable this one really gets a lot right with it’s strong attack. The only areas it really stumbles are the few spots where it drops the thrashing altogether for a sort of sprawling metalcore-influenced chug that simply plods along with somewhat lifeless rhythms and dull energy that stands as a stark contrast to what came before elsewhere on the album which had plenty of more engaging and interesting arrangements throughout here. Thankfully, this is kept to a minimum and the whole album comes off much better as a whole.

Though there’s a few minor troubling issues at work here with this one that mainly comes from the tines that it slightly stumbles in keeping the energetic riffing up, there’s still more than enough viciousness and intensity that works well here that it really becomes a fun listen to fans of more violent modern thrash or aficionados of this sort of vicious thrash/death metal style.

Score: 92/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://v3.skullmerch.com/front/article.php?art=296

Death Courier - Demise

Artist: Death Courier
Release Title: Demise
Year: 1992 (2016 re-issue)
Label: Psychosis (Nuclear War Now! Productions re-issue)
Genre: Thrash/Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Demise
2. Swamplife
3. Copkiller
4. Interior Crushfield
5. Assaulted
6. Mindwarp
7. The Haunter of the Dark
8. Bioartificial Lusts
9. Infected
10. Lunatic Messiah

At the time of it’s release, Greek thrash/death metallers Death Courier were among the few acts in the country that weren’t paying homage to the exploding Scandinavian black metal scene, and originally split up in 1993 almost immediately after this release. Having reformed in 2009 with a new line-up and a second album already released, their full-length debut is now reissued August 15, 2016 on Nuclear War Now! Productions after an initial release in 1992 on Psychosis Records.

There’s a lot to rather like about this release, which starts up-front with the dynamic riff-work. This is rather impressive as the tight, deep-churning riffing is given a wide-berth on the release, managing to utilize either the galloping up-tempo thrash patterns or a slower, churning sprawl that takes the path of death metal acts from that time-period, it’s quite a variance on display that’s more than adept at merging these two styles together as the genres were still blurred in this period yet are still quite prominently featured here. That kind of overtly obvious display makes the material appear even more obvious here with the frantic thrash riffing generating the kind of up-tempo, chaos-riddled madness alongside the utterly furious blasting drumming which is all quite impressively handled while also managing to drop the chaos in favor of a slower, lurching crawl that favors the heavier end of the spectrum. Being able to accomplish all this while being able to feature tight, shortened tracks here is a great feat as well that further makes for a great time here as it manages to get a lot of variety and impact out of a shortened running time, almost contradictory to most other bands who can’t master that kind of variance and dynamics in tracks nearly double the length of some of these. Some of the chaotic material might seem schizophrenic and disjointed to some, but the maturity and prowess demonstrated leaves some rather impressive work featured here.

Despite a case where it does seem to cram too much into itself for it’s own good,that’s a rather nagging and barely worthwhile element to be found here with this one as it’s one of the more clear-cut and enjoyable examples of the styles in the genre and is wholly recommended to all fans of that particular style or just ravenous, vicious thrash in general.

Score: 93/100

Does it sound good? Order the re-issue from here:
http://nuclearwarnowproductions.bandcamp.com/album/demise

Dystonia - World Wide War

Artist: Dystonia
Release Title: World Wide War
Year: 2016
Label: Self-Released/Independent
Genre: Thrash Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Starvation
2. No Chance to Return
3. Consumer
4. Justice
5. We Are All Condemned
6. Holocaust
7. Eternal Nuclear Winter
8. Downfall

From their 2010 beginning, Russian thrash/death metal band Dystonia have turned their trade on making a rather nice and appealing mixture of modern-sounding death and thrash metal mixed together. Finally unleashing their debut offering, self-released digitally May 9, 2016, this concept album about the near future of humanity, total war, genocide and a worldwide nuclear winter offers up a strong opening impression.

For the most part the album is pretty simple and straightforward, taking the heavy-hitting thrash rhythms and tight, swirling rhythms along through the rather fun, dynamic paces featured here. The riffing is generally tight, crunchy and just a shade about the chug-laced rhythms favored by a vast majority of modern thrashers that creates a fine mid-tempo charge throughout here that does manage to include a scattered amount of fiery up-tempo segments blistering with fine amounts of raging drumming and a far more overt series of old-school riffing rhythms that allow for some rather dynamic sections buffeted against these more violent, vicious sections elsewhere throughout here. It’s not all that heavily flavored with the death metal rhythms at all and really only adds it into select spurts and starts in the tracks which is where this one seems to slightly stumble in that there’s these minor sections that showcase death metal riff-work or just switch down the tempo into a heavier, tighter series of rhythms that signal their death metal influences yet it does so awkwardly against the thrashing which is clearly far more of a priority in their arrangements and patterns. Due to that, it’s unclear whether this is a cause of their inexperience in being unsure how to properly work those into their music as a whole or just a part of their sound that’ll get rearranged as it goes along their career, but yet overall there’s some rather weak transitions throughout that does crop up from time-to-time. The length might be an issue for some, with only the seven original tracks and then the instrumental outro, but overall it’s not really all that much of a detriment at all.

