Copyright (c) 2007-2024 THE THRASH METAL GUIDE 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z W.A.K.O. (PORTUGAL)
A modern mixture of thrash, groove and death metal sounding somewhere on the road from early Machine Head to Fear Factory. "The Road Of Awareness" is a more dynamic affair now clinging more towards the Gothenburg thrash/melo-death standards with a good sense of melody added. The groove still comes up on several moments, but generally the concentration is on a more intense delivery with sparse more stylish semi-technical inclusions (the closing "Coronation of Existence").
Symbiotic Existence EP, 2005 My Space W.C.NOISE (PORTUGAL)
Based on the debut, this is cool power/thrash metal which will remind you of Meliah Rage's "Kill To Survive" and late-80's Overkill. The singer is a bit of a letdown with his gruff, semi-clean delivery, but the music is definitely on the positive side with energetic, mid to up-tempo riffs, and a slight shade of crossover ("Godless"). Seldom will the guys surprise you with more aggressive all-out thrashers: "Nuclear Poo", "You'd Better Shut Up", the latter coming with great leads, again containing a touch of crossover.
Loud & MadFull-length, 1992 My Space W.D.M. (FINLAND)
The "Tomorrow's Gone" EP: 4 songs of edgy energetic thrash/crossover reaching Wehrmacht extremes ("Confuture") at times which are well compensated by the mellower punky material ("Communist Disease").
Democracy? EP, 1985 W.I.L.D. (FRANCE)
Based on the full-length debut, this band play modern semi-technical thrash which starts with the fast, not very predictable,
"Seize the Day". "A Voice in My Head" is even more intense with shades of death metal, and the following "Pick Me Up" is another
wild piece, a formula shared by the remaining pieces the "idyll" in this cavalcade being the peaceful lead-driven balladic
instrumental "Choices", a very surprising edition having nothing to do with the surrounding mechanical sterile "carnage" which
again reaches deathy dimensions with "Wake Initiated Lucid Dream". Near the end the guys show their more tender heart once
again with "Awaken Nightmare", a peaceful ballad with very good clean vocal presence the latter a total contrast to the dominant
semi-shouty death metal vocals.
Agony of Indecision Full-length, 2012 Official Site W.M.D. (CANADA)
These lads were previously known as Shrapnal; the style here remains unchanged, brisk old school thrash mixing straight-forward impetuous speedsters ("Capture & Kill") with more entangled complex pieces (the title-track, "The Brazen Bull") the approach on the latter bordering on cleverly-constructed Paradox-esque shenanigans and, respectively, late-80's Metallica. The more contrived shredding on "The Age of Extinction" is another possible highlight, the stylish fast-paced puzzles on "Fragmentation" nicely reminding of another Canadian outfit, Dyoxen. "Thrash Attack" is rather a techno-thrash attack the guys bracing themselves for an alluring speedy, intricate journey with "Virus" closing the proceedings with bouts of both melodic and vehement skirmishes, another admirable roller-coaster of a less ordinary nature. The vocals do a fairly good job with their high-strung clean pathos recalling a higher-pitched and more attached Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian). Some of the band members are also active with the power/speed metal formation Hrom.
Lethal Revenge Full-Length, 2018 Official Site W.O.M.P. (ITALY)
Interesting, at least at the beginning, progressive thrash which sits between the old and the modern school, a psychedelic spacey
affair that will recall Voivod's "Dimension Hatross" on the air-headed jumper that is the title-track, with "Shit" serving way
more than shit with its stylish subdued delivery which suddenly turns to super-twisted Deathrow-esque carnival juts like that.
"Lilith" is a diverse semi-balladic saga followed by the slackened groovy charade "Walloping" after which the whole thing collapses
after the very promising start, the guys (an a girl, the singer) messing it up with all kinds of incoherent influences, losing
the plot completely by the end.
Madness Manipulators Full-Length, 1994 WACKOR (HUNGARY)
Groovy modern post-thrash, quite jumpy at times, but there's nothing technical here, maybe some alternative moments ala Rage Against The Machine or Helmet so don't expect anything heavy or fast.
