the thrash zone! thrashing bands, shredding riffs

Time to let the riffs loose and begin the shredding and scream. Here are some bands that have been melting down the speakers of my cassette tape player.

Crusher (Ukraine): “Endless Torment” (Metal Scrap Rec)

Crusher is a thrash band that embraces the label, that gets to the business of thrashing. Play fast, shred, unleash the solos, and for thrash’s sake, make it raw, nothing too polished.

The way that Crusher uses its high energy to play these songs made me like it instantly. Thrash from the gutter, played with lots of anti-system social critique discontent style. They sound like they have been listening to lots of Nuclear Assault, Overkill, DRI, Kreator, Hirax, … you get the picture. (They cover Slayer’s “Jesus Saves).

This does NOT sound like a bunch of demo songs recorded in a garage. It’s good stuff, if you like lots of thrash, you are going to dig this. Crusher is impressive and surprisingly good. www.facebook.com/CrusherThrash

Nervosa (Brazil): “2012” (Demo)

Nervosa is reportedly working on their debut album for this year. In the meantime, in case you have not heard these thrashers, let’s go back just a bit to their demo that started this band.

Nervosa’s vocals are more like black metal snarl scream growl (not punk/hardcore talk-shout style), which gives the sound a real strong point for different audiences to get into. These two songs show Nervosa wasting no time in getting the moshpit going.

Thrashers should be especially interested in Nervosa because this band makes the music that you enjoy. I hope the debut album is ready soon! www.nervosa.com.br

Nuclear Winter (Bangladesh): “Warborne Assault” (Wartorn Records)

What is happening in Bangladesh thrash? Nuclear Winter, that’s what. Just like the high energy and fury of Crusher, Nuclear Winter cuts down on the nonsense and go for their number one philosophy: make thrash to bang your head and to mosh.

This is the way to do it. Nuclear Winter will make you play air guitar and start a pit in your living room. Also like Crusher, Nuclear Winter is no garage-quality band wasting your time. Nuclear Winter is ready for prime time thrashing now. You don’t have to wait. The time is now. www.facebook.com/NuclearWinterBD

Šmiercieslaŭ (Belarus): “Dark Tide of Destruction/Calling on Darkness” (Possession Prod.) The other bands in this thrash review section play traditional thrash, the kind that is relatively big among metal listeners even today, not just in the 80s. Šmiercieslaŭ, on the other hand, plays a tight, dark speedy thrash along the lines of black/thrash or deathrash, like a faster, angrier version of old Kreator and Sodom, with a bit of the viciousness of early Bathory. Nonstop high-speed thrashing.

www.possessionproductions.bandcamp.com

Witchrite (Poland): “Witchrite 2013” (Demo)

Witchrite quickly convinced me that thrashers should give them a chance. Besides the fact that the sound quality is solid (you can hear the bass guitar very clearly), the vibe of the band is something that thrashers would like, I think. Witchrite can let loose with the high-speed whiplashing riffs and drumming and broken-glass screaming, but they also balance things out with some uptempo moments.

Just as exciting, you can hear the complete demo at Bandcamp and get it for free. You can contact the band at: witchrite@wp.pl. If you want to hear a band that sounds real and has some cool thrash tunes, with a bit of growled vocals, then you can’t go wrong. Contact this band and tell them you like what they’re doing with their thrash. www.witchrite.bandcamp.com