Pandemonium

This is my first 100% rating, and I'll explain why.

This album just plain shreds. I have never heard so many riffs, so many imaginative drum chops, so much sheer metal onslaught in a mere 39 minutes. This basically unknown band has gone about their merry way and created something that stands out as the most crushing metal record I've ever heard in my life.

The riffs: A blend between thrash and death, with a bit of melody thrown in here and there for good measure. No riff is played more than twice in a song, and never for more than a maximum of 20 seconds or so. Yes, there's THAT many riffs here. There are at least 20 riffs here, that on any other album, would stand out so prominently that it would make the entire record. In Torture Squad's case, there's at least 2 of these riffs per song! (ie. there's more metal in one riff on this album than there is in some entire records of lesser bands... I'm not kidding)

The drumming: Freaking ridiculous. I have never heard so many flawless time changes and frantic double kicking in my life. The chops are totally fresh, really imaginative, and never cease to disappoint. There are some weird-ass time signatures on here, and the drummer holds everything together perfectly. Some songs have upwards of 10 time changes and the drumming never slips. Some of the fills are positively mind-blowing, it's as if the drummer has 6 hands.

The bass: Not terribly prominent, but on occasion, the bassist gets a bit of a break here and there (leading into a new riff, for instance) and the tone is great, and sounds expertly played.

The vocals: Not really a big part of this band, they definitely seem focused more on the instrumentation (and for good reason) but when there is a verse of mainly nonsensical, typical South American style lyrics, they are growled well and do nothing to take away from the songs. Hollering some of the choruses can be fun, like in the first track, "horror and torture... horror and torture!" Metal.

The solos: Again, not a major part of the album (I mentioned it was all about RIFFS!!) and they are nothing impressive, but don't detract from anything either. No annoying 1-minute solos, just 20-30 seconds of noodling here and there. Can't complain.

The songs: Where do I begin? The album starts with a 44-second intro which is basically nothing, and then it's just pure, all-out, neck-breaking metal assault for about 30 minutes. The songs don't really have anything to make any one of them stand out, it basically boils down to which one has the best riffs. There's ass kicking riffs in every single one; none of them are bad, and you won't be skipping anything here. I've listened to this album four or five times since I've had it, and I hear new, crazy shit every time. It's like riffs pop out of nowhere that you didn't hear before. The second-to-last track is a really cool 2-minute interlude/intro to the last song, and is played masterfully. This is the only time on the album where they drop much below 200 bpm. It's like a cross between Priest's "Battle Hymn" and something you might find on an Opeth album (not a bad thing, I like Opeth); and this cuts immediately into another crushing riff and the last song.

That pretty much sums it up. This is the most metal record I've ever heard. Everything comes together flawlessly to present a collection of riffs more crushing than anything that has ever been heard before. The production is really good too! Everything is perfectly mixed and nothing stands out too much.

Choice cuts: Everything kicks more ass than every other metal record combined, but if I had to pick a favourite song, it would be "World Of Misery" because there are a few riffs on there that absolutely blow my fucking mind. And when riffs stand out on this album, you know they're metal.

A definite must-own. Get this... if you can.