Lobotomy EP, 2001 Official Site WAELMIST (USA)
This is cool energetic retro thrash sometimes built on catchy melodic licks ("Immolation of the Wicked"), sometimes on fast ripping rhythms ("Buried Alive") with each of the tracks belonging to either of the two sides. This is good stuff, proficiently executed, with a good sound quality and a bit over-the-top shouty death metal vocals.
Waelmist Demo, 2018 Official Site WAKBOTH (FINLAND)
Based on the "Cass.Lp + Demo' 96" demo, we have two styles mixed here, reflecting on two different periods from the band's career: one is mid-paced, stomping thrash ala Celtic Frost and Slaughter, the other faster, more energetic one, with touches of the modern black metal scene. Both styles work well although the former comes with a much worse sound quality and more screamy, hysterical vocals.
Dreamking Demo, 1996 WAKE OF REDEMPTION (USA)
An atmospheric take on the 90's post-thrash done with vision and complexity. The band shred with a lot of heaviness, but the sense of melody is just around the corner (check out the addictive leads on "Break Free"). "Earthshaker" is a masterpiece of intense progressive thrash, a dramatic varied composition which kind of overshadows the subsequent material although creepy jumpy shorters like "Mars", or lead pyrotechnic exuberances like the ones on "Oh, Yeah!" will make quite a few heads turn. The virtuoso performance continues till the end where it takes more epic proportions with the engaging 10-min closer "Artorius Rex" which is a symphony of moods and guitar juggling with seldom a dull moment. The vocals are of the semi-passionate clean type, but despite the guy's effort they can only be humble assistants to the virtuous music.
Earthshaker Full-length, 2012 Official Site WAKE UP (BELARUS)
Two people are behind this obscure project which offer curious progressive thrash with bad death metal vocals which are very thin and at times plainly shout without a tad of emotion. The album starts with the early Meshuggah-worship "Depression" which features fierce galloping sections and much more quiet balladic ones. More consistent thrashing will one come across on "Welcome To The Hard Times", which is another brisk galloper with very good leads. Then comes the semi-balladic oddity "Sorrows Of The Moon" which is a Celtic Frost cover taken from the Swiss' 1987 opus "Into the Pandemonium", before the technical thrasher "Silent Temps Of Future" takes over with its complex heavy riffs. "Wake Up, Hate" is probably the only unmitigated failure being a modern proto-groovy filler, but "Space Remains With You" is a different story, a jumpy number with nice melodic leads. "Sentimental" is an excellent instrumental mixing intense, almost doomy, riffs with beautiful melodic arrangements and surreal balladic excursions within just over 3-min. The title-track is progressive thrash at its best, brutal proto-death riffs meet eclectic jazzy structures among the obligatory standout leads, a complex multi-layered picture which flows into the closing relaxed speedster "The Tramp" that wraps things up with carefree guitars and merry rhythms. This is an interesting, albeit a bit hard-to-swallow at times, effort which adds up nicely to the good technical scene from Russia and the former Soviet republics of the early-mid 90's.
Good Morning Demo, 1992 WAKE UP DEAD (USA)
Jumpy modern thrash smelling metalcore quite a bit with technical pretensions, but the frequent time and tempo changes leave quite a lot of ideas hanging in the air unfinished. As a result the few faster passages get rudely intercepted by hectic slower ones which do very little else apart from killing the pace.
God Bless The Future Full-Length, 2009 WAKING MAYHEM (CANADA)
A hellish trio from Edmonton who (based on the EP) indulge in a choppy semi-technical thrash/death blend with cool melodic licks also timely provided to make this recording a less ordinary listen. "All the Same" breaks the thick Alberta ice with wild spasmodic proto-blasts, the first sign that the band here can actually mosh with passion, the mayhem later prolonged with the stylish thrashing shredder "Horns of Hell" and the near-progressive roller-coaster "War of Attrition". Tenderness in spades is also exuded from the instrumental acoustic ballad "Diablo" which skips the weird clean alternative/aggressive deathly vocal duel.
The Reaping Full-length, 2016 Official Site WAKLEVREN (NORWAY)
Members of renowned Norwegian acts (Inferno, Aura Noir, Red Harvest, Gorgoroth, Immortal, etc.) have gotten together here. Based on the full-length, this band plays retro black/thrash which is not terribly far from the "antics" of Aura Noir, but comes with more simplistic guitar work and slower doom passages of the chaotic Hellhammer type. The singer is more on the noisy hardcore side, but kind of suits the bleak misanthropic musical delivery.
