Mind Consumption

2020 was the year of the Portuguese thrash metal debuts. Okay, that's an exaggeration. There were two. However, both Mindtaker and ThrashWall released their full-length premieres to rapturous reception, proving that, not only is Portugal a place to find great thrash metal, but that the whole new wave of thrash movement is more than relevant in today's metal scene. Quickly following in their wake is Lisbon's Torn Fabriks who, even from the exterior, seem to be ticking all the right boxes. The new EP is called Mind Consumption (great pseudo-Orwellian concept as is tradition for the genre), the artwork is batshit crazy, it's released on Firecum Records, the band logo is nuclear green and angular as fuck, and - most importantly - they spell 'fabrics' with a K. Pure toxic 21st century thrash metal this must be! To their credit, this debut EP consists of 6 fresh tracks with no bullshit b-sides, pointless throwaway jokes, or live sets that sound like they were recorded on a cabbage. Torn Fabriks definitely mean business.

Y'know what? Mind Consumption really ain't half bad! The first, instantly notable, thing is the production quality. It's definitely got that old-school raw edge us thrash fans inexplicably hunger for, and the guitars are satisfyingly chunky on the bottom-string chugs (opening riff to "Idiocracy Layers" being a particular highlight). The snare drum is my elephant in the room. It sounds like a plastic tub lid covered in tissue paper, and it takes away from the power of the great performance by Paulo Soares. The other elephant in the room (I know, big room) is Ricardo Santos' vocal style. It's very difficult to describe and it simultaneously delights and irritates me. I don't think I've ever been so internally divided over a vocalist. He sounds like he's constantly holding back a cough, resulting in a crackly rasp that isn't too dissimilar from radio static. More respect to the guy for just belting it out though. In the chorus to the previously-mentioned "Idiocracy Layers", he really lets rip with this uniqe timbre - no shits given. That's your voice, bro. Scream it. Fuck guys like me with our dumbass opinions.

Where Torn Fabriks really shine is in the riff work. Yeah, it's not innovative - this is new wave thrash for Christ's sake - but therein lies the satisfying beauty. It's headbang heaven. My personal highlight, for overall song structure as well as riff quality, is the driving "Evil Eight". My head just can't get enough of the riff underneath the verses, or the addictive lyric of 'Evil Eight....feeeeet tall!'. All credit due to Jorge Matos and his phenomenal shredding two minutes into "Bring Me Down". That's a great finale in general, come to think of it - love that escalating double-kick attack right to the crashing close. No track breaches the four-minute mark, making this six-cut EP refreshingly brief; just enough to be satisfying whilst leaving potential fans salivating for more. Mind Consumption isn't perfect by any means - and they've got a few rungs to jump to reach their fellow countrymen ThrashWall and Mindtaker (or even Primal Attack, forgot about those guys!) - but Torn Fabriks lay down a solid foundation to build from with this EP. I seriously hope a full-length album is on the horizon.