2006-06-08
This is one album that harkens back to the glory days of thrash, a re-release of an undiscovered thrash album that got lost somewhere in 1989, only to be discovered and re-mixed by Neil Kernon, and re-mastered by Alan Douches.
Strangely enough, this album is no lesser than some of the albums that are regarded as classics in the genre, bringing to mind the work of such bands as
Dark Angel, Atrophy,
Sacred Reich and early
Slayer, the guys know how to play, and the album bursts with great riffs and some impressive lead work.
The usual intro starts off the album, when “Ignominious Slaughter”, the first track, kicks in, hyper fast, aggressive thrash, similar to
Demolition Hammer and
Protector, the vocals are a harsh half-growl, the new sound is pretty tight, and the playing is top notch. The album wastes no time with short and catchy tracks, second song – “Dwell Into Surreality” is an 11 minute opus which breaks into some great riffs and lead guitar work, the lyrics are admittedly quite silly, but this is the epitome of 80's thrash.
“Blood Portraits” begins with some acoustic guitars, bringing to mind Sacred Reich's “Who's to Blame”, the song continues with a violent, fast thrash assault. “Slay Ride” takes a children’s Christmas song and grinds it to dust, again, quite a long track with plenty of rhythm changes.
This album has everything a classic thrash album should have, fast and technical guitar playing, murderous drum work and acid-like vocals, it's certainly a shame that no one thought about re-releasing this album before, but I'm grateful that it eventually was, thrash fans cannot afford to miss this.
Alon Miasnikov
