Mass Illusion

This is emerging 90's thrash in the same year and with some loose similarities to some aspects of Attomica's Disturbing the Noise and Sepultura's Arise. Like those releases it has its own identity, but these recordings can't help but have a similar likeness due to the time period.

The production is going to be a good meal to your stereo. It is a professional studio job without a hint of hindering sound. If you could find hiss somewhere here, you could find micro-biological organisms while your at it. There isn't a drop in the recording or engineering flaw.

In one instance this release doesn't let down its guard. Mass Illusion is like watching a sporting event where each team is constantly scoring. Yet within this it is somewhat even at times, that sounds like a contradiction, but hold your horses. The surgical precision of the production and instrumentation is like the smoothest operation that has ever gone underway. Blood doesn't spurt; heart-monitors don't red-line; neatness is in order. If each team is constantly scoring we'd eventually want more, for something to happen: a leg break, a streaking fan, a strategic move never seen before.

For the most part, the guitars are nearly one-dimensional, with a constant chugging attitude. While I think it works for their on-going effect, it needs some more change ups here. On one hand I don't think it makes the album dive bomb, yet it can make switching to each track have a similar experience, where the overall experience to begin with is just ok, yet some sections fair better than others. Granted there are solos used at opportune times and they can bring out some aromatic flavor; the drummer fills gaps that would have had an echoey residue otherwise. Occasionally there is a split of this momentum in selective areas. 'Agony' uses a short intro with organs and other keyboard sounds. 'Mass Illusion' uses acoustic guitar and spoken words in the beginning and becomes a more mid-paced song. And 'Unpredictable Disease' has some more technical change-ups.

The vocals are sort of neutral, basically an 'in-between' of a mildly roughened but clearer sounding presentation. His tone is fortunately deeper compared to the Pay For Your Lies EP. There are a lot of gang-shouts scattered throughout the release. A typical use of them involves a shout of a particular word, then the vocalist will go into a longer sentence. And having the back-ups use a shout on some more randomly highlighted words too. It is sort of taking a technique from the genre of hardcore and instead using it in metal, yet sounding unsimilar to the genre at the same time. Honestly, like the guitars, sometimes it is a little too much due to it being a constant feature throughout the recording. Yeah we know what you're saying Korzus but that would be like me italicizing or bolding everything I'm saying here as well.

Like a few bands, Korzus is one of the front runners from Sao Paulo state. Coming out with material from as early as '84. But unlike some of these bands they would eventually stock their shelves with a uniqueness on their studio debut in '87. Which had the same vocalist, but who used a sort of singing technique caught in the balance between trad-thrash and some more aggressive thrash groups around the time. I think that release had some gravitating music, even though the vocals I just mentioned weren't a favorite of mine. Mass Illusion will be their full length follow up in '91. And change to a less technical band, who still dishes out some hearty soloing. But they would play a simpler form of thrash that has a flawless sound and only a few combos to their methodology. While that can appear odd when described. It is sort of like anything that doesn't spike away from itself, like you can rely on it for what it is. Surprises are to a minimum. Like they rely on what's been done musically and don't entirely break from their shell. It doesn't exactly stray or profoundly deliver, however I think it does have its moments. It is still a reliable album that sticks to what it is: on-going chugging thrashy riffs with a minimal beat and vocals that have a gang to chime in at highlighted areas. I can see someone disagreeing with me here and see why. Because this is an output that is professionally produced and delivers on a more main stream platform. Mass Illusion doesn't excite those little hairs on the back of your neck but still delivers some straight forward thrash tunes.