Bay area thrashers force Maybe they’ve only been around for eight years, but what a great decade was at hand. From their classic hyper aggressive debut Eternal nightmare (MCA records) to the controversial lyrics of ‘Torture Tactics’ and a deliciously questionable vegetable soup and vinegar “puke bag” plastic record sleeve, the band also launched the career of a certain Robb Flynn which later formed the game changers of the 1990s machine headpossibly followed by a guitarist Phil Demmel. With three studio albums under their belt, the band went their separate ways in 1993 and only became a full-time venture again in 2019.
Singer with a life-saving liver transplant Sean Killian a new life, it was time for Vio-Lence to return. Or at least three-fifths of it. With Demmel returning alongside the drummer Perry Stricklandthe original members turned to former members overkill guitarist Bobby Gustavson and exfear factory four-string Christian Olde Wolbers to restart the band let the world burn (metal blade) their first new release in almost thirty years.
Fueled by pinching squeaks and blisteringly fast riffing, “Flesh from Bone” takes off like a rocket, the opener being punctuated by Killian’s distinctive if occasionally divisive vocal delivery, which is even beginning to sound like it Hunter frontman Tom Araya in places. More razor-sharp aggression awaits with “Screaming Always,” a weighty track that takes on a slightly more relaxed approach in its groove-driven middle section. A bit reminiscent of “Nanking” from other Bay Area legends Exodus, “Upon Their Cross” is armed with oodles of low-end pitch-diving and whammy action, while the short sharp three-and-a-half-minute blast of “Gato Negro” is a fast and brutal jaunt into a sore neck. The title track closes the record with a riff so fast that even the most accomplished air guitarist is sure to get sore wrists afterwards.
So there you have it. After nearly three decades of absence, Vio-Lence has returned as if 1988 had been just last week. A stunning five track EP with the promise of another short form release in the future, let the world burn maybe just a temporary high, but it was more than worth the wait.
Buy the EP here: https://www.metalblade.com/violence/
8/10
GARY ALCOCK
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