REVIEWS' ATTACK #2: Bastardös/Stakhanovtsy

This reviews' attack episode is about two thrash metal albums originally self-released and now distributed by the Belarussian GrimmDistribution along with other labels. Both were sent to me by Satanath Records some months ago.

Band: Bastardös
Title: Bastardös
Genre: Thrash Metal
Year: 2015 (Self-released)
          24th November 2017 (GrimmDistribution/Morbid Skull Records)
Time: 35 min
Rating: 68/100











THRASH TILL DEATH! This slogan is totally fit to describe the Argentinian crazy bangers Bastardös, that in 2015 released, after some demos and a compilation, a debut album where you can breath only old-school vibes all dedicated to a Slayer-ish, raw and hammering thrash metal sang in Spanish.

Sons of a national thrash metal scene originated not only by the classics of the genre as Slayer or Metallica but also by the legendary V8 from Buenos Aires (that released in 1983 an amazing album called "Luchando por el Metal"), Bastardös assault the listeners with an incredibly basic and merciless thrash metal: no melodies, no lead guitar lines, chaotic guitar solos and scrapping vocals with the result that the variations are very few here, even though the band is able to slowdown a bit through a mid-tempo like "Terra Saqueada" or the instrumental "34 Puñaladas" (unfortunately, this one isn't so imaginative to be an instrumental...).

The problem is that Bastardös plays in a so basic way to sound very repetitive with few creative skills, hence, after a while, the listeners aren't so stimulated to continue to listen to the album until its end. At least, ferocious songs like "Almas combativas" or the anthemic "Apocalipsis Thrash" are really outstanding. The album features also the participation, in three songs, of the following guests: the guitarist Maximiliano Escobar (Malicia), the bassplayer Gustavo Rubio (ex-Malditos and ex-Trepanador) and the vocalist Guillermo Romolo (Serpentor). Only for the moshing maniacs that loves to create a skullcrushing terror into the pit!

Band: Stakhanovtsy
Title: Ништяк
Genre: Thrash Metal
Year: 15th August 2017
           16th Augusto 2017 (GrimmDistribution/Global Thrash Attack)
Time: 38 min
Rating: 73/100









Very special is the concept behind this prolific Russian trio called Stakhanovtsy. In fact, they dub their music as "Miner Metal" because their lyrics are all about mining during the Soviet period. The same name comes from the Stakhanovite movement that was born in USSR during the '30s after the monstrous hardworking example of the miner Aleksey Grigorievich Stakhanov (1906-1977). Since all this Russian concept, the band sing in their mothertongue, so they uses the Cyrillic script (totally incomprehensible for me without Google Translator!) for their productions.

Third album of a career started in 2007, "Ништяк" show a modern thrash metal à la The Haunted able to alternate tougher parts with some melodic hooks (these last ones are, at times, very close to the Gothenburg death metal) and made harsher not only by the aggressive vocals of the singer/drummer Nikolay Seredov but also by the same language used. There is even an alternation between  mid-tempos (like "Мы") and faster numbers but I have to say that the best things comes from the latter ones such as "Прогресс" (very intense with its significant parts even in blast-beat!) and "Что не следует раскопали" (with fast and "symphonic" riffs), that are my favorite songs along with the more melodic  "Пост шахткор" (one of the three bonus tracks of the album). At the contrary, mid-tempo songs like "Мы" don't works so well because they lacks of guitar solos, so I recommend to the band to play, indeed, more solos.

As last (and bonus) track, there is a version of "Memories of Non Forgiveness" by the Russian thrash metal band Manic Depression, very close to the style of Stakhanovtsy. Not an exceptional and neither so fast and aggressive album for my tastes, "Ништяк" contains, anyway, good hooks and a nice imagination. And the nicer thing is that Stakhanovtsy are so prolific that they were released their 4th album after few months the previous one! Do you think that I have also to listen to it?

Note:

the album's version in my possession consist of 12 songs, not 11 (as in according to Metal-Archives). The added song is "Арматур Бетонович"

For more infos about the bands and the distros/labels

Bastardös: http://www.facebook.com/thrash.bastardos
GrimmDistribution: http://satanath.com/distro
Morbid Skull Records: http://www.morbidskullrecords.com/