Ripper: Sensory Stagnation (2019)

Last October I covered the 2016 album from Chilean thrashers Ripper, Experiment of Existence.  I was blown away by that album and so when the opportunity to pick up their 2019 EP arose, I jumped on it. 

On my first listen to this album, I recall being somewhat disappointed with it.  It did not have quite the same raw savagery that the previous album I heard had.  But repeated listens led to me discovering more and more about the EP and falling for it.  It is different than the prior release I heard, but that is not such a bad thing.

The primary thing I noticed is that there is a bit more technicality to this album.  That is especially obvious in the rather impressive bass parts which bear a strong resemblance to such tech thrash luminaries like Heathen and Atheist.  But the guitar riffs seem pulled straight from the Kreator catalog, fast and intense.  The vocals too have that Mille Petrozza snarl to them.  The result is a release that blends aspects of German thrash, South American death and American technical thrash.  That is quite the mix.

As I said, this release did not jump out at me on the first listen, but repeated listens have my attention.  I still do not think I like it quite as much as the previous album, but it is damn good in its own right.

Initial Impressions: Testament: Titans of Creation (2020)

I am interrupting my current and ongoing pile of albums to review to jump this one way ahead.  Why?  Well, because it's fucking Testament.  That's why.  As longtime readers know, Testament is my favorite band.  I came to this realization a few years back, though they have always been high on the list.  I just love everything from the band.  And they are one of the few bands whose every new release I grab right away.  This was no exception.

So how is it?  Fucking.  Awesome.  I love this album.  This is quite possibly Testament's best album since The Gathering, which was an absolute monster itself.  To begin with, the current iteration of Testament is one of the greatest collections of talent in metal right now.  The rhythm section itself is peerless, consisting of human metronome Gene Hoglan and fretless bass master Steve DiGiorgio.  And then there is the guitar duo of Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson who play off of each other better than anyone since Iron Maiden's heyday.  Skolnick deserves special mention as a one-of-a-kind talent.  Finally Chuck Billy has one of the most distinctive voices in thrash metal and sounds better than he has in years.  Probably again since The Gathering.

A band can have all of the talent in the world, but if the songs are not great, the album will be a failure.  Luckily here we have some amazing songs.  Each one of them dynamic and intriguing in their own ways.  The standouts are "Night of the Witch", which is reminiscent of the aforementioned The Gathering.  That is to say an exceptionally dark song.  "Catacombs", the album closer, is a short instrumental built around the opening riff to "Low", which is a nice callback.  And finally, and most importantly, "Dream Deceiver" is quite possibly Testament's best song in years.  With a Priest-esque chorus and an exceptional Skolnick solo, it makes an immediate and lasting impact.

I have loved every release by Testament, but it is clear that the band has been on an upswing over the last few years.  Each release since their reunion album The Formation of Damnation has been better than the one before.  The biggest improvement on this one is Skolnick's playing.  He seems rejuvenated somehow.  And what results is an absolutely terrific album from the thrash titans.  This album will be tough to beat at the end of the year.  An early contender for Album of the Year.

On a personal note, Steve DiGiorgio, Chuck Billy and his wife have apparently recently tested positive for COVID-19.  I wish them all the best of luck getting through this.

Holocausto: Diário de Guerra (2019)

Holocausto's history dates all the way back to the mid 1980's, rising out of Brazil around the same time as the much better known Sarcófago and Sepultura.  And honestly, the music definitely shows.  While the aforementioned bands have adapted and evolved over time, Holocausto's sound now still sounds like it has not changed at all.

This is the band's first album since 2005, which is not the band's only hiatus, as that was their first album since 1993.  The band's sound on this release is rooted in the sound of Sodom demos (and the album cover proves the obvious Sodom influence) and the early extreme metal sound from South America, like the bands mentioned above.  The songs are mostly simplistic, based around one or two riffs per song and only really diversifying their sound through the use of samples of warfare that break through at times.  There are exceptions of course.  The title track is the best song on the album as it breaks into a groove-laden thrash break that will have heads banging.  But for the most part, this is extremely raw and ferocious, yet simple tracks.

