ALBUMS YOU MISSED… Is a yearly tradition of highlighting albums I did not have time to review, all of which are above average (that means no boring Power Trip clones, folks.) I’d encourage folks to never be “done” with records after the release year passes, and recognize that the true fan will continue seeking the best of what is available and not only what is “current” to the greater perceived conversation. The plastic these were (likely) printed onto will take longer to decompose than you will, so, take a minute and see what escaped your periphery and what might stick. Take a deep breath, frown deeply, and think for yourself — If you find something you dig go tell the band on social media and support them with a purchase! If you’d like your music reviewed, read the FAQ and send promos to: grizzlybutts@hotmail.com

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Campina Grande, Brazil-based thrash metal trio Korvak don’t just bring a big personality to their second full-length album, a progressive death-thrashing opus of sorts, but they once more bring their -own- colorful vision to the traditional spectrum of the niche for a nearly hourlong experience. I was so impressed with their unfocused and wilding debut and some of their follow-up pieces that I’d attempted to reissue their stuff at one point (“psychedelic insane deathrash metal” is my kind of deal) but it didn’t make any business sense at the time, so I’m glad that they’ve put out another even bigger/better and more aggressive record. Attempting more means we end up with a ‘kitchen sink’ sort of record which might touch upon Vektor one moment and something typically Bay Area in presentation (be it Sadus or Metal Church, really) the next, nothing too bizarre in terms of underground thrash metal with a lot of enthusiasm for different eras, scenes, and styles. Before we get to the vacuum death-thrash rasping and bluesy wailing weird of “…What comes from the Moon?” they’ve got a few bigger divergences to prepare us, such as the psychedelic folk chant “A Fera”. This’d recalled, I suppose very briefly the early 90’s side of Chakal, but any fan of the usual results of prog-thrash will find the usual fuel otherwise as the most involved final third of the album rears its head. If you have the patience for drum solos, acoustic interludes, and a pretty samey death metal rasped vocal you’ll appreciate the depths they plumb to put on a big show here.

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Madrid, Spain-based solo artist Salva Campuzano left a crater in 2023 with two death-thrashing full-length albums and each came with some substantial value per fitting art design, reasonable production values, and most important of all he’s got a brain for riffs of the mid-paced thrashing-death groove ilk and composes for two guitars with some reasonable consistency. As it turns out the first album ‘God’s Left Hand‘ is a reskinning of the project’s 2020 debut ‘Satanas Sum‘ under the name Storm Siege and this second LP, ‘Predator‘ is a continuation of that style under the new name/vision. So, in reality this project has been nearly ten years in the making and this album is the peak of it. If you enjoy bands like Canker and Transmetal you’ll lock onto this band’s sound quickly but he’s got a few surprises on the second half of the album with some experimental and blackened pieces, even covering a Dissection piece to close the record.

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The biggest rookie mistake a band can make at this point is pick a name like Nemesis, every country had three or four of ’em in the 80’s and a few kid-thrashers and out-of-the-loop goth metal bands without smartphones went by the name in the 2010’s but it’ll always belong to the pre-Candlemass crew especially if you’re catching the ear of the old-schooled. The latest yout’ crew to fall victim to this fate is this talented group of Houston, Texas-based retro thrashers and if you follow that scene you’ll note the vocalist/guitarist also featured in Labyrinth, who I’d written about a couple years ago per their demo. The style here is something in between late 80’s Megadeth (per the vocals) and the more single minded Bay Area-leaning side of German thrash metal faceted with the shouting and moshable edge which a number of New Jersey bands were pushing in the late 80’s as well. Of course this comes with a clear love for the ‘old school’, solid stretches of riffs, and a fairly authentic sound with its own personality. While I’d have to admit this is a “standard” peak thrash metal inspired record in a certain sense that isn’t a bad place to be and it makes for an intense and easily jammed debut LP. The unique vocal tone and occasional melodic cadence help to pull the whole experience together and make it memorable, that extra indication of personae is enough to help this debut stand out.

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No question about it Slovakian quartet Acid Force‘s latest LP would’ve been on my Best of November this year had I heard about it prior the start of December… and not only because they’ve got riffs but the shout-along speed metal edge that helps to characterize ‘World Targets in Megadeaths‘ as riotous and dramatic is well in line with my own taste. The circa ’83-’85 vision of thrash metal wherein the feeling of a “scene”, an army of folks moshing behind their work is preserved here to great effect though the vocalist does a fine job of directing things in-between sinister riffs and gang-shout choruses. Naturally that means there is a bit of ‘Peace Sells…‘ in there, in droves, and that will always catch my ear. All the galloping, shredding, and barked energy one would want from a classic thrash inspired record in retrospect.

