Searing Flames of Chaos

Seizure is a death/thrash metal band from the Philippines that was formed around the early pandemic days of 2020. This Bulakeño proto-death quartet incorporates a blend of the classic death and thrash metal recipe in their sound to deliver loads of aggressive riffs, brutal vocals, and relentless drumming to their listeners. The group has been slowly making their name recognizable in the Philippines‘ underground extreme metal scene since its creation. Their raw and tenacious style exhibits a ferocious dedication to the old-school, which is then carried through with a newfangled magnitude that aligns them with some killer names in the Pinoy metal underground.

This is the first official Seizure EP, which was released back in 2020 before the band’s debut full-length was unleashed. The extended play is titled “Searing Flames of Chaos,” and it houses six cutthroat and blustery proto-death metal tracks that demonstrate how the band is heavily influenced by mid-80s raw and annihilative thrash/death.

This offering runs in 20 minutes of playing time, with 3 of the tunes being included in the debut months later, and 3 of the tracks are cover songs. It went out with two variants, one being a CD under Dissonant Demise Productions and the other as a cassette version under Metal Choice Cut Records. Each physical copy feels like a piece of underground history, raw and unrefined, as though ripped straight from the depths of an uncompromising metal scene.

What the offering does is basically give the listeners a preview of the beastliness that was upon them before “Convulsive Perseverance” was let loose 3 months after this EP. It’s an ideal introduction to Seizure‘s music that is then backed with a solid full-length within the same year. Tracks like ‘Complex Thought Consciousness‘ give a taste of what was coming, showing the band’s ability to marry speed, brutality, and complexity, making it worth every cent for extreme metal enthusiasts.

Here, one can distinguish that from the beginning the band already finds no problem in managing how to craft barbaric and brutal tunes without omitting the speed, the obscenity, and the oppressiveness of their materials. Plus, they did a good job with the Sepultura and Sodom covers in here, as they made it more merciless than it already is. And their cover, and killer version, of The Rolling Stones‘ ‘Paint it, Black‘ certainly kicks ass.

For any fan of thrash or death metal, this EP delivers not just nostalgia but a relentless and chaotic experience that is undeniably worth the price. It’s definitely worth adding to your collection rack!