This is probably not for everyone.  There is nothing particularly pretty here and it is just pure raw aggression.  It is also not particularly original.  Those who do not care for the early roots of South American extreme metal will probably not care for it.  This is nothing new, but it's still a lot of fun.

Nasty Savage: Nasty Savage (1985)

This album is something of an underrated gem.  I suspect much of the reason that Nasty Savage has gone by unnoticed by so many is the fact that they were really not part of any actual scene.  Arriving in the mid 1980's, at a time when thrash metal was rising to power, they formed in Florida.  Not the Bay Area.  Not New York.  Not even Canada or Germany.  So they flew in under the radar.

The music here is terrific. fast-paced traditional metal with some thrash metal riffs and air raid siren vocals.  There is nothing exceptionally technical here or really anything that makes the band stand out all that much.  They do not do anything super original.  It is just well-crafted, catchy metal riffs.  The songwriting really deserves some credit because each of the songs sticks with the listener long after the album is over. 

The vocals are the star here.  The lead singer Nasty Ronnie is exceptional.  He has a wide vocal range that he uses to great effect throughout the album.  For much of the album, he uses a mid-range style frequently used in thrash metal, but he can unleash some truly blood-curdling shrieks at times.  He also has a lower-pitched gruff style that he uses at other moments.  Nasty Ronnie almost single-handedly keeps the album entertaining through his varied vocal approach.

This album is one reason why I like tracking down Metal Blade releases from the 1980's.  There are so many gems from that time period and the label really did a fantastic job finding talented bands, even if very few of them went on to stardom.  This is yet another of those gems that Metal Blade had so many of during the 1980's.

Transmetal: Burial at Sea (1992)

How the hell am I just now hearing about this band?  Transmetal is a Mexican thrash/death metal band who has been around since the mid 1980's and still continues pumping out music now.  They have also been incredibly prolific at various points in their career.  They have released an astounding 24 albums in their career and this album was one of two released in 1992 alone.  That is damn impressive.  The three constant members of the band are brothers, something, which is also impressive considering how long the band has lasted.  My brothers and I would have never been able to pull something like this off.

This album, much like everything else Transmetal has released, flew under the radar.  That seems to be the case about most of their material because all told they only have three total reviews on their Metal Archives page.  That is a damn shame because this album would have fit in quite well with the thrash metal scene as it was in the early 1990's.  I am talking about the progressive song structures and experimental riffing style.  It is not an overly aggressive sound, though there are some crushing riffs at times.  Think a less technical version of Heathen for an example.

The musicianship on the album is very impressive and the band is not content to write standard song progressions.  Riffs tend to drop out of nowhere and solos occur seemingly randomly.  But there is a method to the madness and the album actually manages to flow quite well.  The vocals have some unusual effect where they sound somewhat muffled and echoing. 

This album appears to be the first English-language album from Transmetal.  Unfortunately, it still failed to gain much of a following.  But this album is pretty damn good and I need to look into more of the band's catalog.  I certainly will after this release.

Onslaught: Power from Hell (1985)

Onslaught has had a lot of different styles over the years.  Starting out life as a hardcore punk band, they later morphed into Slayer-like thrash metal band, then going in a more progressive thrash direction when Grim Reaper legend Steve Grimmett briefly joined the band.  They then split up and re-formed a few years later with Sy Keeler back behind the mic. 

During this time period, Onslaught released a number of should-be classic metal albums, yet remained very much in the underground, rarely capturing much attention.  This is a shame because Onslaught is probably one of the best thrash metal bands from England, ever.  I would put them behind only Sabbat, and a little ahead of Xentrix.

This album is Onslaught's debut, and the band is firmly in the thrash metal portion of their career.  Blackened thrash is perhaps a decent description, fitting in well with the sounds of Bathory and Sodom at the time.  And the Show No Mercy Slayer-isms come through loud and clear as well.  The album is a fast-paced tour-de-force of rampaging riffs, pounding drums and gritty vocals.  And the album does a damn fine job of capturing an effectively evil atmosphere.  And again with that I must bring up the similarities to early Slayer. 

