There is a specific, razor-edged nostalgia that comes with a perfectly executed thrash record.
It’s the sound of the late 80s Bay Area, all palm-muted precision and political snarl, reimagined for an era where the "leeches" have simply changed their suits. Wreck-Defy, led by the formidable Justin "JD" DeFeis, aren't interested in being a "tribute" act, though. Dissecting The Leech is a masterclass in the technical bloodline of the genre, delivered with the kind of veteran focus that makes most modern "revival" bands look like they’re playing with blunt tools.
The album hits the ground running with Under The Sun, and immediately, the production, handled with a clinical, high-fidelity sheen, demands attention. It’s a showcase for DeFeis’s guitar work, which manages to be both complex and relentlessly catchy. This isn't speed for the sake of it; it's a calculated assault. By the time the needle hits Do It Again, the rhythmic engine of the band is fully engaged, providing a rigid, mechanical foundation that allows the tracks to breathe without ever losing their forward momentum.
What’s most striking about this record is the vocal delivery of Matt Constantino. On tracks like Millennial Dystopia and Revolt, he manages to balance a classic thrash rasp with a melodic sensibility that actually makes the choruses stick. It’s not "soft"; it’s just intelligent. It gives the songs a sense of identity that survives the high-velocity churn. The title track, Dissecting The Leech, serves as the record's heart, a standalone bit of aggression that explores the darker corners of the human condition with a level of lyrical wit that matches the technicality of the riffs.
The momentum shifts into the more straightforward grit of Another Day and I Don't Care, where the band leans into a pugnacious, street-level energy. The guitars don't just play chords; they weave these intricate, needle-fine solos that cut through the mix like a surgical laser. As the record moves into The Haunting Past and The Path, you can hear the band’s pedigree showing through; they know exactly how to pull back on the tempo to let a groove settle before exploding back into a frantic, blackened thrash sprint.
By the time we reach the final act, the brooding intensity of Apocalypse Of Hope, the scope of the record is clear. Wreck-Defy hasn't just made another "thrash" album; they’ve documented a specific kind of modern malaise. It’s a record of sharp edges and sharper tongues, a testament to the enduring power of a well-honed riff and a message that refuses to be silenced. For those of us who still believe that the "Big Four" was just the beginning of the conversation, Dissecting The Leech is essential listening. 8/10
The album hits the ground running with Under The Sun, and immediately, the production, handled with a clinical, high-fidelity sheen, demands attention. It’s a showcase for DeFeis’s guitar work, which manages to be both complex and relentlessly catchy. This isn't speed for the sake of it; it's a calculated assault. By the time the needle hits Do It Again, the rhythmic engine of the band is fully engaged, providing a rigid, mechanical foundation that allows the tracks to breathe without ever losing their forward momentum.
What’s most striking about this record is the vocal delivery of Matt Constantino. On tracks like Millennial Dystopia and Revolt, he manages to balance a classic thrash rasp with a melodic sensibility that actually makes the choruses stick. It’s not "soft"; it’s just intelligent. It gives the songs a sense of identity that survives the high-velocity churn. The title track, Dissecting The Leech, serves as the record's heart, a standalone bit of aggression that explores the darker corners of the human condition with a level of lyrical wit that matches the technicality of the riffs.
The momentum shifts into the more straightforward grit of Another Day and I Don't Care, where the band leans into a pugnacious, street-level energy. The guitars don't just play chords; they weave these intricate, needle-fine solos that cut through the mix like a surgical laser. As the record moves into The Haunting Past and The Path, you can hear the band’s pedigree showing through; they know exactly how to pull back on the tempo to let a groove settle before exploding back into a frantic, blackened thrash sprint.
By the time we reach the final act, the brooding intensity of Apocalypse Of Hope, the scope of the record is clear. Wreck-Defy hasn't just made another "thrash" album; they’ve documented a specific kind of modern malaise. It’s a record of sharp edges and sharper tongues, a testament to the enduring power of a well-honed riff and a message that refuses to be silenced. For those of us who still believe that the "Big Four" was just the beginning of the conversation, Dissecting The Leech is essential listening. 8/10
Erra - Silence Outlives The Earth (UNFD) [Matt Bladen]
Flux is the overarching theme to seventh album from Alabama progressive metalcore act Erra, humans have always been stuck between the present and the past and this existentialist existence is the main lyrical inspiration behind Silence Outlives The Earth. The American five piece have been releasing heartfelt meets heavy music since 2009 and have been sculpting it to reach a perfect blend since then.
