Honorable Mentions from the Abyss #27: Rawfoil/Coyote Bad Trip/Xenos/Martial Law

Hey brutal bangers,

in these last days I have a lot of thrash metal to listen to like never before in the history of this 'zine! This is also due to promotion agencies like the Polish VladPRomotion, that sometime ago sent me tons of thrash metal holocaust.

So, this new episode of "Honorable Mentions from the Abyss" is totally focused on some bands I received from Vlad. I've got the "little" impression that you thrash maniacs, thanks to my precious suggestions, will have a lot of interesting stuff useful to destroy your own ears in the imminent future hehe!

But now stop with this annoying introduction and let's start to know the bands!

RAWFOIL - "TALES FROM THE FOUR TOWERS"

This slab of thrash metal holocaust starts with Rawfoil (FB page), an Italian quintet (but now they are a quartet due to the departure of the guitarplayer Jack because of the usual "musical divergencies") that since their foundation in 2009 is so unprolific to releasing so far only a self-released EP in 2011, the long-held debut album in 2018 and another EP released this year through their compatriot label Built2Kill Records. And I am going to talk about just this last EP that, entitled "Tales from the Four Towers", left me a very good impression about the band.

This 4-track EP begins with an intro taken from the Italian movie "Il bestione" (1974) and, after that, the band shows their US thrash metal admittedly influenced by acts like Metallica (the early ones, what else?), Exodus and Testament but also by Tankard (also for their beer cult hehe?). The release alternates very well direct and impactful tracks like "The Cult of Ignorance" (which has some abrupt blast-beats) and the closing "Thick Slices (As My Mother's Like)" (surely the most violent and fastest number in the list) with others that have a more technical thrash metal approach. This is the case of the opening "People Who Not Drink Are Not People" (that has some melodies close to the classic heavy metal) and "Braindead Diver" (whose the band shot a promotional video that I included into "Come on, burn my ears! #9"). Strong of a clean and powerful production and also of an aggressive vocalist spewing forth death metal growls here and there, "Tales from the Four Towers", even tough not entirely perfect, delivers us a good old-school thrash metal attack but in tune with the times thanks to some more modern solutions. And now beware that Rawfoil are searching for a guitarplayer to replace Jack, so contact directly them if you are interested to do an audition.

COYOTE BAD TRIP - "ASCENSÃO E QUEDA"

From Brazil with hate come these Coyote Bad Trip (FB page), that now are working on new stuff, as shown by their very fresh single "Guerra Divina". But, in this place, we care about "Ascensão e Queda", their debut album self-released in the first months of 2020, so before that this delirium caused by the fuckin' Covid-19 reigns over the world.

"Ascensão e Queda" destroys everything and everyone through a savage crossover thrash metal that seem to come out directly of the '80s Brazilian extreme metal! I'm saying this not only because it has a raw production worthy of those times but also because of occasional black/thrash metal influences à la Vulcano/Sarcófago, like in "Desespero, Cocaina e Overdose". But, to say the truth, the album is so various to contain some more modern death metal passages ("20 Conto to Hell"), some gloomy and doomish moments ("Velha Macumbeira"), hardcore punk outbursts ("Olha o Camburao") and even an acoustic instrumental like "Fim dos Tempos". To sum it up: rawness, intensity and variety are what characterizes better this 29-minute debut album of a band that last year organized an entire festival called Bad Trip Metal Fest. And now it seems that they are more into a death/thrash metal approach à la early Sepultura with the new stuff. Awaiting other news from Coyote Bad Trip...

XENOS - "FILTHGRINDER"

I don't like so much when a debut album is full of illustrious guests because it's often the classic smoke and mirrors. For example, this is the case of the Panico al Miedo, that invited for their first album guests of the calibre of James Murphy and Bobby Koelble, with the almost automatic result that the entire album wasn't exactly good. Fortunately, this isn't the case of "Filthgrinder", the debut album of a band I included in "Come on, burn my ears! #8: Xenos (FB page), an Italian trio from Sicily formed in April 2019 by thrash metal veterans with experiences in bands like Eversin and Terrorage. But who are the guests? Be patient and give time to time...

Published in 2020 by the Italian Club Inferno Ent., "Filthgrinder" is inspired by bands such as Xentrix, Annihilator, Slayer and Megadeth. The adoration by Xenos towards some of these bands is so strong that they aren't only coverized in a good way the Megadeth's "Peace Sells" but they also homaged the Slayer's "Raining Blood" in the beginning of their "Birth of a Tyrant"! So, expect to listen essentially to a US thrash metal with raw vocals, a crude production and with some interesting ideas like the inventive melodic riffs of "Angel of Silence", where Xenos attempt successfully to offer some heavy variations to their typical thrash metal sound, and so I suggest to them to develop better these different solutions in their future productions. But, again, who are the guests? Well, they are Mantas of Venom's fame (guitar solo on "Birth of a Tyrant") and Si Cobb from the British thrashers Anihilated, that does a vocal duet with Ignazio Nicastro on "Of Magma and War". So, despite these guests but mentioning the fact that I don't like so much the drumwork because it's a bit static, Xenos, that now are working on a new album, did a nice job for "Filthgrinder".

MARTIAL LAW - "BLATANT DISREGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE"

When Canada is associated with the metal music, well, you have to expect ALWAYS something fuckin' cool! In fact, cult bands like Anvil, Exciter, Slaughter, Voivod, Sacrifice, Blasphemy are all Canadians, and this thrash metal band called Martial Law continues with success to honor the excellent metal tradition of their country by presenting you "Blatant Disregard for Human Life". This debut album, released after a demo published 4 years before, is a bit old since it was edited independently in 2015 but fuck that, the age doesn't matters when you have to do with such good albums!

"Blatant Disregard for Human Life" is total '80s thrash metal, from its cover artwork to the production and to the same music! Specifically, this last one is a very wild and unchained thrash metal with an anarchist guitarwork, screeching and "irritating" screaming vocals, socio-political themes and with some punkish tunes that are so obvious if you think that the album features even a cover of Sick of It All in the shape of that anthem about the self-determination like "Injustice System!", and this also to make better understand you how much the lyrics are important for these 3 guys. Martial Law don't reach very demented speeds but their album lasts only 26 minutes of great intensity. But now is it possible to hear something new from the band? Fuck, they don't release anything since 2015! In according to their FB page, they say they will back "with new music in 2020"...