Over the years Spain has been home to some of the best underground thrash bands coming out of the second wave of the genre which in turn has helped spin some interest back into a genre that almost completely disappeared back in the 90’s. Bands like Angelus Apatrida and Crisix come to mind but there’s been a great deal of top bands that have consistently been coming through the country and one such band, Violblast is definitely one to add to your collection with their new album “Theater Of Despair” delivering the goods on all levels.
Despite being a predominantly thrash oriented band, Violblast actually has a lot more going for them in terms of music style. Admittedly I have not gone back and checked out their previous releases so I can only go from this latest work “Theater Of Despair” but there’s a lot of range happening here that contains modern metal elements, occasional doom qualities and a hell of a lot of groove oriented moments that give the album overall some dynamics not always found on traditional thrash albums.
Jumping ahead to the end, the final track “Scopaesthesic” sums up the overall vibe of this album well and fittingly is used to wrap things up so everything else ahead of it almost leads up to it in a way. The opening song “Trivialization of Murder” shows two sides of the band with a slower groove tempo leading the way into the speedy tempos of the second half. Comparisons to such illuminaries as Slayer and Kreator will be made, borrowing all the usual elements but interestingly enough, the later styles of those bands a bit more evident than say the classic older stuff which isn’t that common to see. It’s those modern elements including some creative use of those all important riffs that really separate these songs from the aforementioned comparisons.
An example of that can be found in “Secret Reality” where it’s not pedal to the metal but the focus being on trying to shine the light on the various ways riffs and melodies can actually be put together for a more interesting listen. “New Orphans Elegy” also jumps into other territories with a darker more sludgier sound that has a little of those contemporary guitar work found in modern day metal bands.
Still Violblast know how to thrash and they bring plenty of it. The title track “Theater Of Despair” has some raw power to it while “Martyrs Without A Cause” switches things up between thrash and groove. One of the stand outs is “The Shadow No Longer Rests” and I can’t quite put my finger on it but there’s a bit of a Revocation thing going here too which works really well, highly imaginative song writing involved here with huge riffs and atmospheric dynamics.
There’s little to fault on “Theater Of Despair”, it’s a solid album from start to finish and has enough interesting elements and hooks to keep the listener engaged. Production is also solid with crystal clear recordings, guitars up front and a massive drum sound all cohesively working together nicely. There are definitely thrashier albums out there for sure but very rarely does those albums incorporate as many modern elements as this one does.
TRACKLIST
Trivialization of Murder
Theater of Despair
New Orphans Elegy
Martyrs Without a Cause
Secret Reality
The Shadow No Longer Rests
Prevail
Broken Scepter
Painless
Scopaesthesic