Sarcasm - Thrash
So after getting a few shipments full of frankly outstanding thrash metal releases over the past 13 months (as well as a few semi-decent ones), I should have known that something of lesser quality would make it's way to me eventually. Slovenia's Sarcasm are no newcomers to thrash metal, having released their first album Crematory in 1989 - which I had downloaded when I was a greenhorned young 'un and I quite enjoyed it for what it was. They've released a few more efforts since 2002 which were kind of hit and miss, but this one is... well, it's simply not very good.
Thrash, presumably titled such just in case you forgot what genre tag this record falls under, certainly lives up to it's name; it's most definitely a thrash metal album... unbearably so, in fact. Sarcasm's biggest issue here seems to be the fact that the album lives up to it's name a little too much because the record as a whole feels so painfully lifeless and banal that you could supplement the band's name with just about any other - I don't think that the band didn't try by any means, but the whole thing is just dull. It's horribly paced too, with most of the tracks falling into the ever tempting trap of being needlessly long for the sake of padding out the length - making tracks unnecessarily longer doesn't give you more bang for your buck, it just makes them repetitive and difficult to listen to. And when the music feels this generic, it's made a thousand times worse. Admittedly, there are some catchy riffs and melodies here and there but nothing that one could call a standout track or a particularly noteworthy solo, and I think that Sarcasm have limited themselves by exclusively singing in their native language which is drastically offputting to many listeners; there's a good reason that bands such as Sodom write 99% of their songs in English, lads. It's because it's a universal language that everyone can enjoy. By no means am I against Slovenian lyrics and titles, but why make a full record that way?
I'm sure that there will be people out there who will love this album regardless, as is tradition for mindless follow-the-leader knuckledragger thrash die-hards who'll enjoy anything that sounds even remotely 'thrashy', but those who know better will steer clear of this one. It's difficult for me to be so negative about this, but Thrash is simply a really fucking boring run-of-the-mill thrash metal album that's best left as background noise. This whole album comes across as the musical equivalent of something that a kid would write down on a test when they don't know the answer, and it's such a shame when you know that the band is capable of so much more than this.
Thrash, presumably titled such just in case you forgot what genre tag this record falls under, certainly lives up to it's name; it's most definitely a thrash metal album... unbearably so, in fact. Sarcasm's biggest issue here seems to be the fact that the album lives up to it's name a little too much because the record as a whole feels so painfully lifeless and banal that you could supplement the band's name with just about any other - I don't think that the band didn't try by any means, but the whole thing is just dull. It's horribly paced too, with most of the tracks falling into the ever tempting trap of being needlessly long for the sake of padding out the length - making tracks unnecessarily longer doesn't give you more bang for your buck, it just makes them repetitive and difficult to listen to. And when the music feels this generic, it's made a thousand times worse. Admittedly, there are some catchy riffs and melodies here and there but nothing that one could call a standout track or a particularly noteworthy solo, and I think that Sarcasm have limited themselves by exclusively singing in their native language which is drastically offputting to many listeners; there's a good reason that bands such as Sodom write 99% of their songs in English, lads. It's because it's a universal language that everyone can enjoy. By no means am I against Slovenian lyrics and titles, but why make a full record that way?
I'm sure that there will be people out there who will love this album regardless, as is tradition for mindless follow-the-leader knuckledragger thrash die-hards who'll enjoy anything that sounds even remotely 'thrashy', but those who know better will steer clear of this one. It's difficult for me to be so negative about this, but Thrash is simply a really fucking boring run-of-the-mill thrash metal album that's best left as background noise. This whole album comes across as the musical equivalent of something that a kid would write down on a test when they don't know the answer, and it's such a shame when you know that the band is capable of so much more than this.
1. Sarcasmatron
2. Z Mano Je Slabo
3. Thrash
4. Vitez Teme
5. Smrt šeta Sama
6. Pravica
7. Dej Gas
8. Balada O Letalu Yu Ana
9. Metalski Blues
10. Thrasher
11. Zdravljica
2. Z Mano Je Slabo
3. Thrash
4. Vitez Teme
5. Smrt šeta Sama
6. Pravica
7. Dej Gas
8. Balada O Letalu Yu Ana
9. Metalski Blues
10. Thrasher
11. Zdravljica
Label: http://www.on-parole.com
Reviewer: Dave Ingram Jr.
Jan 28, 2014
Jan 28, 2014
Next review:
Barbarian Prophecies - XIII
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