NUCLEAR TORMENT
'8 Bit Death'
(Self-released)
Making a
definitive shift from their wild and sloppy (though promising) crossover influences on the band’s previous demos, Sweden’s video
game-obsessed crossover Thrash three-piece, Nuclear Torment, has
refined their music and moved toward a much more definitive thrash
metal sound, which isn’t to say they still haven’t retained that
old recklessness, rather, the band has skimmed the excess mess off
the top of their barrel, bringing to light the promising technicality
of their thrash influence which, before now, had been muddled by the
overwhelmingly sloppy hardcore punk influence, which really,
considering the high amount of promise the band displayed in the
rawness of these early demos, wouldn’t be at all detrimental to
their style and sound if Nuclear Torment didn’t sound so much
better as a thrash metal band.
Of
course, this isn’t to say the band has dropped these influences
completely. Far from it, in fact. Structurally, we can still see the
band’s great crossover leanings in the short bursts of aggression
and energy that are the tracks on this EP, as well as the use of
violent and rhythmic vocal deliveries on “Bruce, the Grave Robbing
Brown Bear,” and much of the raw and primitive punk-infused riffing
in the beginning of “Sniper Zombie Rape Abortion.”
The
title track is where we get the most straight-forward thrash on the
album, with its longer song length and it’s abandoning of any
punk-ish hook, as well as the abundant mid-paced thrash riffs that
dominate the song (think Hyade’s 'The
Roots of Thrash').
The lyrical content of this track is also worth mentioning,
considering I myself am a collector of older video games, their
lyrics, mentioning the NES, Powerglove, and Zapper, were a funny and
pleasant surprise in the context of a thrash song.
Overall,
this is a very interesting thrash release in that it shows the very
obvious evolution of a band’s sound, creating high-energy thrash metal with all those nice crossover elements weaved in. While not
overly ground-breaking or inventive, this three-track debut release
ought to provide more than enough pleasure for any fan of thrash or crossover.
(Andrew Oliver)
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