Grievous Anguish

Modern 90’s thrash was the most neglected genre of the decade since most of the outfits were either regurgitating the aggro-sounds of Pantera and Machine Head, or were trying to come up with their own version of The Black Album. Some carved successful careers following either of these two trajectories; others failed and more or less timely returned to the old school delivery. Nevermore were probably the only band who managed to rise aboveground while staying within the thrash metal confines although the power and also the progressive metal field can claim them any time. Grip Inc. did a great job carving a niche for themselves, and although Dave Lombardo and Co. experimented with sounds and nuances outside the thrash metal spectre, there’s hardly any other formation from the 90’s to carry the “modern thrash” tag as deservedly as them.

Some acts were brave enough to try and technicalize (now if that isn’t a new word!) the 90’s thrash approach, and some actually did a very good job: the French Aleister, to give one not very known example, on their only opus “Tribal Tech” (1994); and of course Meshuggah, the Swedish legends who went beyond any established boundaries within the metal genre, but at least on their first two efforts they gave modern thrash a hefty intricate push. Some may want to throw in here the name Rosicrucian, another Swedish outfit, although to these ears their two albums are more on the classic side with a few modern shades. The prolific German scene gave its share in this trend in the face of Tenebra (self-titled, 1995) and the Accuser guys’ side-project Panacea (“Pray”, 1995); the American scene produced the excellent “Eyes of Tomorrow” (1994) by the stalwarts Aftermath; the Danes threw in Invocator’s sophomore effort “Weave the Apocalypse” (1993); and the Dutch also acquitted themselves, with the band under scrutiny here.

Tefilla came on the scene completely unheralded with the band members having no previous career spells within the established metal circles. And with a band name like that (“tefilla” is a Hebrew word denoting an object related to the Jewish version of The Bible called The Torah) one would be quite hesitant to place them in any of the existing sub-genres. The only thing one could do in a case like this is to give this album a listen, and decide for him/herself. First the listener will be exposed to the opening “Sanguis”, a steam-rolling mid-paced shredder with stylish technical, quite jumpy at times, riffage which suddenly starts moshing out in a clever, intelligent manner recalling Meshuggah’s “Contradictions Collapse”. A grand beginning for sure which reveals a strictly modern approach to the genre also reflected in the angry, quarrelsome, semi-shouty vocals. The title-track is a big misleader with balladic deviations and clean vocals for a start; fancy stuff which doesn’t last for very long as the band are quick to bring back the heavy rhythm-section; expect the quiet passages to re-appear at some stage the alternation going on for about 8.5-min. “The Judge” is another unnerving volcanic piece which unleashes a knot of virtuous technical guitars which turn into a fast-paced death metal-ish cavalcade to the headbangers’ utter delight; still, the intricate labyrinthine riff-salads dominate here despite the occasional speedy interruptions.

The fan is met with a doomy intro on “The Pillar” before another hectic technical skirmish tears his/her aura the latter lasting throughout the whole 7.5-min making this composition a masterpiece of though-out technical/progressive modern thrash without too many accelerations. “Exorators Chapel” is the next in line elaborate feast with great mazey riffs ala Coroner at the beginning those superseded by pounding strokes and abrupt speedy sections; a peaceful jazzy interlude is served in the second half followed by nice weird, atonal leads, the already heard earlier technical fiesta wrapping it on. “Funeral of Death” isn’t exactly funeral death/doom as one would expect from the title, but is a consummate progressive cut with more dramatic deathy build-ups (so it is a tell-tale title, after all…) and vortex-like riff-patterns which give way to stomping, jarring rhythms with a shade of djent, and a surprising fast-paced finale. “Horn of Salvation”, the closer, is a gigantic 10-min opus which starts jumping quite energetically from the get-go, but saves enough energy to carry on with this dynamic delivery for at least half the time; the guys take a break mid-way for the production of a breath-taking serene, bass-driven passage after which the sound takes a more officiant sterile turn the leads companying the mechanical rhythm-section to the end.

One may view this act as the better proposition to Meshuggah since the approach here never turns into a repetitive abstract, mathematical melee, but contains enough intriguing technicality to easily keep it afloat even if released in the early-90’s when high quality metal could still be found at every corner. The guys are expert at keeping things interesting the whole time considering the songs’ length (the shortest one is 5.5-min) aptly avoiding the monotony which is so characteristic of the modern thrash works relying on more sterile, mechanical riff-patterns. If Coroner hadn’t spaced out so much on “Grin”, and if they had preserved some of their genuine technicality for at least one more spell, they may have come up with something similar. The other two albums that managed to give the modern delivery such a compelling doze of complexity are those unforgettable “Eyes of Tomorrow” (Aftermath), and this psychotic “Tribal Tech” (Aleister), both mentioned earlier.

With a style like this there’s always the danger of going too far down the rabbit hole the way Meshuggah did, and indulge in polyrhythmic, djent-like exploits and cold, bleak musical landscapes. Although there were already signs at the time this album was released that classic metal was preparing to return to the spotlight, it was not very certain that those born in the 90’s would be too willing to embrace those “alien”, new/old sounds. The Tefilla team never lasted beyond this isolated meisterwerk to ever had to deal with this dilemma which was probably for the better. As a one-album-wonder they can rest assured that their place will always be secure in the thrash metal pantheon, and that their opus will always be a recommended listen for those who want to meet the rising sun in the early morning with a few shots of tefilla… sorry, tequilla lined up.