Onslaught is a criminally underrated band who has released a number of great albums over the years.  Their debut is one of those releases and should be held up as a classic of the fledgling thrash metal scene.  The fact that it is not is a damn shame.

Sarcófago: Rotting (1989)

Hmm, I am not really sure why I have not talked much about Sarcófago on this blog.  I have mentioned albums in passing, even had a couple of posts where I talked about their legendary debut I.N.R.I., but I have never actually reviewed one of their albums before.  This seems like an oversight.

Well, today I will be covering the 1989 EP that was at once the follow-up to I.N.R.I. and a turning point for the band.  The band is partly famous for being the group Wagner Antichrist (probably not his real name) created after leaving Sepultura.  He was Sepultura's first singer, though he never appeared on any recordings. 

This album marks a step forward musically by the band.  Where I.N.R.I. was characterized by its raw and primal aggression and fairly simple songwriting, Rotting is a push by the band to expand their musical boundaries.  It is still filthy and grimy blackened thrash metal, but there are more progressive song structures and blazing lead guitar lines with some melody and solos this time around.  Almost every song on this release is over six minutes in length progressing through a number of movements to keep things from getting stale.  None of the songs on the prior release reached that length.  The vocals have not changed, still maintaining that psychotic rasp that they had on the prior release.

Sarcófago has taken a step forward musically on this album, while retaining some of the twisted aggression that marked their debut album.  This EP is still essential to fully grasping the Brazilian extreme metal scene, but less so than the debut. 

Antichrist: Sinful Birth (2017)

I have always been open about how much I enjoy thrash metal.  It is likely my favorite metal subgenre, and certainly the one that originally got me into metal.  I have done posts before looking at thrash metal bands from around the world, yet one country's scene has somewhat eluded me all this time.  There are so many genres Swedish metal bands do well, but I have not been able to really discover their thrash metal scene beyond a few bands who do fusion genres or who exist on the borderline between thrash and death metal.  In my Worldwide Thrash Metal post, I mentioned The Crown, who are more of a death/thrash metal band, and Guillotine, a side project.  Then there is The Haunted and Witchery, both of whom have other influences beyond thrash in them.  I just have not really been able to find too many straight thrash metal bands from Sweden yet.

Antichrist is one such band, although since they are relatively new, they are not a great example of what the Swedish thrash metal scene would have originally sounded like.  In fact, it seems to me that Antichrist's major influence is not a Swedish band at all.  There is a lot of Possessed influence here, from the album cover, to the music.  In fact, some tracks sound almost as if they were lifted directly from Seven Churches.

The songs here are generally fast-paced with frenetic, balls-to-the-wall riffs and steamroller drumming.  The drums are probably the highlight here, doing some insane fills and cadences that really capture the listener's attention.  I have long said that the only real times that the drums in metal bands are truly noticed are when they are really fucking good or really fucking bad.  This is definitely the former.  The vocals have the kind of sinister, evil edge to them to fit in quite well with the rest of the music, which captures every bit of the atmosphere of the legendary Possessed album referred to above.

This is an album that kind of slipped by unnoticed a couple of years ago, which is a shame.  Obviously, Antichrist does not really do anything brand new, but their brand of Possessed worship is infectious.  I am looking forward to hearing more, though I still have not really scratched the surface of real Swedish thrash metal yet.

Destruction: Born to Perish (2019)

Destruction is one of the Big Three of German thrash metal, however they have generally been my least favorite of the three.  That is not to say that I do not enjoy them.  Release from Agony is a fantastic album and their first three albums are absolute classics from the scene.  It is just that I have typically preferred Kreator and Sodom over Destruction.  All that being said, Destruction's later albums have been the best of the three bands.  That is certainly true when comparing each band's most recent album.

This is the band's fourteenth full-length album of original material (they did release two albums of re-recorded tracks).  And very little has changed in the band's sound.  Founding members bassist/vocalist Schmier and guitarist Mike Sifringer remain with the band, forming the backbone and crafting the sound that has served Destruction well for almost forty years.  So what have here is typical for the band: rampaging riffs, blazing leads and sneering vocals.

