You Are What You Swallow

The debut full-length from Belgium thrashers Sanity’s Rage, “You Are What You Swallow,” comes across like a genuinely and wholly enjoyable take on the Bay Area thrash scene even if the lack of originality does hurt them somewhat.

Yet another strong band in the current craze of retro thrash metal, this is a band which generates a lot of good marks in this particular style. One of the more important methods displayed in that typical Bay Area-sounding crunch that employs slight elements from speed metal when it develops into tight chugs but far more often employs a distinct and incredibly enjoyment riff-pattern that evokes energy and thrashing aggression quite well. It sounds incredibly close to that Bay Area attack in many places, but there’s thankfully a clear-cut difference in the way it introduces some highly melodic lead-work along the solos and main rhythms as the memorable and finely tuned melodies serve several fine purposes here. Not only do that allow for a fine sense of dynamics due to including melody amid the intense thrash energies, but there’s a strong feeling the way they’re weaved throughout this that makes them sound even more harmonious due to the constant manner they’re a part of the bands’ sound. When it goes through the thrashing energies, there’s a rather ingenious blend of technicality present as well that helps to bring out those melodies far more than just the typical thrashing patterns, so the music does whip through some rather impressive moments throughout which is just all the more that it takes for this to generate that same excitement of the old-school guard. Pounding away beneath the rip-roaring thrash, the drums tend to balance out the music quite nicely with a nice set of simple patterns that keep the pace flowing quite well by offering up energetic paces and tempos with the occasional double-bass blast to accent the more furious rhythms and further the energy quite well, even going as far as helping the melody quite well by easing off the throttle and accenting the softer flow quite well. While not the central point at all, the thumping bass-lines here give off the rousing spirit and energy associated with the style for a rather generous helping of thrash that plays well with the different styles and structures at play in this one.

While this is pretty evenly split for the two halves of the record, on the whole there is a small, distinct change that sets itself up within. The biggest part of this is the fact that the first half to this one tends to focus a lot more on generating a more technical bent to the riffing than would otherwise be the case as the majority of these tracks do wind up being buoyed by more complex and complicated rhythms than would be found in the riffs and patterns on the second half. Even with these being somewhat close in spirit and flow and never once feels like the material from a wholly different band on display, the fact that there’s more technically-complex riffing in these tracks tends to make them feel a lot more energy and rousing focus by incorporating the technicality into the tight crunch from the old-school patterns and thereby giving this a central focus. As hard as it tries to get these faster tracks going, the second half tracks are just a tad short when put up against the cream of the first half tracks and there’s no real honest answer for that. Whether it’s due to the extended song lengths on the first half or just a lessening of the technical riff-works in favor of more streamlined, simplified patterns but the more melodic offerings do come forth in the second part to this. It’s not without its blazing, brutal tracks either, for it puts out one of the better ones on the album but it’s still the fact that this one contains more melodic leanings is something to take into account. Beyond this one strange factor, the one main thing to take away from the album is its’ adamant and wholesale influence taken from the old-school Bay Area scene that comes through on here. The production is unmistakable from that scene with a guitar-heavy crunch that propels through the songs, dynamic drumming and a rumbling bass-tone that never really sticks out and simply accompanies the tracks nicely while it’s all wrapped with a voice that throws melodic tones far more often that acidic lines, furthering the melody nicely enough. Even the structures are based off that particular genre, ripe with the instrumental intro kicking into the full-throttle thrashers to open the album which contain all sorts of full-speed efforts while maintaining the sense of melody and epic arrangements that those types of bands readily and often-times employed to grand effect. While some might see this as a seeming rip from that hallowed ground of music, to be so emphatic in their borrowing from those pages in music history could be grounds for an automatic dismissal of this band for that fact of lacking any originality in their style and approach in the first place and might seem outrageous to assume any other action towards the band, that is a severe step to take with the band being so enjoyable in this presentation that it overcomes the obvious borrowing and ripping off from those bands. The technicality makes it enjoyable, the melodies make it listenable and the energy is infectious, so it does win out in the end even though there’s still the unmistakable fact of not really doing anything new or different and that cannot be discounted or overlooked but merely and simply drags this down slightly from where it should’ve been.

For a debut album, there aren’t a lot of bad tracks here in the first half. After instrumental intro ‘The Madness Continues’ goes through with its lilting melodic leads and strong electrical crunch to set the mood perfectly, things pick up considerably on the title track, where the band unleashes strong, far more energetic thrash rhythms in dynamic patterns through incredibly energetic paces with absolutely crushing patterns before a whirlwind series of riffs and soloing in the finale, generating a lot of good points throughout. The utterly crushing ‘Aberration Mandatory’ continues this brutality with some utterly energetic patterns and a fine mid-tempo pace that brings in dexterous double-bass patterns and melodic leads amid the tight crunch, leading to back-to-back highlights. ‘Product of Calamity’ brings in some nice technically-proficient and dynamic riff-work into the fray that merges nicely against the traditional thrash crunch and melodic lines that stays more in-line with the mid-tempo pace than anything else, keeping this as a serviceable effort overall. The fun and blasting ‘Kisses with Fangs’ brings back the technicality into the rhythms while tending to flow through more up-tempo and furious tempos without really focusing on the melodies that much, though it tends to stick out as a more traditional thrasher by doing so but still manages to feel like a furious track all-told. Closing out the first half nicely, ‘Shackles and Shades’ drops the speed for a marching mid-tempo pace that fully blends the technical riffing patterns and pummeling double-bass flurries for a sharp, precise jab of crunchy thrash and soaring melody that’s one of the better efforts here.

The second half, being more of a melody driven affair, does tend to get rather enjoyable regardless. The thrashing epic ‘The Wheels Keep Grinding’ offers tight, frantic blasts of technical thrash patterns and rumbling full-throttle paces to further the furious rhythms and melodic interludes as it shifts between the two styles throughout, offering a lot of exceptionally-performed moments and getting a lot to like within. Raging along nicely, ‘Trinity of Sorrow’ blazes through some rather melodic mid-tempo marching but doesn’t really stick out against the more involving and devastating tracks elsewhere on here that utilize these thrashing rhythms and comes off serviceable but not spectacular. ‘Taste of Decay’ is one of the more brutal tracks on display here with an amazing amount of tight patterns, furious rhythms and technically complex riffs all swept into a firestorm of a track that blazes along eliminating all-comers, definitely making this an album highlight. The mighty melodies from ‘Once You Cross’ allows this to serve as the most melodic and downbeat effort on the album with more soaring leads and less thrash crunch, offering up a rather nice offering that really doesn’t do much beyond the norm, giving this a rather nice and laid-back feel compared to the raging tracks elsewhere. Finale ‘Thumbs Up for the End of the World’ brings things full-circle with mid-tempo thrashing patterns and tight crunching riffs that rattles off well-enough that leaves this one a high note.

Overall, this is a solid, dependable and wholly enjoyable blast of old-school thrash that readily adapts from the Bay Area influence more often than not, which can be a little problematic at times but really offers up some good, solid moments. For those that can’t look past the overt ripping from the movement, this might not make a solid believer out of most but does offer forth enough to really make this a worthwhile score for fans of erstwhile thrash regardless of scene influence of severity of borrowing.