Equally highlighting the vicious and the melodic, Silence Outlives The Earth begins with the kind of heavy/soft dynamism that Erra are know for with dreamy atmospheres and keening clean vocals are cut through with groove heavy riffs and screams. The voices split by J.T Carvey (lead) and guitarist Jesse Cash (clean vocals) they work on glorious conjunction with tracks such as Gore Of Being where the catharsis comes through on both sides.
Cash locks into some thick breakdowns along with Clint Tustin (guitar), the duo adding glistening repeating melodies to Black Cloud and Echo Sonata and chuggy distortion to Cicada Strain, as the engine room of Conor Jesse (bass) and Alex Ballew (drums) brings the heavy start stop grooves on Lucid Threshold. The production of Daniel Braunstein keeping the sonic power he's given Erra on the previous three records.
It's a record where Erra lean on what's come before but face forward propelling themselves into the future, it feels like their most together album. Time has been taken to make sure the songs sit almost thematically, Cavey stating “We've always cared a lot about our track listing as a front-to-back listen," and you can hear this time and effort as there's a flow that means you press play and enter into Erra's personal narrative that ends when the last song finishes.
As progressive metalcore continues to evolve bands like Erra move with it, delivering an album like Silence Outlives The Earth that bring in the more modern elements without totally stripping them of their initial style. 8/10
This record is the definition of all over the place, but controlled chaos wins the day on Karakuchi. No record will ever sound like the collection of songs on the new Kaleidobolt album, which is saying something these days. Very cool stuff. 8/10
Azken Auzi - Infernua (Argonauta Records) [Mark Young]
A change of pace for the first week of March, with Azken Auzi who return with their second full length release, Infernua. Leading with Deep Hell, this is a massive chunk of noise that just lands, unfolding at a snail’s pace with despair-tinged vocals that are spat by Ludo, who also deals in sub-atomic destruction via the riffs that are dropped.
Flux is the overarching theme to seventh album from Alabama progressive metalcore act Erra, humans have always been stuck between the present and the past and this existentialist existence is the main lyrical inspiration behind Silence Outlives The Earth. The American five piece have been releasing heartfelt meets heavy music since 2009 and have been sculpting it to reach a perfect blend since then.
Equally highlighting the vicious and the melodic, Silence Outlives The Earth begins with the kind of heavy/soft dynamism that Erra are know for with dreamy atmospheres and keening clean vocals are cut through with groove heavy riffs and screams. The voices split by J.T Carvey (lead) and guitarist Jesse Cash (clean vocals) they work on glorious conjunction with tracks such as Gore Of Being where the catharsis comes through on both sides.
Cash locks into some thick breakdowns along with Clint Tustin (guitar), the duo adding glistening repeating melodies to Black Cloud and Echo Sonata and chuggy distortion to Cicada Strain, as the engine room of Conor Jesse (bass) and Alex Ballew (drums) brings the heavy start stop grooves on Lucid Threshold. The production of Daniel Braunstein keeping the sonic power he's given Erra on the previous three records.
It's a record where Erra lean on what's come before but face forward propelling themselves into the future, it feels like their most together album. Time has been taken to make sure the songs sit almost thematically, Cavey stating “We've always cared a lot about our track listing as a front-to-back listen," and you can hear this time and effort as there's a flow that means you press play and enter into Erra's personal narrative that ends when the last song finishes.
As progressive metalcore continues to evolve bands like Erra move with it, delivering an album like Silence Outlives The Earth that bring in the more modern elements without totally stripping them of their initial style. 8/10
Kaleidobolt - Karakuchi (Svart Records) [Rich Piva]
Looking for something to put a little pep in your step? Well, the new record from Helsinki, Finland’s Kaleidobolt, titled, Karakuchi, is here to get your engines revving. It is like a party punk version of Motorhead who listen to too much 80s post punk and 80s hair bands, all wrapped in a nice 38 minute package of chaotic craziness. Oh, also, it’s great.