Destruction has once again released an album full of catchy-as-hell songs.  Tracks like "We Breed Evil", "Butchered for Life" and the title track are bound to get stuck in listeners' heads.  The only real complaint I can make is that there is not much variation between the tracks and the band has basically released this exact same album every time for the last fifteen years.  That being said, Destruction knows what they are doing and they do it quite well. 

I always enjoy a new Destruction album.  While they do not really ever reinvent the wheel these days, they still pack a wallop in each new release and they have been amazingly consistent over the years.  This is unlikely to rate on my top albums list, but there is something to be said for some good, old-fashioned thrash metal.

Underrated Albums: Slayer: Show No Mercy

Show No Mercy is my personal favorite Slayer album.  Not Reign in Blood, Not South of Heaven, not Seasons in the Abyss.  Show No Mercy stands out as completely unlike any other Slayer album, mostly because the band had not truly found the sound that would eventually define them.  So while it is the least Slayer-like album, that quality is what actually makes it so damn good.

This album is Slayer's debut and their sound here is much closer to the evil, chaotic NWOBHM sound that was crafted by Venom.  The sound is much more melodic, yet retains the same dark and malevolent atmosphere that the band later became so well-known for.  What is missing from this album that later became the band's trademark is their kind of warlike, mechanical and precise riffing style.  This album feels much more human and raw.

The other difference with this album is the significantly more melodic vocal style used by Tom Araya.  He exhibits some terrific range and unleashes some truly blood-curdling shrieks here, something became increasingly rare as the band continued to release albums.  In fact, Araya's vocal style became decidedly one dimensional as time went on.

Slayer did play the title track to this album at the concert last week, but that was the only one from it.  It is likely that Araya simply cannot do justice to the vocals anymore and this is not close to the band's most popular album.  But it is still their best in my opinion.

The Mist: Phantasmagoria (1989)

Holy shit.  I passed this album over a few times recently because the cover art and the band name just did not quite grab me.  Sure, the art is good, but I have seen this same piece on some Lovecraft books I own and the Cause of Death album from Obituary.  So it just did not do much for me.  But finally, I decided to take a chance on it and I am definitely glad I did.

The Mist is a thrash metal band from Brazil that borders on the much more extreme side of things.  The band fit in well with the early works of Sepultura and Sarcófago.  The band piles on the riffs and drums and is absolutely relentless in their attack.  The riffs are not overly technical, but they hit hard and have a grimy, dirty sound to them that is rather common in the Brazilian extreme metal scene of the 1980's, and is oft-mimicked even today.  Every single song on this album should be a classic.  This is truly impressive extreme thrash metal.

The vocals call to mind early albums by Death.  The singer has the same kind of gruff, sepulchral rasp that Chuck Schuldiner used to great effect.  It is not a true death metal vocal style, but is anything but clean. 

I want to take a short time to talk about the bass.  Bass is often overlooked in metal, except for when it is truly exceptional (such as anything Steve DiGiorgio is in).  This is one of those exceptional cases.  The bass work is absolutely incredible.  It can always be heard and provides a rumbling backbone of the guitar riffs.  There are times it is doing something completely unexpected and the album is all the better for it.  The bass is truly the star of this album.

This album has a bit of a cult following to it and for damn good reason.  This is an exceptional thrash metal album from a scene that put out a number of them.  The Brazilian thrash metal scene has remained largely underground, with the exception of Sepultura, but it should be much better known.  This album fits right in with the giants of that scene.  It is a shame that The Mist did not last long.

Sabbat: Evoke (1992)

Here we have the third out of three posts in a series about the first three albums by Japan's Sabbat, not to be confused with the U.K. Sabbat.  In a bizarre accident, I ended up reviewing these in a seemingly random order.  Well, I guess there was some semblance of an order, because if I had to rank them in order of favorite to least favorite, it would be Disembody, Envenom, then Evoke.

When I was first listening to this album in anticipation of writing a post about it, I felt that this album was decidedly weaker than the other two.  It was not that the songs were bad, it was just that they were a little too safe.  That may not have been the case at the time, but there are a lot of bands who play this general style of metal anymore.  The songs were fine, but just not particularly attention-grabbing.

