...in the Name of Thrash Metal

Hailing from the South American country of Ecuador, Extreme Attack is a thrash band that was formed in 2011 by bassist and vocalist Patricio Viveros and guitarist Renata Pacheco after the demise of the their previous band, Metal Slave. Rounded out by drummer Andree Aguilar, Extreme Attack released “Assassin” in 2011, which was an independently released three track EP. 2013 saw the band's debut full length released by the Mexican thrash label, EBM Records, entitled “...In the Name of Thrash Metal”. Yes, that is one of the most generic titles I've heard in sometime, so it should not surprise you that Extreme Attack bring forth an album full of completely generic, by the numbers thrash metal.

“...In the Name of Thrash Metal” is full of everything you'd expect from a thrash album, because there are hundreds, nay thousands of bands that have written similar music throughout the years. This could be because of the so-called thrash revitalization in recent years, where young, up and coming whippersnappers have taken their shot at belting out thrash anthems. The sad truth is that few bands are able to capture the sound and spirit that made the early to late eighties thrash scenes so damn entertaining. I digress, though, because this is not my dissertation of the late period thrash scene, instead a review of one young group's effort at reclaiming thrash's glory days. Extreme Attack run through the motions with ten tracks of fast paced thrash metal that lies fairly close to the Teutonic sound of early Kreator and Destruction. It's juvenile, and oftentimes laughable, but catchy and somewhat enjoyable at times.

The guitar riffs are mediocre. I’m not sure what you like in your thrash but a major component of thrash needs to be good guitar riffs. There are some standout riffs on the album, like the main riff on “Hell is Your Destiny” or the opening to “Sinners in Heaven”, which really call to mind the early works of Mille Petrozza, with the fast paced, palm muted guitar rhythms coupled with minor chord embellishments and slight tempo changes which build into rhythmic chugging. For the most part, though, the guitars fight the rest of the instruments for prominence, as the bass and cymbals are a little too loud in the mix to allow complete focus. Most of the guitar segments are just chuggy palm muting and basic chord progressions that we've all heard hundreds of times. The bass is loud but sounds pretty frumpy, as it just wallows around with a thick and muddy tone. Just listen to the bass breaks on “Metal Slave” which showcase a fairly simple bass solo, which, after repeated listens, I still can't fathom why the band left it on the album. It's almost as if the sound engineer just abruptly hit mute on the rest of the music then the bass continues plodding for a bar or two and then everything picks right back up. It would be a cool idea if the bass line was excellently crafted or if the start / stop segment sounded spot on, but the whole ordeal was just sloppy. The drums have two speeds, either blasting double bass runs or a relatively standard style of double kick patterns heard on every other Thrash album in creation. The drums suffice to move the music along, but there are no outstanding fills or even any slightly above average handwork. The guitar solos are enjoyable, yet simple in nature, consisting mostly of fast paced finger tapping and simplistic scale work.

Of course, we have to discuss the vocals, and sadly, this is where the band completely loses me. I understand there is sometimes a language barrier, usually evidenced by some Asian bands and the nearly endless treasure trove of Engrish vocals. While Extreme Attack might not be at the same level of comedic gold as Loudness or Abigail, the entirety of the vocal performance is laughable. Let’s start off with what the band was trying to do: the singer attempts to go for a raw and dirty vocal style. The vocals are fairly mid-range and nasally and sound almost like the vocalist is talking fast, but the singer makes attempts at raspy higher registers which utterly fail. All that aside though, the singer’s intonation and phrasing is what makes Engrish come to mind. The album’s closing track, “Thrash Metal”, shows this the best as you hear the singer repeatedly squelching “Trash metal!!!! Trash metal!!! Meow.” That was not a typo, he was actually saying “trash.” The catcall wasn’t a typo either. Scattered throughout this dismal vocal performance are what I can only describe as meows. At the end of just about every line on “Final Judgement” the singer belts out some type of feline call that sounds like it was taken from the traffic stop scene of “Super Troopers”. It sounds so awkward and absurd that I can’t even believe they put it to tape. The lyrics don’t help much either as every track is juvenile and generic as hell.

The band sounds good the few times the few times that everything clicks, but even when the band is on fire the vocals ruin it. This is fairly competent yet juvenile thrash metal with awful vocals. If I want to listen to a cat screeching, I’ll visit the humane society, not to this. I can’t recommend this to anyone unless you want to scratch your head in dumbfounded amazement. There are a lot of decent thrash bands that deserve your attention and this is not one of them. It’s sad though, because this could have been, at best, a middle of the road album, but those vocals drag this well below mediocre.

Written for The Metal Observer:
http://www.metal-observer.com/