In taking the lowest common denominator out of commission via anthropocentric machine learning there can be no free-roaming accommodation made for death-drive imprinted upon the greater artifice. Any effort made to transcend or transmogrify the human experience will inevitably disintegrate per the same fallibility of the mind. Collapse is inevitable as Athens, Greece-based classics-minded thrash metal quartet VIOLENT DEFINITION point to the cowing and culling of humankind via this impressive sophomore full-length album. ‘Progressive Obsoletion‘ is a brilliant refinement of their gig at the very least and a world class example of the sub-genre’s peaking era from any angle.

Violent Definition formed circa 2008 between folks who’d cut their teeth in the Athens die hard thrash metal spheres of the 2000’s by way of vocalist IronBeast (Mentally Defiled, Torture) and former The Crucifier guitarist Nick Psarogiannis bringing along the drummer for that band at the time. Their directive at the time was to simply do their own thing in terms of late 80’s focused ‘old school’ thrash metal style heavily inspired by Bay Area/Los Angeles bands of that era. The way I’ve always viewed their sound was that it veered toward the angered and sociopolitical spectrum of what some folks call “street thrash” for its avoidance of the arena-sized stuff going on worldwide during a certain era. Their first demo/promo CD-R (‘Promo 2010‘, 2010) made this approach clear enough with some clear inspiration taken from the diction of Vio-lence, Exodus and the nearby speed metal freneticism of bands like Whiplash and Razor. The trio would develop some songs for a couple of years, eventually bringing in a bassist but by 2011 they’d work on a debut LP as a duo ’til they’d onboarded Released Anger drummer Dimitris Charisis and ‘Life Sentence‘ was finally completed and released in 2018.

The thing to say about Violent Definition back in 2018 and again today six years later is that they’re clearly fans of the riff and -everything- thrash metal in the classic sense. What I mean is that these folks might take inspiration from very deep cuts of the 80’s with a broader interest in all things thrash but they’re not ones to spit on the transition from 80’s thrash metal into early 90’s groove metal aggression. We see examples of this all over both of their records, centering some of their biggest hooks and most persistent songs around mean grooves which’d not be out of place on debut LPs from Exhorder or Invocator and would not alienate a fan of Testament or, I dunno, the first Hatchet record. Of course as we’ve heard on various live rehearsals, demo songs, and releases beyond that debut the addition of a solidified rhythm section via Maelstrom (Embrace of Thorns, Thou Art Lord, et al.) and bassist Chris Zoukas (Sacral Rage) frees some of those references to ancient thrash and such from any real struggle for finesse, fills, or technical ability since each musician is in effect world class in performance and broad in their talents. This gives ‘Progressive Obsoletion’ its most obvious edge up front beyond its authentic attack and distinctly ‘old school’ production values, these guys can really play and they’ve put the rhythm section to work on the high level of discipline even halfway decent classic thrash has always demanded.

No chance in Hell I’d grab a pure thrash metal album off the shelf in 2024 and spend any serious time with its innards if the riffs weren’t there. Of course ‘Progressive Obsoletion‘ has its own sort of propulsive, violent rhythm guitar attack weighing in at every given moment as they’ve long tuned their gig down to the actual dynamic standard of thrash. Authenticity ain’t that hard in the long run when we consider the broad range of underground thrash metal quality levels and copped charms available in hindsight but in this case Violent Definition have a more than an iota of feeling and an imitation of a thrash riff in hand, in fact these songs are so structurally sound and directive with their ‘Oppressive the Masses‘-level riff chunking elastic-snapped grooves and shout-along verses (re: Evildead) that the thrash metal attuned ear should be more than at-home in their general cauldron of late 80’s thrash metal maul.

This only calls for deeper specificity on my part, though, as we’re not talking about the proto-death or blackened collapse of that same era’s adjacency but again moreso the type of recking thrash that’d inspired the walk up to like, early Anselmo-era Pantera (or, ‘Slaughter in the Vatican‘ and ‘Excursion Demise‘.) Hit a song like “Experimental Failure” or single “Children Of God” and you’ll feel the nuts and bolts of it all scraping together unto fantastic result. They’re not necessarily shredding it out a la peak Forbidden but the quality, the groove, and the rush of it all should speak to a specific period of thrash which stops short of the hardcorish or death metal stampedes of “brutal thrash” groups that’d eventually tip into death metal. The peak of this observation is probably the trampling double-bass drum kicked roll of “Deceiving the Psychopompos”, a fine representation of what Violent Definition are capable when fully locked in, armed with a grip of riff changes and feeling the roar of the main guitar tone.

If we can wheel back to the start here with the ‘Seasons in the Abyss‘-tailed opening instrumental “Into Trepidation” the thrash literate ear should immediately recognize this type of presentation, again a level of tact and reveal limited to the more competitive dramatism of California-borne thrash metal ideals per the mid-to-late 80’s but in this case Violent Definition don’t aim for smoke machine puffing arena opener so much as a razor-fed strike which warms up opener “Justified Ferocity” as the two relatively short songs combine into one shotgunned and snarling furor. For the die-hard subgenre fandom this’ll be easily recognized as quality shit at every turn but I’d just as well been impressed by the production values which allow plenty of weight and resound for the bass guitar tone to work itself into the conversation at a satisfyingly constant step, adding percussive hits to downstroked riffs and flourish to the more intense points where the guitarists dig in. You’ll get the idea quick via previously demoed song “Last Grain in Your Hourglass” which found itself impressive at the center of a 2023 compilation but sounds even better here as the first main centerpiece for this record.

You get the point here on my part, while not every riff here works for me and I could always use more variety of attack the overall result strikes me as a prime classic thrash metal experience which never oversteps into poor taste or a weak compositional touch. Granted I was already a fan to start, and you can consider some level of bias since I’d even put in my bid to release this album back when the band was still working on it circa ~2021 into 2022. Either way, the extra time taken to get every song right, perfect the production values, and sort out album artwork from the maestro Paolo Girardi all pays off here. The whole package was pretty much guaranteed to hit in terms of not only representing the quality Violent Definition had put forth prior but elevating it with years worth of tightened performances via a high-functioning and fleshed out quartet. Still, have to admit some surprise that ‘Progressive Obsoletion‘ turned out as choice as it did, pushing beyond an above-average result toward a great album for my own taste. A very high recommendation.

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