Breaking Through the Ranks

I’m not sure if there was a mistake made in the band name, or this was the way the band preferred to call themselves, but the truth is that this is a thrash, rather than trash can… sorry, machine, one that faithfully followed the Bay-Area regulations (think Testament, Megadeth, Metallica) in a way not too dissimilar to the one of their compatriots, the veterans Adem.

“Coup d’Etat” is an impressive opener offering moderately complex technical thrash the delivery meandering between alluring melodic licks and surgical steel rifforamas, the prevalently mid-tempo interaction supervised by passable semi-clean/semi-declamatory vocals. “Bad Stuff” is a short immediate speedster, nothing too complex here, and “Last Breath” winks at the Metallica debut with the energetic guitars and the carefree, nearly crossover-ish, mood. “Kill the Dragon” is a serious surging shredder which sophisticated technicality could easily qualify it for “Rust in Peace”, the singer also trying to emulate Dave Mustaine’s mean-ish croons.

“Radioactive Contamination” is a thought-out progressive thrash split into two parts, the first of which is a sprightly bouncy instrumental, and the second one is an officiant march-like tank recalling those formidable machines from the former Soviet army (think World War II, above all) until the more flexible Megadeth-esque chops break the stride in the second half. “Door to Hell” carries on with the Megadeth infatuations in a really admirable speedy manner, an infectious headbanging fest which gets nicely translated on another 2-part composition, the title-track that is, the band outgrowing the shadow of Mustaine’s gang with crunchier, more jarring riffage although the vocalist’s copycat efforts continue to keep the proceedings in the vicinity of the mentioned “Rust in Peace” with a couple of more relaxed moments ala the Americans’ early/mid-90’s period.

The modern groovy/aggro/alternative trends settled in Eastern Europe a bit more slowly hence the appearance of similar, dedicated to the classic metal idea recordings. The guys chose a lofty tried-and-tested pattern, and followed it unerringly all the way, not trying anything too adventurous outside it. And they shouldn’t have, if you think of it, as any innovation at that time was going to end up in the groovy pool, or thereabouts; not the most dignified way to break through the ranks for a group of wayward retro thrashing machines.