Discarded Existence

Energy, enthusiasm, impulsiveness or spontaneity - call it what you want, Panikk have it in abundance. This is not the worst prerequisite for a band to pen a great thrash album. But when push comes to shove, one needs more to enthuse the pampered audience of today. A catchy chorus from time to time, an entertaining mosh part, a dramatic bridge or a characteristic lead vocalist can make the difference. Anyway, the new wave of old-fashioned thrash metal does not ebb away and Panikk have contributed their share in order to broaden this wave. "Discarded Existence", their second work, has been forged in the same furnace as their debut.

The old brother of the artwork of "Discarded Existence" ornaments the debut of Vio-lence and the music of Panikk also has its roots in the eighties of the last century. Already the rasping guitars that kick off the opener pour out the spirit of the pioneers and the sound connects the modern age and tradition in a professional manner. It scores with a competent combination of pressure and clarity. Thus, the playground is prepared for the guys from the Slovenian capital to fire their bullets. Panikk do not hesitate to do so, but they are prone to a certain nervousness. They deliver their form of thrash while emphasizing the hectic element of the sometimes erratic genre a little bit too much. Needless to say that this type of metal is generally based on liveliness, velocity and belligerence. Nevertheless, good thrash songs distinguish themselves because of their clear structure, and Panikk are probably well advised to sharpen the contours of their future tracks. Instead of producing cluster bombs exclusively, they should enrich their arsenal of weapons with two or three straight torpedoes on their next full-length. The integration of a conventional verse-chorus-verse pattern could also be helpful every now and then.

This does not mean that "Discarded Existence" is full of half-baked material. The longplayer has many exciting parts, but, as much as I regret it, sometimes the songs lack of coherence. A good speed part is followed by the next good speed part and almost all of them are solid, to say the least. But the longer the album lasts, the more they melt with each other. Too many ideas are not better than too little ideas, if they are not channelled successfully. Given this situation, it does not come as a surprise that ironically the heavyweight, stomping sections like the beginning of the third track provide guidance for the listener. Once again, this is not a big problem, Panikk impress with their restless leads and many good riffs, yet I have the feeling that they could have done it even better. It is a pity that no song stands out. I like to dive deeply into this kind of music, but Panikk fail to deliver an irresistible track one wants to listen to again and again.

A last statement from Mr. Know-it-all: maybe the band should think about giving the melodic element a little bit more space. The solo at the end of the title track mirrors the well hidden competency of the guys to score with this feature. Moreover, the outro with its slightly weird piano tones points in the same direction. Energy, enthusiasm, impulsiveness and spontaneity - the foundation has been laid. The next step will be taken very soon, I am sure.

Slovenia is not a country that immediately comes to mind for metal of any kind, let alone thrash metal. Yet here are Panikk bucking that trend with their second album of thrashing fury, Discarded Existence, released on the Spanish label Xtreem Music. The band takes the slightly slower, three-quarter pace approach to thrash with enough speed to induce a good old fashioned pit and enough groove to make non-moshers bang their heads in enjoyment. It never goes full-throttle thrash but it really has no need to do so though it would provide some nice variety in the songwriting. That being said, this is a very solid slab of three-quarter thrash metal.

The riffs are not that heavy but they have plenty of speed and a little groove to them so the songs do not lapse into being one-note thrash bangers. There is enough diversity in the riffs and the songwriting to keep the listener interested throughout with speedy tracks like “Rotten Cells.” There are a few nice grooves on this album but a lot of the riffing is pretty standard for new thrash bands. It is well-written and clearly exhibits talent and skill but winds falling a tad flat due to familiarity. If there were more guitar solos like the one on the title track, it would provide the necessary variety for the riffing to have the full effect.

The rest of the instrumentation is equally solid but also nothing spectacular. The drumming is mostly fast-paced with driving rhythms that keep time quite well but there is nothing new to be found here. It is a great performance though so kudos on that front. The bass only stands out on “Reconstruction,” which is arguably the best song on the album because although it still feels familiar, it manages to sound fresh and exciting. Perhaps the band will write more songs like this in the future because it would help them stand out among the fray of bands playing this style.

It doesn't take a lot of imagination to come up with the sound that Slovenia's Panikk are going for on their sophomore outing Discarded Existence. Those familiar with the second tier of Bay Area thrash from the 80s will remember a certain, violent debut album which also featured an individual being sucked into a swirling vortex, only this time it seems more like a tornado than a series of toothy maws. Sure enough, once you've actually given this a spin, you'll encounter a lot of the frenetic, high strung thrash metal which dominated that unsung masterwork of the genre, and I'm not going to sit here and tell you that's a bad thing, because there while it might take a few pointers from their predecessors, this is solid improvement over their 2013 debut Unbearable Conditions, and proof that putting a little effort and a fraction of complexity to the songwriting can vault you well over the shoulders of much of the useless and redundant pizza re-thrash of the last decade.

To be clear, while the primary propulsion here is a style akin to records like Eternal Nightmare or Oppressing the Masses, I'd actually draw a closer comparison to Japan thrashers Ritual Carnage who have a storied history of translating those same 80s influence into a more modern context. The vocals in particular have that higher pitch in which a lot of the lines spit out the same notes over and over to create a disaffected style first pioneered by Joey Belladonna of Anthrax. In this case, though, while the vocals are certainly well suited to this jerking, thrashing mix, it's really the riffs that take center stage and manifest the rich intensity of the experience, each track being loaded with a good share of variations and occasional subtleties which range from the viciousness of a Destruction or Vio-Lence to even the turbo fueled power/thrash of Artillery that I so admired coming up. It's not insanely technical or unique, but cuts a nice line between clinical neck-straining and familiar but not wholly bitten off riff progressions that you'll recount from both the German and US scenes, from primal S.O.D. mosh to the scalpel-thrash of the aforementioned Schmier and company.

Discarded Existence is carefully calculated to give you both that richer impression of thrash and its musicianship, with soaring, sailing and wailing leads as well as a whole slew of mid-paced pure head banging riffs that keep the experience a lot more grounded than the victim on its cover. Drums and bass provide an accurate level of support, but are never able to take the reins away from the axes for any length of time, which has never really been the point of this genre. Thankfully, that rhythm tone is just excellent, precise and full-bodied enough to satisfy the production gluttons who want a record which sounds 21st century. While I can't say it produces endless replay value or tunes that are likely to become classics, the whole thing is consistent and entertaining to listen through, with lyrics that stick to the social and political topics thrash has long touted, and a level of energy that never lets up, but leaves plenty of room for variation in tempo and lead-work. If you fondly recount the vitriol and testosterone of records like Signs of Life, Eternal Nightmare, Product of Society, Release from Agony and others of that critical 1986-1990 period, Panikk does a swell job of refreshing the formula.

-autothrall
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