Pandemonium

Whoah! Where did this BEAST come from?

This is a truly godly blend of thrash metal and death metal, delivered to perfection. The pure RIFFS never end, which can rarely be said for a lot of bands, particularly modern bands claiming to be the new wave of thrash - they can't hold a candle to this utter monster of riff work.

That's the best way to get across this album really, the utterly thrashy riffs are burning in your ears from beginning to end, mixing a really brutal edge with a melodic energy that is often lost in a lot of modern albums. And this said, you might assume that it is a monotonous medley of chugging...WRONG! Every riff weaves in with the others, somehow managing to each stay different and original.

So that on its own places this album firmly as a thrash TITAN, but as if we deserve more, this band blend a deep death metal aspect into their sound with resoundingly successful results. The vocals are the first thing to notice, as they are a raspy, sometimes gutteral growl. Not much variety to be had from song to song, but that could be said of thousands of vocals, and they still mix the deep, rhythmic chanting with screechy shouts and spitting verses which is extremely effective in combination with the relentless riffs.

The drums are great in that they really punctuate the fact that this band incorporate thrash AND death, quite simply. Mid-paced blast beats work alongside bass drum passages and thrash beats and amplify the impact of the riffwork.

The riffs themselves also hint at the death metal tendancies, sometimes deciding to be quite rhythmical or chaotic, but predominantely they offer an insatiable barrage of perfect riffs.

Other people have said this, but I would really reiterate it - it's just like Suffocation gone thrash! Where Suffocation work some thrash riffs and beats into their sound, Torture Squad really take it all the way, and in a way I prefer the end result of the latter just for non-stop enjoyment. Suffocation have great riff sections, but they also have a level of monotony and uninspiration which simply can't be found on this album. Production-wise as well, Torture Squad have really cleaned up their act where Suffocation seem to prefer the muddy, indistinct sound. I prefer Torture Squad's production.

Anyway, practically perfect - an album which should truly set the standard for modern death/thrash metal, and one which a lot of these modern "thrash" acts would do well to take notes of.