Brutal Agenda EP, 2005 My Space WALHALLA (FINLAND)
This act is another stop for the tireless Roope Latvala (Stone, Children of Bodom, Latvala Bros., Sinergy, Warmen, etc.). He has been invited by members of the symphonic black metallers Gloomy Grim to assist them in this project where the guys have added a big doze of thrash to their black metal delivery resulting in good music staying closer to thrash metal with sparse hyper-blasts present. The approach is expectedly fast calming down towards the end, first with the crossover happiness "Winterfuchrer" which, by the way, is completely cancelled by the furious death metal bomb "War Over Nordland" which follows right after; and second with the cool roller-coaster cover of Bon Jovi's "Runaway" which would be ultimately hard to recognize although the tone is much softer compared to the rest with a nice gothic edge, but those scary raspy vocals...
War Over Nordland EP, 1997 Official Site WALKEN (USA)
Based on the self-titled sophomore effort, this act pulls out a mix of 90's post-thrash and hardcore which surprisingly concentrates on a slower mid-paced delivery abandoning the faster twists which such a blend generally offers aplenty. There are a few faster offerings ("Bitter Red") with a classic edge, but the tender attempts at ballads (Dylans Song") haven't been skipped, either. Watch out for the nice, albeit a bit overlong (8-min), doom/balladic/funeral closing instrumental "The Bridge". Some of the band members try their hands on much more thought-out music with the progressive metal outfit Grayceon.
Unstoppable Full-length, 2004 My Space WALKER (HOLLAND)
This is thrash/post-thrash which hesitates between the old and the new school, the hardcore-ish "Walker" recalling early Pro-Pain, but later on there are more serious exercises in full-on classic thrashing ("Mosh Is Back"), including a pounding semi-technical cut ("Reprobate"). The shouty semi-death singer is a semi-asset, but only when he abandons the ultra-rending antics which pepper this quarrelsome recording. The band members could also be seen in the death/thrashers Crustacean, the death metal outfit Masticator, and the thrash metal formation Crystal Lake.
My Name in Blood Demo, 1994 Youtube WALKING CORPSE SYNDROME (USA)
Based on "Human Delusion", these folks provide heavy crunchy post-thrash which acquires both metalcore and death metal-ish "ornaments", not to mention a few really intense pieces ("Price of Pride", the twisting semi-technicaller "Disciple") with a purer thrashcorey edge. The 2nd half is more appealing with the aggressive dramatizer "Ending Created", the weird more melodic jumper "Clarity", and the creepy "Human Delusion". The vocals are very shouty, guttural death metal ones and take quite a bit of space, to these ears for the better.
Forsaken Full-length, 2008 Official Site WALKYRIA (ARGENTINA)
The demo: this band offer three tracks of melodic power/thrash sung in Spanish; the music reminds of a more aggressive version of the Spanish rock legends Heroes del Silencio, especially the heavy, semi-balladic "Guardian Del Infierno". "Walkyria" is a 9-min opus which nicely mixes balladic, more quiet sections with some faster, galloping ones. This isn't very thrashy stuff, but is enjoyable and well played. Some of the musicians are also involved with the classic heavy metallers Dagas.
Walkyria Demo, 2004 Official Site WALLCRAWLER (GERMANY)
Very typical for the time groovy angry post-thrash with even angrier death metal vocals. The heavy squashing riffs have already worn out their novelty so few would be the ones to stay with this effort till the end which only more pleasant surprise would be the half-min crossover joy "Megablast U.S.A."; and partly the pleasant short balladic instrumental "Big Saroona" the latter a totally unexpected display of musical professionalism.
