Barbaric Cleansing

Seven years have passed since I reviewed “Death Sentence to Mankind,” the debut album of the Filipino thrash metal quarter from San Pablo City, Rabies. I really enjoyed that gem because of the retro thrash vibe that it gives to its audience. And now, I was given the chance to also examine their follow-up to the debut. I got the material back in late 2019, but I just had the chance to write the review this year because of the Covid shit that was going on at that time. Anyway, onto the review. What we have here is the second full-length studio offering of the band titled “Barbaric Cleansing.” Anugal Audio Terror Records first released the record in cassette format in September 2019. In March 2020, New Zealand‘s Hells Vomit Productions and China‘s Toxic Death Records put out their versions of the album via CD (Hells Vomit Productions) and digital format (via Toxic Death Records‘ bandcamp page), and then just in December 2022, Rabies also released a digital variant of the offering via their official bandcamp page.

Now, this sophomore studio record demonstrates how Rabies had taken their songwriting up a notch from their debut, as “Barbaric Cleansing” introduces how the band had nailed to put out a fairly kindred fusion of the technical and progressive side of metal into the wall of white-knuckled retro speed/thrash. Yeap, you read that right, people. This follow-up is a cohesive blend of speed, technicality, nearly jazzy rhythms, barbarity, and wicked songwriting. The guitar department here offers loads of pleasurable riff executions and leads that exemplify how charming thrash materials are when they are injected with a morsel dose of technical metal. Each of the songs has some blazingly savage and aggressive riffing in them, but while the established nature of these riffs is set in a feisty manner as those one can find in an accustomed thrash metal album, they have a bit higher tier of technical work than the most we heard from the group’s previous releases. These mentioned riffs run at multiple speeds, going from mid-to-fast tempos with virtuosic leads and shredding solos (that at some point reached a very melodic degree in some of the songs), and are delivered in a fine sense for a devastating certainty.

An audible bass line thunders on and adds a lot of profundity to the tunes as it escorts the twisting guitar section and elevates the record’s atmosphere. Every rumble of reverb that one will hear from the bass constitutes an ideal backdrop to set the sonic landscape of the offering. A tight and precise drum work is also on display here, as the drum department hits with a gripping showing of fast pummeling beating and persistently altering drum fills that are heavy and brisk. One can easily appreciate how the drum section brings another flavor to the materials in this album as it constantly changes the flow of the tracks, creating a trail of musical variations for the guitar and bass. Then there’s the raspy shouted vocal attack that provides another brutal facet into the equation and lifts the barbarity of the tracks into an even higher ratio. On top of that, these instruments and elements are frosted with a decent production that (although not that polished for modern thrash bands) brings out that crisp sound of the offering without sacrificing the primal aggressiveness of Rabies‘ music.

There is really no wankery in here! Every ingredient in “Barbaric Cleansing” was arranged by Rabies in the right places to serve its purpose, and those constituents excellently complement each other, the way I hear it. The band’s stunning display in performance in order to gallantly up the notch from their previous ability to produce thrash music had aided in making the output of this release an admirable piece from their discography. I’d give this studio full-length my two hands throwing up the horns gesture for its musical audacity.