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Five years beyond their debut EP for Svart Records (which you’ll recall I’d reviewed) Finnish thrash metal quartet Radux have returned with a short (~31 minutes) but potent LP which sticks to their guns in presenting a frantic Overkill-inspired style of speed/thrash metal which also brings to mind Whiplash and Hirax for its over the top vocal performances and familiar but caustic cadence. Sitting with this record you can’t miss the fear of nuclear armageddon infused into each of its eight scenarios wherein paranoia begets war, war begets nuclear holocaust and the survivors do their best to survive on Earth and out in the great yonder. Not the first band to approach the subject but I’d appreciated their doomsday scenario and its occasional punk kick (“Last Ones to Survive”) as they blaze through these songs with plenty of ripping speed yet a focus on tuneful songs (“Ceasing to Exist”) which breach a heavy/speed metal mode they should explore even more for its Holy Terror type feeling. Hugely underrated for the value they pack into this half hour and definitely one to grab if you’re a classicist.

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St. Louis, Missouri-based melodic progressive thrash metal duo Anarchÿ are preparing the world for their second opus, a follow up to their 2022-released “Shakespearean thrash metal rock opera” debut LP, with this EP which features songs from their next album. The influence of Vektor cannot be understated with the younger weirdo crews like this, and ‘Sent​ï​ence’ certainly went there but this new material seems to reaching for their own bigger ideas just as often with this fairly substantial clump of songs which are serious and accomplished one moment and making of of boomer Pantera fans the next. Plus they’ve included a (just ok) cover of Acid Bath‘s “Bleed Me an Ocean” which offers a nice break from their Mekong Delta/Exmortus shredded fare. The big song here for my taste is probably “Chopin’s Nightmare” in that sense but “Helix Withers” clarifies why one might take their deal serious as young talents. They need a drummer, though.

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Estonian thrash metal quartet Tankist return for a very different sophomore full-length six years beyond their debut LP (‘Unhuman‘, 2017) which you’ll recall I’d featured on a similar list back then. The first couple of pieces here create a dramatic theme which kicks off the experience, striking melodies and growled bursts of energy create a foreboding sensation beyond the surrealism of their debut and they’ve clearly worked on both their musicianship and craft in the years between as the punchy yet dreary chunk-in of “Paragraph 58” takes hold. Though they’ve kept their traditional thrash/speed metal rhythms as the basis of their style this feels like a unique modern undertaking at every turn, I think I’d been shocked most when the shouted chorales of “The More Equal” hit my speakers, paying closer attention to the story they were telling at that point. I’d appreciated the light hand with dissonance and keys (“Cold Crawler”) as Tankist kept things tough but tuneful on this record but I’d definitely felt like they were too light with their leads this time around, instead opting for hypnotic movements and rhythmic play, though “Six in One” and a few other pieces found a reasonable medium. This one is a brutal downer overall but one of the more ‘modern’ or different takes on thrash I’d heard all year.

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Touching upon the post-2000’s side of thrash metal a bit with neon-lit and congested rhythmic attack we’ve got the sophomore full-length album from Copenhagen, Denmark-based quartet Demolizer who offer a fairly straight forward riff and growl sort of neothrash reminiscent of Warbringer where the crunchier side of late 80’s German thrash is part of their genetics and rasped vocals help to emphasize groove-oriented but not riffless attacks. While some of the pieces here are somewhat generic I’d found myself enjoying the first half of the album for its aggressive out the gates charge, it’d only begin to wear me down around “Sarnarth”/”Killing a Friend” as they seemed to run low on ideas in the second half. This is probably an alright middle-ground if you’re a fan of ‘old school’ thrash but feel more comfortable with the new-millennial sound.

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Bunker is a Quilpué, Chile-based thrash metal group who’d originally formed way back in the late 80’s, putting out three quickly evolving demo tapes in the early 90’s until they’d been inactive (in terms of recording) between 1994-2016 as far as I’ve gathered. It doesn’t seem that the interim removed the early 90’s thrash metal sound from their gig as you’ll find simpler Testament and Exodus style grooves from that era as the basis for most of these somewhat mid-paced thrash/groove metal pieces. There are a few songs here that put up a fight in terms of riffs and appear ready to go somewhere which it but most stick to the ~3-4 minute simple street thrashing grooves which aren’t differentiated per melody or riffs in most cases. The album generally lacks the rhythm guitar interest I fundamentally want from thrash metal but it isn’t lacking in classic thrash metal feeling and overall made for a decent spin.

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Landing somewhere in between the outraged snarl of Kreator‘s ‘Extreme Aggression‘ and the hardcorish twists of Erosion‘s ‘Mortal Agony‘ we find the tightly wound core of Hungarian thrash metal crew Concrete who return for a second LP twelve years beyond their first (‘Revelations of Perdition‘, 2011). Split in 2014 and reformed in 2022, their return is felt here as they’ve kept the impact of this album simple enough, loud shouted dictation and simple but hard-chunked riffs. They basically just rip through these songs without flinching, front to back murder-paced stuff ’til “Hyperspace Weaponry” breaks out of the channel a little bit for the sake of shredding up some weirdness before it ends. Short but they’ve made good use of their time.

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