Though it has some growing pains evident throughout here as there’s signs of inexperience crawling throughout here, it has more than enough signs of competence and youthful aggression that it should be a more-than-adequate effort for those looking for some vicious-sounding modern thrash or simply thrash fanatics in the first place.

Score: 80/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://dystonia.bandcamp.com/

Scolopendra - Cycles

Artist: Scolopendra
Release Title: Cycles
Year: 2016
Label: Dooweet Records
Genre: Thrash/Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Dream Sequences
2. Purity
3. Awake Nightmare
4. Spartan Killer Instinct
5. Morbid Psychosis
6. Mental Torture
7. Psychic Paralysis
8. End of Tunnels
9. Pinhole of Diffraction
10. Pinhole of Diffraction (Part 2)
11. Psychotic Mass Murderer
12. Soul Dissolution

The debut full-length from French thrash/death metal band Scolopendra manages to contain enough quality points to be a viable entry in the style moving forward. Based around a tight, crunchy thrash attack with the scattered deathly riff-work and vocals, this here is a lively affair full of dynamic rhythm changes and wholesale tempo shifts. The riffing here is capable of deftly maneuvering through these shifts with great ease, either at a generous mid-tempo gallop littered with steady, simple drumming, swirling thrash rhythms rattling along at a fine heavy charge or just bursting into full-throttle paces that explode with tight energy and frantic rhythms that allow their death metal roots the most opportunity to shine nicely here. Those are where the band really gets quite a lot of mileage out of this one, and showcase the most promise overall with their style generating it’s best work overall, though the fact that it gets quite so many chances is another story here since there’s a few too many tracks featured which manage to come off a little too bloated despite a shorter running time than expected here due to the shorter tracks on the second half which really comes into making this one quite so troubling. The tracks all featured along the upper half here tend to get a little more dynamic and lively work with the more involved rhythms and longer overall running time, while the second half does get short-changed by going more for brief instrumentals and shorter arrangements, leaving this somewhat lopsided and uneven with the differences becoming quite apparent about this minor stylistic change. Beyond this though, there’s not a whole lot really working against it.

The first half has some rather enjoyable work about it. Instrumental intro ‘Dream Sequences’ takes a series of industrial noise riffing droning on into proper first track ‘Purity’ as the tight, crunchy riff-work and thrashy drumming work through a series of intense patterns with the razor-wire riffing working nicely alongside the furious drumming as the mid-section delves into a series of meandering melodic rhythms that charges back into the frantic blasting in the final half for a strong opener. ‘Awake Nightmare’ gradually works from light trinkling riffing that turns into a strong series of raging rhythms fueled by more frantic, full-throttled riff-work and pounding drumming that keeps building into the rather loose, bouncy rhythms rattling along through the finale for another rather strong and enjoyable effort. ‘Spartan Killer Instinct’ features tight, crunchy mid-tempo riff-work that explodes into utterly frantic and blasting patterns with plenty of charging up-tempo riffing bringing along the intense swirling riffing along throughout the solo section and bringing the stuttering, crunchy rhythms thrashing into the final half for an enjoyable and dynamic highlight. ‘Morbid Psychosis’ is another industrial noise collage offering a lead-in for next track ‘Mental Torture’ features swirling droning riff-work with plenty of plodding rhythms that carry on at a straightforward, simplistic chugging series of rhythms with hard-hitting-yet-simple drumming that picks up some energetic patterns driving along into the frantic final half for a decent enough if overall bland offering.

The second half is a little sub-standard but still has some solid points. ‘Psychic Paralysis’ features ravenous razor-wire riffing and plenty of blasting up-tempo drumming that settles on a frantic, up-tempo pace with a series of tight chugging riff-work alongside the more thunderous and savage pounding drumming that works through the tight finale for another rather blistering highlight. ‘End of Tunnels’ uses the sampled speech and chaotic noise to lead into next track ‘Pinhole of Diffraction’ as the savage swirling riffwork and pounding drumming burst through the chaotic opening before settling on a bouncy, mid-tempo paces with stuttering rhythms and pounding drumming that soon builds to a frantic finale for another strong effort. Bleeding through into follow-up ‘Pinhole of Diffraction (Part 2)’ with swirling stuttering rhythms with savage drumming taking the furious paces and tight riff-work alongside the savage, unrelenting drum-work that thumps along to rather enjoyable, bouncy patterns that work throughout the enjoyable finale for another rather enjoyable effort. ‘Psychotic Mass Murderer’ gradually fades into a thumping mid-tempo chug with plodding drumming and tight, stylish riffing with a light, sluggish rhythm holding loose swirling riffing into a mindless repetitive series of riffing throughout the final half for an overlong, unneeded and overall bland offering that doesn’t really belong here. Finally, album-closer ‘Soul Dissolution’  features distorted industrial noises and squealing effects driving into the classical piano notes alongside the deep droning sounds leading into the finale for another dull offering that  really leaves this on a doubly bad impression.

Though it does come up a little short in the second half, there’s a whole lot of enjoyable work on display here when the band does get their sound right that this is an easy listen to fans of death fueled thrash metal or those curious about the band as they begin their careers overall.

