Terrorizer's latest album - Caustic Attack is bone crushing! (review)
It’s grindcore time! Terrorizer are best known as one of the founding fathers of grindcore along with bands like Napalm Death and Repulsion. The original lineup of the band included the late Jesse Pintado on the guitar (who later joined Napalm Death and played with them until the 2002 Order of The Leech album) Morbid Angel’s Pete “The Feet/Commando“ Sandoval on the drums & David Vincent on the bass and Oscar Garcia on vocals. This lineup released a 1989 classic album World Downfall which standardized the lyrical and musical essence of grindcore. Fast forward to 2006 and the band released Darker Days Ahead, the last album to feature Jesse Pintado (RIP). The next Terrorizer album, Hordes of Zombies (2012) again featured David Vincent on bass. And finally, 6 years later, the band is back on track with a new album out, called Caustic Attack, released on October 12th via The End Records.
Of course, Terrorizer got a new lineup with Pete Sandoval as the only founding member. The drummer of Monstrosity, Lee Harrison picked up the guitar position while his bandmate Sam Molina (Monstrosity, Calibos, Infernaeon) took up bass & vocal duties. The new album includes 14 songs I.e. 43 minutes of material. The album opener Turbulence is a catchy bang-your-head or destroy everything in da pit song that really gets your adrenaline pumping! These guys are flying high! Extreme guitar chops, beyond brutal growls with strong similarity to the ones of Steeve Hurdle. Pete Sandoval’s machine gun drumming will take you over in no time! The next song, Invasion was released as a single and needs no further examination but we must say that it kicks some major ass! Conflict and Despair’s riffs are executed in vein of classic Morbid Angel/Cannibal Corpse tracks. Sonic flavor of Devastate varies from death metal to grindcore aesthetics. Crisis also incorporates this mixture of swarm-like death metal riffs conjoined by a grindcore-ish and even thrashy vibe, but it also includes some tasty dissonant figures. Infiltration is one of the punkiest songs on this album that will surely keep the moshpits rolling! The second part of this song has a really catchy & melodic earworm riff. The Downtrodden is mid-tempo, groovy beast played across the 6th string for an extra buzzy effect and it really has intriguing dynamics of its own. The next tune, Trench of Corruption is straight forward and it sounds like a train wreck destroying everything in its path! Those power chords riffs are whippin’! If you are still emotionally attached to the pure punky grindcore madness, Sharp Knives is the real deal! Simple, fast and deadly! Failed Assassin is more death metal-oriented and it incorporates some in-your-face teeth crushing riffs followed by melodic inputs on chorus. The self-titled Caustic Attack was already released as a single and it needs no further examination (laziness is a disease). When it comes to the lyrics Poison Gas Tsunami will definitely draw your attention instantly, since it reverberates the madness called the 21st century. And the song itself is called tsunami for a reason. Another grindcore track will surely keep your adrenaline pumping (try not to headbang to this one!) The very last track, Wasteland is again, a death metal-oriented track with some freakin’ good breakdowns that will keep your heads moving up and down!
From what we can hear, Terrorizer is back on track! The new lineup proved itself to be worthy of the band’s name. If you have in mind that Lee Harris’ primary instrument are the drums, not the guitar, you simply need to give credit to this guy! He delivered all these astounding riffs while incorporating the elements of death metal, grindcore & thrash metal with ease! Of course, Sam Molina’s vocals are beyond brutal to say the least! His nightmarish growls contribute to this album, raising the bar of brutality to a whole new level! However, all of this would be pointless if it wasn’t for the majestic drumming of Pete Sandoval whose virtuosity is unmatched in the genre! TAKE NOTES, KIDS! This hellish trio have delivered a great album, worthy of your time and money! So, is Caustic Attack better than World Downfall? Hell no! Is it better than Darker Days Ahead & Hordes of Zombies? Definitely. When it comes to the death metal/grindcore ratio, I would say that it’s 60/40%. Some may like this, some may not. But what’s most important is the fact that Caustic Attack is easy to listen, and pretty fun album to listen worthy of the name Terrorizer.
Rating: 8.5/10
Tracklist:
1. Turbulence
2. Invasion
3. Conflict And Despair
4. Devastate
5. Crisis
6. Infiltration
7. The Downtrodden
8. Trench Of Corruption
9. Sharp Knives
10. Failed Assassin
11. Caustic Attack
12. Poison Gas Tsunami
13. Terror Cycles
14. Wasteland
Terrorizer is:
Pete Sandoval (drums)
Sam Molina (bass, vocals)
Lee Harrison (guitars)
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http://www.theendrecords.com/
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