Scars and Blisters Full-Length, 1998 My Space WALLS OF BLOOD (CANADA)
A solo project of Mr. Glen Drover, the Eidolon frontman alongside his brother, and an active participant in many renowned acts around the world like King Diamond, Megadeth, etc. It's obvious that the Eidolon saga has come to a more or less timely end, and our shredder is embarking on a new venture here which sees him sticking to the familiar from then Eidolon albums power/thrash hybrid, an edgy, occasionally overtly headbanging ("Waiting to Die") affair which early introduces the staple steel gallopers ("Blood Sacrifice Ritual") those overwriting the several modern-ish quasi-groovers ("Tarnished Dreams", "The Fault of Man") with ease, also with the help of less bridled furious speedsters like the title-track and energetic re-mastered versions of old Eidolon ("Seven Spirits") songs. Well, it all sounds too close to the Eidolon stint excluding the excellent emotional clean vocals which pair very well with Drover's precise, occasionally melodic and technical, guitar pyrotechnics.
Deconstructive Essence Full-length, 2007
The Road Of Awareness Full-length, 2011
Reality AsylumFull-length, 1994
The debut EP is noisy, intense thrash/crossover with buzzy guitars and very shouty vocals. The music is way more amateurish compared to the subsequent EP being one-dimensional bash with a few melodic digressions ("Brains", which is a more carefree punkish number).
Tomorrow's Gone EP 1985
Freedom of Music EP, 1987
"The Domination Chronicles" preserves the intense mixture between the two genres with death metal prevailing on brutal walkabouts like "Waiting for the Savior" and "Wrong Place Wrong Time", those moments somewhat overshadowing meeker groovy post-thrashers like "Inmate5" and "Skin and Bone". Attempts at a more doom-laden sound ("Until I Bleed") are also well noted regardless of their inertia-stifling nature.
Happiness Is Not Allowed EP, 2015
Purgatorius Full-length, 2017
The Domination Chronicles Full-Length, 2019
Methanolid Full-length, 2004
Cass.Lp + Demo' 96 Demo, 2005
The demo is a weird, eclectic recording which doesn't stick to the thrashy norms steadfastly, but branches out into modern 90's post-thrash, alternative, and funk almost at will, switching between styles sometimes within a single song-structure, "M.D.L." bringing some verve with more aggressive shreds, and "Predchuvstvie Katastrophi" providing entertainment for the more thinking side of the fanbase with a few more contrived pirouettes.
The EP is a very contrasting offering, ranging from short hardcore-ish outbursts ("I'm Not From Your Life") to hypnotic meditative alternativers ("Stop to Save the World") to jumpy funky digressions. It's a mish-mash with no redeeming qualities whatsoever; a not very dignified epitaph to a once-promising career.
Look Full-length, 1992
Propaganda EP, 1998
War of Attrition EP, 2019
Tiden Lager Alle Ser EP, 2007
De Dodes Arkiv Full-length, 2010
"Release the Beast": Latvala is marching again after a really long hiatus, and this opus shows his more militant, more officious side with battle-like strolls (“Through the Shores of Acheron”) alternating with speedy non-fussy takeouts (“Ensemble to the Feast”, the blast-prone “Peace Love and Understanding”), the raging deathly “Demons over Nordland” and “Sinner” scaring away the unprepared, leaving the more laid-back speed/thrashy pogo for the closing “Punishment of the Crippled World”.
Firereich Full-length, 2000
Release the Beast Full-length, 2023
"Revel in Abandon" would be quite a surprise for the fans of the previous efforts since the speed here has been notched up quite a bit (check out the awesome opener "Taking Teeth") on top of some interesting progressive leanings ("Dead Weight"). "From Stone to Sand" is a cool nod to all things doom before the fast-paced exit, but "Pills" nails an 11-min opus of pure ponderous doom metal, a sure threat for fans of Cathedral and My Dying Bride. The last two cuts have to make up for the loss of speed and their intriguing quasi-progressive delivery delivers on all counts making this album the finest in the band's discography so far.
1/21/07 E.P. EP, 2007
Walken Full-length, 2009
Revel in Abandon Full-Length, 2016
Narcissist Full-length, 2010
Alive in Desolation Full-length, 2013
Human Delusion Full-Length, 2015
The full-length doesn't break the established by the debut pattern the more dynamic, thrash-peppered clout of cuts like "All the Time" aptly complementing the more officiant, stomping aura of "Evil Clown", with another more intense thrasher, "March of Die", thrown at the end, boosting this slightly monotonous, not very eventful recording.
The Invisible Guest Full-length, 2018