Score: 84/100

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https://www.facebook.com/scolopendraofficial/

Dethrone (Swe) - Incinerate All

Artist: Dethrone (Swe)
Release Title: Incinerate All
Year: 2016
Label: Massacre Records
Genre: Thrash/Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Reborn in Fire
2. The Plague Carrier
3. Rat King
4. Morbid Existence
5. Spiritual Deception
6. Where Darkness Dwells
7. I Am God
8. Failure
9. Dawn of Demise
10. The Inevitable End

The second full-length from Swedish thrashers Dethrone continues to follow the old-school way of bristling and energetic full-on mixture of death and thrash metal. Judging from the music alone, it’s pretty clear that what’s on display here is prime-era Swedish-styled thrash that was exploding on the scene at the start of the last decade, and it’s carried over here. Ripping razor-wire thrash riff-work, sounding not too dissimilar to the burgeoning Metalcore scene, dominates this one from the get-go and shows a keen ability of this one feeling like a revival act for that time period letting the more vicious patterns and arrangements get utilized instead of the tight crunch and more traditional riff-work that made it’s way in the Bay Area influenced acts. There’s even a nice amount of chugging patterns here to further that connection within the music, and combined with the odd moment of melodic interjections in the leads featuring explosive soloing and more dexterous, dynamic drumming that keeps things in spurts or offering a mid-song breakdown to lead back into some fine intense thrash patterns, this becomes quite fun and far more rousing than it really should be. This does manage to feature the bands’ old-school influence quite nicely but also holds it back from the standpoint of wearing those influences far too close to the vest as it were. There’s not a whole lot of originality on display, running through many of the same patterns and riff-work that was on offer there which is only given a more melodic boost with the leads featured here but is otherwise still very much of that style for the most part.

The first half here is a fine starting point to this one. Opener ‘Reborn in Fire’ gradually builds into a frenzied series of swirling riffing leading into thumping rhythms and frantic, full-throttle tempos running along the frantic thrashing riff-work buoyed by razor-wire melodic hymns and pounding drumming leading into the melodic solo section and into the swirling finale for an explosive highlight offering immediately. ‘The Plague Carrier’ uses pounding drumming and stylish technically-precise riffing to lead through the steady, mid-tempo thumping pace that features plenty of melodic flurries to offset the steady pounding riff-work swirling along into the final half for an enjoyable effort. ‘Rat King’ features tight, immediate riff-work and thumping dexterous drumming keeping a fine mid-tempo pace with plenty of steady swirling melodic thrashing patterns swirling along into the frantic stylish riffing and dexterous patterns along the steady mid-tempo finale for a decent enough effort. ‘Morbid Existence’ uses a thumping mid-tempo series of swirling riff-work and pounding drumming that holds a steady pace with the frantic interludes bringing the fiery melodies along into the rather dynamic choppy rhythms pounding along to the up-tempo pace into the solo section and on through the final half for a rather enjoyable if unspectacular offering. ‘Spiritual Deception’ immediately blasts through swirling razor-wire riffing and dexterous drumming that keeps the tight melodic rhythms running along into the fine breakdowns holding the melodies through the frantic series of buzzing riff-work following the tight leads into the melancholic finale for a rather enjoyable effort.

The second half does come off a little better in regards to some better songs overall. ‘Where Darkness Dwells’ uses a series of tight and blistering riffing with plenty of heavy thumping rhythms and dexterous drumming with frantic, fiery melodic leads running along to the mid-tempo speed-drenched rhythms that hold the tight riffing into the solo section and on through the charging final half for a strong effort overall. ‘I Am God’ features a tight, thumping build-up intro into a series of explosive patterns racing along at frantic stuttering tempos letting the steady riffing thrash along to the steady patterns leading into the strong melodic leads as the frenzied patterns hold out into the tight finale for another strong track. ‘Failure’ takes strong swirling riff-work chugging along with utterly relentless double-bass blasts and tight crunchy riff-work carrying a strong series of melodic rhythms running along through the strong series of twisting leads in the solo section and carrying on through the final half for a really impressive highlight. ‘Dawn of Demise’ utilizes raging swirling riff-work and blistering drumming through a frenzied pace with a steady series of mid-tempo pounding drumming and plenty of crunchy razor-wire patterns leading along through the choppy thrash patterns full of crunchy riff-work into the finale for a decent enough effort. Album-closer ‘The Inevitable End’ uses crunchy riffing alongside frantic drumming and plenty of razor-wire rhythms keeping the steady mid-tempo pace along throughout the steady series of intense riff-work with plenty of sterling razor-wire patterns leading into the dexterous drumming that carries along the final half for an enjoyable enough lasting impression.

Though nothing here is really all that innovative or original, there’s a noticeable enthusiasm with regard to how this comes off that makes this old-school throwback far more compelling than it really needs to be and makes this an ideal choice for the old-guard for Swedish-flavored thrash or thrash in general.

Score: 84/100

Does it sound good? Order from here:
http://dethroneswe.bandcamp.com/