Tinkerbell starts this record off like a rocket ship; a five-plus minute blast of punk leaning metal goodness. The adjectives for me are tough with these guys, because they are so familiar, so all over the place, and so unique all at the same time, and it all works.
Looking for something to put a little pep in your step? Well, the new record from Helsinki, Finland’s Kaleidobolt, titled, Karakuchi, is here to get your engines revving. It is like a party punk version of Motorhead who listen to too much 80s post punk and 80s hair bands, all wrapped in a nice 38 minute package of chaotic craziness. Oh, also, it’s great.
Tinkerbell starts this record off like a rocket ship; a five-plus minute blast of punk leaning metal goodness. The adjectives for me are tough with these guys, because they are so familiar, so all over the place, and so unique all at the same time, and it all works.
I love the track Coping as it somehow sounds like The Jam or The Undertones and fits perfectly amongst the other types of heavy these guys bring to the party. The drum work is insane on the record, with Astro Boy/Ochanomizu being the perfect example of this. This one has some great layered vocals, killer guitar work, while showing off the band’s pop sensibilities in one of their more complex songs.
You want the guys to doom it up a bit? Duuude does that nicely, with a chunky riff and back end that shakes the foundations, even if it is a two minute instrumental interlude. The punk rockers return on Friends Of Fire sounding more like early Face To Face than anything else (very high compliment). Except during the breakdown when the post punk stuff comes back out, then back again. A wild ride, just like the entire record.
The riff on A Chance Of A Lifetime screams stoner rock but vocally and lyrically sounds like something out of 1976 in the best kind of way. The drummer once again shows what a mad man he is while the track somehow morphs into early Rush territory. Turn Of Luck may be the most insane track on Karakuchi, and probably my favourite.
This record is the definition of all over the place, but controlled chaos wins the day on Karakuchi. No record will ever sound like the collection of songs on the new Kaleidobolt album, which is saying something these days. Very cool stuff. 8/10
A change of pace for the first week of March, with Azken Auzi who return with their second full length release, Infernua. Leading with Deep Hell, this is a massive chunk of noise that just lands, unfolding at a snail’s pace with despair-tinged vocals that are spat by Ludo, who also deals in sub-atomic destruction via the riffs that are dropped.
Fans of speed/thrash and anything like should look elsewhere for their thrills, you won’t find that kind of excitement here. This is all about simple but effective arrangements that do that slow two-step on your neck. SK changes that dynamic so that this is more than just a rinse and repeat exercise from them. If you imagine a lighter shade being used in lieu of the traditional low end, this is how SK runs using discord for cover amongst those lower end moments.
Again, what they do is so brilliantly realised that it just unrolls gradually until it picks up at its end. They make it interesting, and on Black Mass, well they make it heavy too. It’s a bruiser, occupying a low stance despite throwing melody back at you as a means of expanding the sonic arena its breathing in. Even though its basically an instrumental, I still dug it for the way it played out. See You Next Tuesday sees the return of normal service, glacial pace and anguished vocals and is followed by the colossus that is Reptilian, which is all jagged chords and terse vocal delivery.
Imagine early Mastodon that has slowed down and that should give you a clue as to how this one drops. I think we should also mention the considerable talents of Fred behind the kit for keeping everything in place, making sure that there is a sense of motion present. From Hell is their sign-off track, finishing up in much the same way they started – simple and effective arrangements.
Sludge, doom and variances in between are difficult to review, just for trying to capture in words how good something sounds. I’ve mentioned that they don’t try to complicate things, simply they just come out to flatten you with a massive sound and quality riffs. Everything they do is kept simple and in saying I realise that I am doing them a massive disservice. This will be apparent once you wrap your ears around the 6 songs on here and let these big riffs slap you about for a spell.
Sludge, doom and variances in between are difficult to review, just for trying to capture in words how good something sounds. I’ve mentioned that they don’t try to complicate things, simply they just come out to flatten you with a massive sound and quality riffs. Everything they do is kept simple and in saying I realise that I am doing them a massive disservice. This will be apparent once you wrap your ears around the 6 songs on here and let these big riffs slap you about for a spell.
On the flip side, fans of the speedier genres might as well look elsewhere, as the pace may be a little slow for you but for those who like that slower pace twinned with immense sounding guitars and riffs to match then take a seat. 8/10
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