TORNADO - Amsterdamn, Hellsinki CD
Listenable Records
Genre: Thrash
Rating: 3/5
This is the debut full length from this Amsterdam based Thrash act who sound like they've stepped out of the 1980s (aka: retro) but were smart enough to land Peter Tagtgren (Hypocrisy) as their producer. I believe having Tagtgren behind the console twisting the knobs is what prevents this thing from being thrown to the ground and stomped mercilessly. I'm not speaking personally of course its just that the Thrash Revival is over and done. Nowadays you can't be just part of the new jacks playing old style pack, fuck with the formula or go back to old school sound standards. That was fun for a few years but now it's time to shine and this act does so. The band used to be known as NEMESIS DIVINA which means changing their name to TORNADO was another smart move on their part. The band is made up of former members of AMORAL and FUELBLOODED plus their vocalist and frontman, Superstar Joey Severance, who's previously musical experience was that of a tour manager.
What stands out the most on Amsterdamn, Hellsinki is the guitar duo dynamics of Michiel Rutten and Ben Varon. When they blend good solos off storm like riff power on just about every cut then boredom is not going to be a problem. Strangely enough this reminds me of early ANTHRAX or basically East Coast Thrash versus West Coast or Euro with some of the chugging rhythms yet with better solos. Severance is a decent vocalist who sings in a clean style with an air of Punk Rock snot and street wise attitude. At times his vocals are slightly annoying but on the full on speedy tracks you really don't care. Hey look it's Thrash so you expect quirky vocals as well as borrowed riffs from the past which abound on here but not to the point where you can pick em out exactly. Either way it's Thrash and you'll like it.
Label: http://www.listenable.net/
sounds OK but missing something. Not sure what though.
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