Tag Archives: Steve Sousa

Bio-Cancer – Tormenting the Innocent

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As my good colleague Dan Swinhoe recently noted in his stellar review of the new Reign of Fury album, it’s easy to have preconceptions about thrash albums based on the cover alone. The artwork for Greek quintet Bio-Cancer is exactly what you’d expect from a latter day thrash outfit; designed by genre stalwart Andrei Bouzikov, luridly coloured, biohazard symbol and a freakish, multi-limbed mutant. So far so Municipal Waste, right? Well you’d be wrong, for Bio-Cancer aren’t here to party; they’re here to rip your fucking head off.

It’s fairly safe to say that Tormenting the Innocent (Candlelight) is one of the most vicious sounding, aggressive thrash albums of all time. If you think this is hyperbole, do yourself a favour and listen to the barbaric, light-speed assault on the senses that is opening track ‘Obligated to Incest’ and if you’re still standing, strap yourself in for a further half-an hour or so of brutal, yet catchy riffs, devastating blast-beats and feral, demonic shrieks courtesy of the band’s ace in the hole; vocalist Lefteris who delivers his lines like Steve Sousa with a piranha forcibly inserted up his backside.

It’s not hard to see why the band has described their sound as “ear-piercing thrash” when tracks such as ‘Boxed Out’ and the ninety-second maelstrom that is ‘Haters Gonna… Suffer!’ are akin to having skewers inserted in your lugholes. But just when you thought you had them figured out, what sounds like an oboe commences ‘F(r)iends or Fiends’ and the band demonstrate just what superbly skilled musicians they are, as lethal melo-death style guitar lines, mature rhythmic interplay between bass and drums and a gloriously exuberant solo blow the roof off.

Deftly welding skull-crushing power with measured songwriting nous, Bio-Cancer are that rarest of things; a thrash band with its own identity. Disgustingly talented, full of beans and proof that being pissed-off can be pretty damn fun; these lads have a future as bright as the glow from a field of toxic waste ahead of them.

 

8.5/10

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JAMES CONWAY


Exodus – Blood In, Blood Out

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With the Big Four of thrash metal currently mired in irrelevance and resorting to dodgy political statements, ill-advised collaborations and endlessly trading on former glories, thank the Gods for Exodus who have been cracking necks and causing mayhem in the pit ever since their barnstorming comeback album Tempo of the Damned (Nuclear Blast) breathed new life into a moribund scene back in 2004. Ten years later they sound even more alive and angry on tenth original full length Blood In, Blood Out (Nuclear Blast), a record that takes no prisoners.

Bringing back vocalist Steve “Zetro” Sousa for his third stint behind the mic has proven to be a masterstroke with his re-arrival seemingly inspiring his bandmates to up their game and play as if their lives depended on it. Over eleven vicious tracks lasting just over an hour, Sousa’s trademark screech gives the songs a sense of fatal urgency and direction. The lyrics may cover the standard war n’ gore topics as before but with Sousa sounding so utterly pissed-off, they take on a new dimension of relevance. It also helps that guitarists Gary Holt and Lee Altus have written some of the best riffs of their careers while the thunderous bass of Jack Gibson and the relentless percussion of Tom Hunting ensure everything remains at a scorching hot level throughout.

With so many stand-out tracks it’s hard to pick favourites but the relentless barrage and gang vocals of ‘Collateral Damage’, the precision chugs and catchiness of ‘Salt the Wound’ which features a guest appearance from none other than Kirk Hammett and the blistering thrash workout of ‘Numb’ all take the cake. Boosted by a great production job that makes all the instruments sound loud, thick and in-your-face, Blood In, Blood Out is a fantastic return to form and proves once again that the old dogs know best and could even teach some of the young pretenders a few new tricks.

8.0/10

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JAMES CONWAY