By: Richard Maw
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 11/03/2016
Label: Metal Blade Records
Quite simply, this is the best thrash record I have
heard yet this year and may well remain so. It edges towards death metal (in
the same manner that the Seps' early work does) but this is just vicious stuff.
This type of album is why I first started listening to thrash and extreme
metal. The sound and the fury. Dios mio! What a fantastic album from a band
playing with fire and passion.
“Fear Itself” CD//DD//LP track
listing:
01.
Intro
02. Down Driven
03. False Flag Attack
04. Shock Doctrine
05. The Needle And Knife
06. Scream Of Consciousness
07. Summoning The Apocalypse
08. The One Who Speaks At Night
09. Animals To Gods
10. Deep In The Rot
11. Wasted Youth
12. Carne Molida
02. Down Driven
03. False Flag Attack
04. Shock Doctrine
05. The Needle And Knife
06. Scream Of Consciousness
07. Summoning The Apocalypse
08. The One Who Speaks At Night
09. Animals To Gods
10. Deep In The Rot
11. Wasted Youth
12. Carne Molida
The Review
South
American metal is one of my likes... Pentagram Chile's debut a couple of years back
is a brilliant record, so I jumped at the chance to review this new one from
Anton Reisenegger's “other” band, Criminal. Sure enough, although the band is
now an Atlantic-crossing and spanning concern, the traits of Latin metal are
present and correct here. The sound is nicely noisy and even chaotic. Don't get
me wrong, the playing is tight and the performances wholly professional, but
the songs sound... passionate, energetic and feral.
The
album has its own sound; lots of live sound to the drums and the guitars and
vocals rage with impressive aggression. That mix of Venom and Exodus jamming with Sepultura
is a mighty sound indeed. From the get go, the band is on fire with Reisenegger
ripping leads and violent riffs aplenty. Off kilter rhythms like those on “Deep
In The Rot” mix with straight up raging thrashing tracks such as “Wasted
Youth”. Indeed, you cannot argue with the likes of opener “Down
Driven” (aptly named!) or the equally weighty “False Flag Attack”.
“The Needle and The Knife” (your only true friends!) shows
impressive rhythm section work and the vocals are deliciously malevolent. While “Summoning the Apocalypse” is
a maelstrom of riffs and thrash beats, the tracks just keep coming thick and
fast. There is no let up, no light and shade, just riff after riff after riff.
With twelve tracks, the record could be argued as a little long- a small amount
of this can go a long way... but then again, you get more for your money and
every track is high quality. The closing “Carne Molida” (in Spanish) is a
real treat.
Quite
simply, this is the best thrash record I have heard yet this year and may well
remain so. It edges towards death metal (in the same manner that the Seps'
early work does) but this is just vicious stuff. This type of album is why I
first started listening to thrash and extreme metal. The sound and the fury.
Dios mio! What a fantastic album from a band playing with fire and passion.
“Fear Itself” is
available here
