There are two types of thrash metal – there’s the serious stuff and then there’s the fun stuff and Scottish thrashers Thrashist Regime, just by the name alone are clearly the fun type. Their second album “Carnival Of Monsters” is truly like a circus act full of twists and turns and all contained within a tongue in cheek element of good old fashioned thrash metal.
It’s not completely surprising to hear of a really good thrash band come out of the UK, admittedly not a lot has come my way through the old lands of Scotland though (my heritage I might add!) and this band who humerously call themselves Thrashist Regime caught my attention just from the way the riffs complimented their output and the way they presented the music. It’s completely fun stuff to listen to, adding to the fact that lyrically the songs cover the grounds of subjects such as video games, zombies, The A-Team and Dolph Lundgren. Are the 80’s back again? Get your battle jackets, high tops and bullet belts on people, we’re thrashing it up like it’s 1986!
In all seriousness though, the Scottish lads have got more than just some funny one liners and some rum inspired singalongs that weirdly has some similarity to pirate metal. No this is real thrash in the vein of modern acts such as Municipal Waste, Gama Bomb and the like, the slight cross over punk elements with some vicious riffing along with catchy hooks and, did I say riffs? There’s a ton of that all over this album and the band do it well.
Some mixed variations of lengthy songs such as the opener “Laughter Then Madness Then Death” which clocks in at a monstrous 8 minutes contrasts the shorter tracks like the follow up “Antarctattack” which I suppose makes sense on the latter, I mean how long can you sing about ants attacking Antartica? Funnily enough I just read an article about the lack of ants in that part of the world so I don’t know who to believe now. But anyhoo…
“Headshot” is a zombified thrasher, lots of rhythmic changes and probably one of the most fun songs to listen to while tracks like “Megalomaniac” and “Operation Keep Him Busy” have that driving, galloping Overkill-esque riffage going on that has some serious muscle. Aside from those aspects, all in all this is not an overly diverse album but thrash metal albums of this kind rarely are and aren’t meant to be. Just sit back and enjoy the chaos that ensues as the album takes on some ferocious but also melodic moments that build this album well.
The classic overtones are also pretty evident through out the album and none more so than on “Vengeful Knights” and “Colossus” but the momentum never lets up right up to the very end with the epic title track featuring some flashy trickery and the closer “Metacidal Massacre” which is more instrumental than anything but still has a lot of power through the killer guitar solos. “Carnival Of Monsters” is a wonderfully fun thrash album to listen to, in every way possible and while it’s not going smash the charts and break open new grounds in genre defining moments by any means, this is still a worthy chunk of metal to wrap your ears around.
TRACKLIST
Laughter Then Madness Then Death
Antarctattack
Headshot
Megalomaniac
Operation Keep Him Busy
Vengeful Knights
Colossus
Soldiers Of Furtune
Xcom Enemy Unknown
Carnival Of Monsters
Metacidal Massacre
