Hey, Striking Death! Get your demo recorded!

Thanks goes to Luuk Hoogland for tipping me off on a few new bands. One of them, called STRIKING DEATH, popped out video that is about as lo-fi as you can get and still get killer sounding guitars!

These young dudes from Belgium hooked me with the vid to their song Team Shitfaced. The recording is a rehearsal track and it's raw as hell, but the song is a lot of fun (as is the video). Seriously, watching this vid makes me want to assemble a few of my buddies, grab some guitars, and slam out some old-school thrash - all in the name of having a kick-ass fun time.

If you're thumbing your nose at Striking Death for being low-brow "pizza thrash" (a term I don't find the least bit insulting), give a quick listen to the promising demo of their song Save a Skater, Drain a Pool (awesome title!). So far the recording is comprised of guitars and drums only, but it sounds absolutely slamming! I can't wait to hear the full version. In fact, I can't wait to hear the full demo!

So get to work, Striking Death! Get your tunes recorded!

Check out the vids below and if you are one to keep your eye on a blossoming young thrash group, hit them up on Facebook.

Cuttin' Loose ROCKS!

Yes, I've been covering a LOT of crossover, but I've been on a huge Dr. Living Dead kick recently, so it has seeped into my blog/Facebook page more than usual.

Along with the aforementioned Doctor, as well as Marauding Ghouls and Like A Texas Murder, I am also jamming hard to California's CUTTIN' LOOSE.

These guys slam with shortened bursts of furious hardcore thrash, with riffage that crosses throat-tearing metal and pit forging stomps. In each track, Cuttin' Loose crams in a lot of fun that goes by too quickly, forcing fans to gleefully pound on the repeat button for another dose of skateboard-to-the-head insanity.

For fans of California crossover thrash hardcore metal punk thrash thrash metal crossover thrash hardcore hardcore punk metal punk thrash, then you can thank Cuttin' Loose for making their Skate To Hell EP available as a FREE download over at their bandcamp page.

Listen below, go here to download the EP, and then hit them up on Facebook here.

Ah, good times.

Lenny Troo Frasher: Musical tastes

Like A Texas Murder offers the gift of FREE crossover thrash!

A while back, I wrote about a group of bad-ass Brazilian crossover crushers called Like A Texas Murder. Well, in case you didn't know, the band has graciously offered both of their stellar albums Grindcore Caiçara and Tudo de Ruim as free downloads over on their bandcamp page!

Both albums are searing slabs of hardcore thrash that slam with speedy guitar work, killer vocals, and chunky breakdowns, complete with some unpredictable twists and dynamics.

Download the albums here and then don't forget to send them a message on Facebook to thank 'em for the free ass-stomping!

Weekend Breakdown: KK Street Bangers, Crisix, Dark Entropy, Exeloume

KK STREET BANGERS
Does their name sound like a mid-80s NY rap group? Sure, but believe me that once you crank into a KK Street Bangers song, all thoughts of break dancing turn to neck snapping as their brand of raging thrash slams your calloused brain into jelly.

This is dirty pissed-off thrash metal that storms along like a truck with a bloodied grill, picking off unwary victims who are not ready for the chugging mosh-worthy riff attack! The simple, yet effective riff that starts off the tune Street Metal is built for headbanging. I freakin' love it!

The only problem might be the lack of real drums in the recording, but that is a minor quibble since it doesn't really take away from the fun and power of KK Street Bangers's kick ass songs.

Listen below and then hit them up on Facebook here.



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CRISIX
A big shout-out to Zé Rodrigues for turning me on to this band! So hold your horns high, thrashers! Coming to you from Spain is CRISIX, a band that crushes with a metal onslaught of chunk, melody, gallops, killer solos, and throat-tearing screams. When their song Ultra Thrash kicks in and starts raging, I imagine the wall plaster start to crack and tumble while the weak-eared parents in the next room are covering their ears while yelling, "What the hell is going ON?!?"

As a metal head, if you need to strengthen your neck muscles, Crisix is the perfect headbanger's workout band. Do some warmup stretches, check out the tune below, and try not to strain your neck.

Facebook them here.


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DARK ENTROPY
Listening to a band as talented and musically kick-ass as Dark Entropy is a bit frustrating at times. The music that this Illinois thrash band brings to the table is tight, heavy, and worthy of praise. Richard Spoo is a helluva drummer and the guitars of Matt Schering and Mike Maskas are chugging machines of fury.

However, the frustration lies with vocalist Rob Peto's delivery. Too many times he follows the rhythm of the drum or guitar riff. This practice would be fine in small doses, but the amount he mimics the rhythm kills any use of vocal dynamics and frankly becomes a bit distracting (such as in the chorus for Enlisted Suicide and throughout Sins of Our Fathers).

However, Peto's voice is more than capable to front a metal band. I would just like to hear him not adhere his delivery so much on the rhythm and instead use his vocals as another instrument that glides with the music and not just stick on top of it.

To say that Dark Entropy has potential is an understatement. Even with the problems I have with the vocal delivery, the band is still bad-ass. I'm definitely going to follow and keep my ears open to these guys and I'm anxious to see what they will crank out in the future.

Give them a listen below and then look into them over at Facebook.



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EXELOUME
I've seen the Ed Repka cover to Exeloume's album Fairytale of Perversion many time and have always meant to check them out. However, with hundreds of bands scattered around the woodwork, it's easy to pass over many worthy bands. And that sucks, man.

Recently, this Norwegian band was brought back to my attention, and I promptly hit the web to check out their goods. Damn, I HATE missing out on killer bands! To think that Exeloume was floating around all this time without damaging my thrash-hardened ears is disgraceful. I'll make up for that now.

Exeloume's brand of deathrash destroys with sweeping dynamics, hard hitting riffs, and blazing solos. Taking unpredictable turns, the music can dig into the depths of anger, to uplifting wonder, and then to utter chaos, bringing a sense of excitement to the musical journey Exelmoume leads us on.

Check out the tunes below and then follow them here.

Lenny Troo Frasher: Remember?

T.K.R. ROCKS!

Holy CRAP!

When taking metal music into consideration, there is heavy and then there is sh*t-ton of bloodied bricks HEAVY.

Enter Indonesia's T.K.R. (tengkorak rusuh), a band that hammers out some of the heaviest modern thrash I've heard in a while. The band's formula is rather simple, which is take a stripped down gallop riff, use mid-tempo dynamics on it, and top it with some killer death-like rhythmic vocals. It's not too far off from what Soulfly has done, that is if Soulfly added a giant-sized sledge hammer made of thrash and blood to cave in your freaking SKULL.

Fans of bands such as Sworn Amongst and HeadCrusher take note. P.K.R. uses the tools offered up by modern thrash riffage and production to create music that is both catchy and heavy enough to make you stomp a hole in the floor.

Listen below and then Faceook them here!