And then the second half started.  Several songs grabbed my attention.  "Hellhouse (Kanashibari Pt. 3)" is the most dynamic song on the album.  The song builds up an impressive eerie atmosphere and features some spine-tingling clean vocals.  "The Curse of Phraoh" is obviously hilariously misspelled but the Egyptian-sounding riff definitely grabs the listener.  It does start out sounding like a cover of Iron Maiden's "Powerslave", but veers off quickly.  Finally, "Beyond the River" is absolutely terrific, with the best riff on the album and some infectious hooks.

This one is a little uneven, but still a good enough album.  I do not like it as much as the other two, even though "Beyond the River" is possibly one of my favorite songs I have heard from Sabbat yet.  It is still a great example of blackened thrash done right, it just fails to live up to some of the other work from Sabbat.

Sabbat: Envenom (1991)

This is the second in a series covering the reissues of the first three Sabbat albums.  I know, I am covering them in a weird and random order.  Yesterday, I covered the third album.  This one is their first full-length.

It is kind of hard to make any kind of argument about the band's growth when you are going backwards from the third album to the first.  Much of the music on this release is less-polished and raw.  In the review yesterday, I mentioned that they sounded like a grimier version of Venom.  The Venom comparison is even more apt here, particularly on songs like "Evil Nations" which would have fit in very well on Cronos and gang's album At War with Satan.  "Deathtemptation (Kanashibari Pt. 2)" is one of the strongest songs on the album, with a terrific riff and some of the best vocals on the entire release.  The noodling in the background of the choruses is particularly effective.  The entire song has an evil atmosphere to it, complemented by the gruff raspy vocals.

"Carcassvoice" is a really weird song.  It has a heavy punk vibe to it and features some bizarre double vocals.  One singer provides some lower-pitched growling snarls while the other pitches in with some much higher-register shrieking.  The two styles do not mix well at all and the song is kind of annoying during those parts.  It does get better as it goes on though, ditching those vocals for more of a surf-rock style groove.  The vocals are also the downfall of "Eviler", which is just a hilarious song title, but features more punkish shouting that just does not work well.  But these issues are just minor annoyances in an otherwise great album.

Sabbat released a damn impressive debut album that was just a sign of things to come for the band.  It is raw and intense, but the band never really moved away from this general sound.  They just continued to improve on it. 

Sabbat: Disembody (1993)

A few weeks back, I did a short series covering a bunch of the demo and EP reissues from the Japanese blackened thrash metal band Sabbat.  Well, several of their early full-lengths were also released.  I picked up three of those.

Disembody is Sabbat's third full-length album and finds the band in full force.  Much of the music finds Sabbat playing their grimier, more evil take on Venom (which is not exactly easy to pull off).  Most songs feature a barrage of riffs from the virtuoso guitarist Gezol.  His work toward the end of "Evoke the Evil" in particular is extremely impressive and dynamic, building up an evil atmosphere in the climax of the song.  Gezol's work here is reminiscent of early Mercyful Fate in that respect. 

There are a number of terrific songs on this album, but there are a couple that have really grabbed my attention.  "Metamorphosis" is one of the more interesting songs on the album.  It starts off slowly with some frantic and panicked clean vocals, leading into a breakdown and some crushing riffs before circling back to the agonized vocals.  The song is maddeningly intense.  "Satan's Serenade" is the other.  This song was not on the original version of the album, but does appear on my reissue.  It is driven by a classic heavy metal riff that is reminiscent of the NWOBHM. 

I have considered myself a fan of Sabbat since first hearing them, but have never really come close to listening to everything the band has released.  That is still true, but I have been able to get into their earlier material with this set of reissues.  The band has been prolific to say the least.  And now I am basically starting from the beginning.

Persecutor: Demo 2018 (2018)

Well, as the name of this release says, this is a demo from the Norwegian thrashers Persecutor.  It is the band's first demo in fact, though both members have been in other bands previously.  I have not personally heard any of those bands, but all I really cared about when deciding to check out the band is that they are a Norwegian thrash metal band.  I was sold.

