Invincible War

Bywar’s debut released in 2002 is a decent offering of harsh thrash metal much alike bands Kreator, Destruction , Sepultura and harsher bands that follow that style. It has a very old school sound brought in with the semi-dirty production and vocal/riffing style. The production is obviousl y not overdone but at the same time it’s not shitty like in some releases, something like Merciless Death’s debut. Invincible War reminds me if Kreator and Destruction had a vile and ugly child that bloomed into something of a warhorse of dirty and bloody thrash metal.

Invincible War starts and ends off with a pointless Intro and Outro but the songs in between are all fast and harsh thrash songs that are ready to rip your neck apart. Harsh vocals much like a blacker Mille Petrozza and a heavy rhythm section that reminds me of early Destruction with speedy riffing and crunchy riffs that are quite competent for headbanging. It’s nice to see the drumming that is varied instead of just typical thrash beats like most bands use, blast beats are thrown in here and there as well as some fun drum fills, reminding me of the chaotic style of Warbringer (Bywar’s logo reminds me of Warbringer also). As a thrash band it’s almost essential to have perfect lead guitar and bass harmony which is something Bywar does that adds to the insane riffing and heaviness to the album, with bass action reminiscent of early 80’s bands like Sepultura and Kreator, Broken Witchcraft is the perfect example of how it’s done right on this album. Thrasher’s Return is a great opener with speedy riffing and a fun shouted chorus, which is how thrash should be. You’ll notice a similar pattern on this album with the riffing style and approach of the heavy rhythm section with bass and drums that makes this a lot heavier, which is good. The lead guitar is another highlight, much as with the heavy and harsh riffing, the solos are either really fast and melodic or just chaotic Petrozza-ish solos, yet still precise and done right.

Bywar have released a solid debut with some equally powerful thrash anthems and songs that pack a punch. This is nothing you haven’t heard before, but it’s nice to hear really good newer harsh thrash metal. It’s not as varied as a lot of thrash albums are like more of the melodic bands, but for a harsher thrash band like all those Teutonic and South American thrashers, Invincible War is a decent offering of memorable thrash. Remember Blood Tsunami and how people gave them shit for trying to do this style of “thrash metal” and didn’t exactly do it right, well this is what Blood Tsunami should be, Bywar have don’t a great job at putting out solid and harsher thrash metal, if not being very varied or totally memorable. The only thing I wish they would improve on is with the lack of “anthemic” type songs like the opener Thrasher’s Return, how it’s done with a fun sing along chorus and fist pumping killer attitude, because it’s done well.