Weekend Breakdown: Atomic Head, Terrathorn, Gladius, Crowdburn

ATOMIC HEAD

Santiago, Chile's ATOMIC HEAD have been my go-to band this week, giving me the ass-kicking I need when craving a thrash fix. These guys rev up their music with some rough Bay Area inspiration with an added whisper of traditional heavy metal to create a mosh-worthy beast of head-slammin' METAL!

From the opening pounding riff of The Punishment as well as its ending bass solo, to the chest beating chorus of Nuclear Attack, to the slam fest opener of The Sinner, Atomic Head know how to bring the thrash and they do it well.

Check out the songs and video below and then hit 'em up over at Facebook.

TERRATHORN

I recently stumbled upon TERRATHORN, a thrash group with hints of crossover and modern twists, and I freaking' love 'em! These Southhampton thrashers lash out with a rolling barrage of catchy riffs, moving dynamics, and killer vocals.

The mix of old school and modern-sound thrash riffing blends perfectly without sounding disjointed nor does it dampen the aggression. Terrathorn is a fun listen, making one hope that they'll eventually play live in a nearby venue. Tarathorn! Come to the States!!

Check out the tune below taken from their 2009 album Acquire Dominate Destroy, and then go look around their Facebook page for the like button.

GLADIUS

Portland, OR's speed/thrash metallers GLADIUS offers slabs of well-crafted metal tunes, similar to the ones we old guys would use to melt the stereo speakers in our extremely used 1978 Camaro z28.

Yes, Gladius is old schoolius maximus, but if you listen, you can hear the death and power metal influences squeeze through the cracks.

The musicianship is first-class, and I must give a special mention to vocalist Nick Courtney who can go from raspy thrash barks to a Halford-esque scream at the drop of a hat. In fact, when Courtney sings in a clean lower register, you would swear they hired Halford to record some tracks.

Overall, Gladius play killer metal…and then they add some metal to their metal.

Listen to the track below before hunting them down on Facebook or Reverbnation where you can download their three available streaming songs for FREE!

CROWDBURN

If the trash purists didn't hate my blog already, I am about to hammer the final nail in the coffin. Sweden's CROWDBURN are by no means old-school and they definitely are not pure thrash metal.

Sure, they have thrash elements in their music, but it's one of those "You got modern metal in my thrash!" or "No, you got thrash in my modern metal!"

Whichever the case, Crowdburn's music is a layered roller coaster of both brutal metal and haunting melodies. Crowdburn packs so much into one song that crushes, soars, slams and sails, it takes the listener on a journey of sonic intensity and beauty.

Crowdburn may not be typical of this blog, but they play killer metal that kicks around all boundaries of the genre. Click and listen below and then click here for their Facebook page to download some songs for FREE.