I heard about this one from Decibel's Demo:Listen feature.  The feature has steered me into a few other great bands.  But Persecutor may be the best of them all thus far.

The demo consists of just two songs and barely passes the five minute mark.  But that does not matter when the music is as raw and savage as this is.  This is an absolutely punishing release with the two band members making as much noise as possible.  Of the two tracks, "Fester in Slime" is probably the best, as it is pure power from start to finish. 

Persecutor definitely has a strong future.  I am looking forward to hearing more from them, particularly if a full-length is coming. 

Tankard: Chemical Invasion (1987)

Well, since I just talked about Tankard yesterday, I do not really need to re-introduce them.  The German thrash metal band released their follow-up album to 1986's Zombie Attack the very next year. 

Tankard was already pretty damn good on their debut album, but they still managed to improve on their sophomore release.  If anything, this album is even more savage and biting than their first one, kicking off with some terrific riffs in "Total Addiction".  The songs are more sophisticated from a compositional standpoint, featuring varied structures and a more dynamic sound, rather than the more direct songs on the debut.  Shockingly, the band even uses some very pretty acoustic melodies leading into the instrumental "For a Thousand Beers", which is quite the dichotomy when considering the title.  But that song represents the best songwriting on the album.  The band also uses a blues riff to open the title track.

The band's sense of humor and obsession with alcohol persists.  "Tantrum" is about being pissed off that someone stole your beer.  And then there are songs like "Puke" and "Alcohol", which is re-recorded from their debut release.

I am just beginning to discover the music of Tankard with these two releases.  Their debut was impressive enough, but this is even better and belongs in the pantheon of great German thrash metal albums.  I will have to keep going with this band.  I still do not know if their larger body of work deserves to be held up with the Big Three (Destruction, Kreator and Sodom), but I could be convinced.

Tankard: Zombie Attack (1986)

From Tank to Tankard.  I remember a discussion on the metal forums about whether there is a actually a Big Four of German thrash metal.  Obviously there is a Big Three, consisting of Destruction, Kreator and Sodom.  But is there a fourth titan of Teutonic thrash?  Many members posited that if there were, perhaps that band would be the beer-loving goofballs in Tankard.  Personally, my vote would go to Holy Moses, but Tankard has been going fairly steadily ever since their formation in 1983.  So there is something to be said for longevity and consistency.

Zombie Attack is the debut album from Tankard, who got a bit of a later start in the game than their more well-known colleagues.  The band's sense of humor and light-heartedness is on display early on with the title track which talks about watching horror movies then finding it was coming true.  Tankard is definitely less serious than the members of the Big Three.  With songs like "Alcohol" and "(Empty) Tankard", their obsession with beer shines through.  The latter makes a terrific drinking song with a grooving stomping riff.

Musically, this is fast-paced thrash with a lot of bass-heavy riffs thrown out at the listener.  Despite it being a debut release, and the goofy lyrics, there is no doubt that this is a mature-sounding thrash metal outfit.  The riffing is surprisingly sophisticated, sounding like the work of a veteran band.  The vocals are often delivered in a harsh yell, but are often backed by gang vocals singing along during the chorus.

This is a damn impressive debut.  It is much more refined than the debuts by Destruction, Kreator and Sodom.  I am still not sure that Tankard belongs on the same level as the other three bands, but their debut fits in well.

Death Angel: Relentless Retribution (2010)

After being blown away by some of the recent Death Angel releases after their reformation, in particular their 2019 album Humanicide, I decided to dig a little bit deeper into their music.  I targeted this one first because it was the first of the "Wolf Trilogy" and the only one I had not previously owned.  It made it a necessary pick-up.

I am probably going to repeat myself quite a bit in my praise of this album.  A lot of the things that make this album great are also present on Humanicide.  And let me be clear, these albums are indeed great.  Death Angel is one of the few thrash metal bands from the 1980's to reform and actually be BETTER than they were previously.  The band has always been noteworthy for having a terrific vocalist and an exceptional lead guitarist and, if anything, their respective skills have improved significantly, which is really saying something. 

