BRAINWASHED - Wrecked CD review

BRAINWASHED - Wrecked CD
Self Released
Genre: Thrash

Obviously the Thrash Revival, which has ceased to exist here in the states, would get around to other parts of the world. In this case it's Poland with BRAINWASHED who obviously heard a few METALLICA albums, the good ones. You could also throw in some TESTAMENT and MEGADETH influence as well. Actually it's kind of a change of pace since the stateside revival acts were mostly conjuring EXODUS and SLAYER. One slight difference would be that this band's singer carries an air of punk / hardcore snarl in his voice especially on the opener "Bringing out of Dead". But once the eight plus minute "I, Leader" kicks in it's hello Lars and James. BRAINWASHED add a few more extended thrashers like "Give Me Your Blood" and "The Battle / Back to the War" to fill the time. Personally I think a thrash song shouldn't go over five minutes unless you're going to expand your riff pool in the song or add a decent enough break three quarters of the way through (hello Lars and James, again). But hey I'm older now and even though I first supported the Thrash Revival when it started, after three years of retro I got burned out which is kinda like when Thrash started. Anyways BRAINWASHED do sound kinda cool with familiar riffs and tech savvy solos that'll slit your throat. As a few words from the title cut suggest, "Can You Feel It?" Yeah.

Rating 3/5


Official: http://www.brainwashed.metal.pl/

Bandcamp: http://brainwashedthrash.bandcamp.com/

WOLF SPIDER - CD reissues Review

WOLF SPIDER - Wilczy Pająk CD reissue
WOLF SPIDER - Hue Of Evil CD reissue
WOLF SPIDER - Kingdom Of Paranoia CD reissue
WOLF SPIDER - Drifting In The Sullen Sea CD reissue
Metal Mind Productions
Genre: Thrash

Attention all thrash devotees, old schoolers as well as new jacks, here are four releases from a band who if they had been from the US as opposed to Eastern Europe then I really wouldn't have to tell you about them. Back in the late 80's / early 90's Poland's WOLF SPIDER were the most acclaimed thrash metal band in the entire history of the Polish scene. Their four full length releases became legendary and their status as Polish thrash metal heroes still remains unbroken to this day which is probably why they've reunited and Metal Mind Productions has reissued their material. Now for those of you who frequent metal forum sites, think you're Thrash as Fuck and have the mental capacity of a rock, you're probably wondering "well if their so legendary how come I haven't heard of em?" Well you see back in their day there was this little old thing called the Iron Curtain. I'll assume even a person with a U.S. public school education might have overheard the term while you were picking your nose in World History class. If not then Google it, I know you can do that. Anyway not only was it tough to get metal releases through the Iron Curtain but also people. From my own tape trading recollection even after Eastern Europe was free from Soviet domination it was still tough to get info as well as releases from that part of the continent.

I'm also just now learning about WOLF SPIDER and I'm not Thrash as Fuck either. Doing SFM666 is an ongoing learning experience and I need to thank Vlad Nowajczyk the editor-in-chief of ROCKER (formerly known as HARDROCKER) the best metal magazine from Poland, according to him of course. Vlad sent all four of these releases in for review and as most readers of SFM666 know, I already do a decent job at exposing Eastern European metal to the masses. Of course more is always necessary and learning about histories of various nation's metal scenes is always a great learning experience for me. Which brings us back to WOLF SPIDER who started out back in 1985. Their first release, technically, was Wilczy Pająk which was completed in 1987 but wasn't released until 1989. Musically the album is a collision of 80's NWOBHM and Thrash with a singer who sounds like Klaus Meine from the SCORPIANS. The production is fairly clean with songs that are worthy headbangers. The lyrics are sung in their native language which makes no difference in the long run as long as the music is rough which it is. Their following full length release (after doing two split releases in 1987) was Hue Of Evil which was done in 1988 but wasn't released until 1991. The band's music is still in the same vein as their debut but with more emphasis on the thrash elements and hints of East Coast USA influences. The vocals are more high pitched like someone trying to channel Halford.

Kingdom Of Paranoia is the band's official third release which came out in 1990. Kingdom Of Paranoia finds the band further changed. The lead vocals on here are a little higher pitched than their previous release. Also the band now has moved into a more technical thrash style while still holding onto the catchy melodic elements of their two earlier releases. The band's fourth and final full length, Drifting In The Sullen Sea, is by far their best. While the genre in the rest of the world was pretty much dead, WOLF SPIDER created an album worthy of any one's best of Thrash releases listings if they had known about em of course. All of the elements are here like the perfect higher pitched yet aggressive sounding vocals, catchy headbanging riffs, technical song structures which keep things interesting throughout. The hardest time I had reviewing these releases is that I couldn't think of any other band name to drop down as a comparison. I'm not saying this Polish act are completely original but I'll just point out that WOLF SPIDER were not copying any of the big four of thrash nor were they following in the footsteps of their Teutonic neighbors. In the end if you are still looking for that obscure thrash band which doesn't sound like a typical second tier act then you should check these out.
Rating 4/5

Label: http://www.metalmind.com.pl/index.php?jezyk=en

Official: http://www.wolfspider.pl


Here's a track from each release:

DEMONIC SLAUGHTER - Dark Essence EP review

DEMONIC SLAUGHTER - Dark Essence EP
Hellthrasher Productions
Genre: Black Metal

DEMONIC SLAUGHTER are definitely one of the more prolific acts from the Polish black metal scene. Since starting out back in 2006 they've managed to unleash two EPs and three full lengths prior to this latest EP. On Dark Essence the band sounds like they're on a second wave Norwegian black metal trip. Imagine, if you will, mid period DARKTHRONE being fronted by a younger Atilla Csihar. One listen to “Inner-Self Transfiguration" will freak you out since the resemblance in sound and vocal style is uncanny. The rawness of the track will have you thinking this is actually from the early nineties instead of today. The same can be said for other tracks like “Descending Towards Oblivion” and "Blades of Decay" but that's not all of what Dark Essence showcases. Other tracks like “Vampyr” and “Black Storm Invocation" add haunting ambiance with slithering vocal invocations to this platter. It's not far away from what 1349 has done with their last two releases and it adds a break from the old school thrashing. Be that as it may this release is fairly simplistic. There's nothing really impressive enough to make this stand out amongst so many other BM artists.
Rating: 3/5

Label: http://www.hellthrasher.com/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/demonicslaughter