Circus of Death

It's become something of a post-1980s trope to conclude that thrash metal's unceremonious dismissal from mainstream consumption was the result of its own growing inadequacy and inability to evolve, or at least this cliche is continually bolstered by a number of revisionists within the metal community who see the sub-genre in less than a favorable light. Quite the contrary, many of the more interesting and nuanced expressions of thrash metal came in at the tail-end of its initial run (circa 1990-1992, and even as recent as 1994 for certain non-North American outfits), when slower elements and more progressive songwriting started to enter the equation without fully robbing the style of its core characteristics. Among one of the lesser known acts that had a fairly respectable run in the late 80s and even had a few noted gems come out in the early 90s before being swallowed up by the groove metal craze in Brazil's own Overdose, a band that hailed from the same locale as both Sepultura and Sarcofago, but wound up embarking on a more mainline, Bay Area influenced mode of thrashing with some power metal additives on earlier releases that gave them an occasional affinity with the likes of Flotsam And Jetsam and Scanner at times.

Circus Of Death, this band's final offering in the thrash metal style during their initial run, dons imagery that is all too appropriate to both its day and its more measured, nineties Exodus meets Heathen sound. The visual of the skeletal remains of a crucified clown is all too fitting to the Seattle onslaught of garbage that would basically kill off most of the lighthearted humor elements of heavy music that was along for the ride with more serious material, and the album itself is possessed of a mid-paced, grinding heaviness that is still nimble enough to trade blows with contemporary output via bands like Overkill and Cyclone Temple, yet also manages to trade blows with the intensity of Exhorder. It is largely a mixed affair where punchy grooving elements and exaggerated gruff vocals that stop just shy of Phil Anselmo territory but are still a bit meaner than typical James Hetfield material are balanced out with a fairly technical array of noodling lead guitar work and occasional funky twists out of the bass work, the latter element showing tendencies towards Mordred and Blind Illusion on a lesser scale while the former reaches and sometimes surpasses the intricacy of Heathen and Forbidden for territory suited to the transitional works of Voivod.

All elements considered, this seemingly massive mishmash of ongoing practices within thrash metal manages to manifest itself into something that is fairly conventional and easy to follow. The more middle of the road aggression at a moderate pace factor inherent in long excursions such as "The Zombie Factory" and "Beyond My Bad Dreams" definitely bring down the latter day Exodus meets Exhorder brand of simplicity and rage like a ton of bricks. The similarly long and crunchy "The Healer", on the other hand, takes on a bit more of a progressive angle, incorporating a bit of subdued balladry at its onset that occasionally sounds like an unintentional paraphrase of Guns N' Roses material before laying down the heavy riff work. On the other side of the thrashing coin is speedier fair such as "Violence" (a fitting title since it sounds like it could have appeared on Oppressing The Masses if Sean Killian did the vocals) and "Profit" that are a bit closer to a 1988 sound, save some of the acoustic guitar noodling at the beginning of the former. Ironically enough, one of the more memorable and overall effective blends of thrashing and mid-paced groove is the bonus song "Children Of War", matching Exhorder's The Law at every turn and even topping it in the guitar solo department.

Though this falls pretty squarely into forgotten gem territory from the closing days of thrash metal's first ascendancy, Circus Of Death has not been without a number of sympathetic parties within the metal world. Just prior to the style making a notable rebound in the early to mid 2000s via Brazilian acts like Bywar and Violator, Pavement Music resurrected it with a different track ordering that proved to greater emphasize the album's slower grooving tendencies (largely by caking all the faster songs in the center of the album). Though this would detract a bit from the album's effectiveness, it did present fans with the full nine song collection from the initial 1992 CD release, which has since been revived via digital download along with this band recently. While the author of this review possesses and based this write up on the Pavement version, it is scored with the original track listing in mind, and any interested parties who like the mainline thrashing of bands like Xentrix and the punchier approach of Exhorder would do well to go for the digital release for the best experience. Who knows, in this present age where good humor seems in short supply, this crucified clown may find a more substantial audience than the grunge infused one that initially birthed it.