There are some oddities here.  There is an acoustic guitar interlude performed by the famous flamenco guitarists Rodrigo y Gabriela.  And "Volcanic" is a rare ballad for the band.  Death Angel did these a little more often in their first incarnation, but have moved away for the most part, preferring relentless aggression (see "Death of the Meek"), though they remain capable of softer moments.  It is just rare for them to stretch it into an entire song any more.

I really think there is an argument to be made for this album being Death Angel's best.  The heavy tracks are truly monstrous and the lighter tracks are extremely powerful.  This is as consistently amazing as this band has ever been.  For a long time, they were kind of afterthoughts in the Bay Area thrash metal scene, but they have had a truly impressive second career that has catapulted them into the conversation with Exodus as the best the Bay Area has to offer.  And yes, they are better than Metallica now, that's just plain obvious. 

Xentrix: Bury the Pain (2019)

The U.K. is not really known for thrash metal.  Despite being the birthplace of heavy metal as we know it, for all intents and purposes, and being a major breeding ground for punk, the two major ingredients in thrash metal, there are not a ton of U.K. thrash metal bands who have made a long-lasting impact.  Basically, there is Onslaught, Sabbat, Xentrix, and in recent years, Evile.  Xentrix released a couple of great albums in the heyday of thrash metal, then disappeared for awhile.  But, like many other metal bands, they have re-formed recently with a new singer, and this is their first album since 1996.

I am not overly familiar with the previous Xentrix releases.  I have heard them, but do not own copies of them, though that's not due to not wanting them.  This is a terrific return to the form that made those earlier albums (I am not talking about the 1992 and 1996 releases) so great.  

The music sounds like a combination of Practice What You Preach-era Testament and ...And Justice for All-era Metallica.  It is aggressive thrash metal with staccato riffs and a lot of intensity.  The vocals sound like a gruffer version of James Hetfield's AJFA shout.  Xentrix generally do not waste time doing acoustic interludes or melodic sections.  The band simply goes out and makes as much harsh thrash metal as possible.  It's thrash metal that recalls the spirit and anger of the genre in its early years, before a bunch of bands started incorporating humor and progressive elements.  Some of the highlights of the album include the blistering title track and the punishing "Let the World Burn".  

A lot of thrash metal bands from the genre's golden period have reunited over the last decade or so, but not many have done so as convincingly as Xentrix.  This is a terrific comeback album and cements the band as one of the best thrash metal bands to come from the U.K.  There is not a lot of competition, but still.

Death Angel: Humanicide (2019)

Earlier this year I went back and checked out the first two albums released by Death Angel, after long meaning to do so.  I enjoyed those releases quite a bit, in particular The Ultra-Violence.  Frolic Through the Park was very much a product of its time however and does not hold up nearly as well.  Afterwards, the band released the dynamic and genre-bending Act III before splitting up.  But Death Angel eventually reformed and are noteworthy because I think their second stage material is even better than the albums they released in their first go-around. 

This brings us to Humanicide and this release is a fucking monster of an album.  It is part of a trilogy of albums that has come to be known as the Wolf Trilogy, mostly because each of the albums has a wolf on the cover.  This trilogy includes the 2010 release Relentless Retribution (which I also just recently picked up) and the 2013 release The Dream Calls for Blood.  It skips the 2016 release The Evil Divide. 

The album starts off with a bang with the electrifying title track and refuses to let up on the throttle for the rest of the album.  Of particular note is the frenetic, punky speed metal of "I Came for Blood" and "The Pack".  Death Angel have crafted an incredible collection of songs once again on this release, getting seemingly better with each new release.  The band has long been highlighted by the duo of vocalist Mark Osegueda and guitarist Rob Cavestany and these two continue to be the heart and soul of Death Angel.  They play off each other incredibly well and continue to drive this band forward. 

Death Angel is one of those rare bands that actually seem to be getting better with age.  Unlike a certain other Bay Area thrash metal band, Death Angel continues to get heavier and release unrelentingly powerful albums thirty years after their supposed prime.  This is quite possibly my favorite Death Angel album so far.  And that is really saying something.