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Pitch Black > Thrash Killing Machine > Reviews
Pitch Black - Thrash Killing Machine

Who said thrash was dead?... - 89%

Tale_of_the_Hellship, November 20th, 2005

At last, Porto's Pitch Black were signed to a label, and released the long-awaited Thrash Killing Machine album. After uncountable demos and loads of powerful live shows, the band unleashed the thrash machine upon the unsuspect inhabitants of Portugal. Well, not quite, as everyone was bitching about this album coming out or not. And it came out. Was it worth the wait? Fuck yes, it was.

The album kicks in with a kind of announcement about something, "out there, killing people"... and then you're dead! These are ten tunes of absolutely crushing, old-school Bay-Area influenced thrash metal, which shows no mercy and completely obliterates everything in it's way. In an age where Thrash Metal is considered dead, it's great to hear bands like Pitch Black recording completely riff-laden albums like TKM. Riffs, damn right; there are tons of them in each song, I would say three or four complete killer riffs on each song. The guitar players make an excellent team, complementing each other perfectly, like a good thrash metal guitar player should always do. The solos aren't anything special, but they aren't bad - good enough not to ruin the mood of the songs. The bass lines are simple, but quite addicting. Pedro's voice isn't anything awesome, either, but he doesn't suck; he shouts and screams in a lower register than the usual in thrash, and manages to keep up with the rest of the guys. Then, the drumming... well, I guess it could be a bit better. A little faster, maybe, as it seems kind of out of place at times. Still, it's just a minor complaint.

The band bets more on heaviness than speed: imagine a rawer, more riff-laden version of Slayer's South of Heaven. Still, there are lots of headbanging fast tunes, like the live favourites "Beheaded" and "Divine Not Human". The later is definitevely an highlight; it manages to grab your attention from the first riff, to the catchy chorus (I AM DIVINE NOT HUMAN!!!). The fastest song on the album would be the band's title track "Pitch Black"; sounds a lot like Bonded by Blood- era Exodus. It will get you completely by surprise, after the slowness and relative melody of the previous track, "SuffocHate". However, for the slower songs, I would rather recommend "Standards of Perfection" - another highlight, with a really cool bass line and catchy riffage - or the opener, the crushing "Disturbing the Peace".

In conclusion: if this band had been born in the mid-eighties, they wouldn't probably be hailed as thrash inovators, but the album would nonetheless receive the "forgotten classic" label. In the 00's, with a crushing production helping them, tough, they will please anyone who misses the heyday of thrash. With influences like 80's Sepultura, Slayer and Exodus, you aren't likely to miss.THRASH IS NOT DEAD!