Void Terra Firma

Defiance were a second tier bay area thrash band.... technical riffs, rapid fire picking, and the occasional monster chorus. In other words, nothing to write home about. If you own Victims of Deception, No Place for Disgrace, and ltra Violence, an album like Void Terra Firma will strike you as subpar.

That said, these guys had their instruments down pat, and songs like Checkmate and the title track are sprinkled with heavy as fuck riffage. The guitar production is a bit flat... they just dont' crunch like thrash guitars should. Testament seems to be a primary influence, although Defiance is on the whole more technical.. A bit of melody rears its head on (personal favorite) Skitz Illusion (as well as the comical solo in Buried or Burned).

Singer Steve Esquievel (now in skinlab.. hahahhaha) has a very irritating voice, something that a shitty mic job and average songwriting does little to improve upon. He sounds like Chuck Billy after a 3 day whiskey binge. Final verdict: decent, but not outstanding. If you are the kind of thrash geek that can't do without that rare Sacrilege B.C. EP you might wanna get on this.