MoshPirit

It goes without saying that the revival of old school thrash metal is a movement with many niches, sometimes having derivative niches within those broader niches. A big part of this movement's longevity, apart from appealing to a large number of younger metal fans that missed the original 80s thrash wave, has been the fact that most of these bands have fanned out and sought differing claims of thrash metal's past. After all, if everyone went the route of Evile, Tantara and several others of being middle era Metallica emulators, things would've gotten old before they reached the ripe age of four years old. Thus comes along another curious arrival from the Catalonia region of Spain in Aggression that touts something that's relatively mainline in its formula, drawing heavily from Metallica and late 80s Overkill, but also with a few interesting twists that put them a smidgen closer to the technical realm of Watchtower and Annihilator that where either of the two former bands would ever venture.

As far as albums go circa 2009, this band's debut MoshPirit strikes the ears at first like a thudding beast that rests somewhere between the technical yet somewhat more restrained territory of Forbidden and the insane fury of Demolition Hammer's early 90s material. Most of its contents carry a fairly even balance of blinding speed and slightly faster than mid-tempo grooving after the mode of The Years Of Decay that is somewhat easy to follow, but laced with intermitten movements of fancy riff work that shows passing shades of something that Jeff Waters might mess with, particularly during Annihilator's early days. That's pretty much how the opening volley of neck-splitting rage that are "Chaos Anatomy" and "Thrash And Kill" hit the ears, like a fancier version of Overkill's "Elimination", complete with a high, nasally vocal assault that's somewhat similar to Blitz, though the guitar sound is a bit more processed and tinny, sounding a slight bit more mechanical in the Exhorder sense.

The overall flow of the album has the obligatory peaks and valleys in terms of intensity, though largely the album is straight-line in its approach, amounting in a lot of similar sounding songs and consisting of high and low points that are fairly close to home. The faster and more raucously thrashing moments like the title song "Moshpirit" and "New Born War" (both of which feature vocals that occasionally drift into a Hetfield gruff) show a clear uptick in intensity, but largely come back to rest on the same upper-mid tempo cruise that dominates the aforementioned songs on a regular basis. Similarly, the longer epic songs will often feature an extended intro in slower territory such as the acoustic segue into a dragging groove on "Never Surrender" and the ominous yet punchy groove that kicks off "Thrashing Your Brain", but will tend to find themselves in the same tempo as the others, as if the entire album was written around that fast yet non-exaggerated Bay Area feel first established on Exodus' Bonded By Blood, which is a welcome change of pace from the largely hyper-speed templates that were more common amongst revival acts at the close of the 2000s.

It's pretty hard to go wrong with an album like this, as it is distinctive enough to stand out among a heavy contingent of other bands that were largely going for an earlier 80s thrash sound at this juncture, yet it also plays it safe enough to be easily accessible for those who want a vintage sound that isn't overly modern and convoluted. That's actually the primary thing that separates old school thrash revivalism from most of the so-called modern adherents to the style, that supposedly illusive middle ground between the outlandishly progressive and quirky sound that began entering the sound in the early 1990s, and the dumbed down sound of Exhorder's The Law and Pantera's Vulgar Display Of Power. The songs run together a bit here as despite the varied techniques employed and the very fancy guitar work, the same basic formula continues to return with each song with little deviation. It works in smaller doses and as a full album, but it's actually a tiny bit less engaging than more overtly stylized albums like Tantara's Based On Evil and Evile's Enter The Grave, though still a fun listen.

A fleeting glimpse at the cover may very well suffice to deduce that these Spanish thrashers are in for kicking some ass. It does not require such keen observation to infer that the cover is crafted by none other than Ed Repka, whose signature appears to have been jotted down everywhere on the image and not just in the bottom right corner. There is much—perhaps a little too much—fiery orange foreboding the hell which will be set loose as soon as the disc has started whirling: unleashing a musical tornado that is relentless, violent, and unmerciful. Not only does the then five-year-old Catalonian quartet manage to prove—as do only a hand’s count of kindred bands—the Spanish metal scene to have acts a bit more macho than the regular lame power parades – no offence – but also pull off one song after the other with great ease and evenness, which showcase a band that has matured beyond its years.

With only two-thirds of a minute to squander away, the Spaniards thunder headlong through certain long deserted streets, where Exhorder’s graffiti is still half-done yet ever boastful of the band’s exquisite genius. That is where the Spaniards’ journey begins, and all they do is hit the road, as the crow flies, and follow the signs their masters have erected through the ages. Yet, due to the numerous post-thrash bushes they beat around, their thrash—albeit aged in essence—is not served straight from the wooden old-school cask. That is precisely why the appeal of Aggression’s music is broad enough to encompass, say, Grip Inc.’s as well as early-Annihilator’s fans alike and to cover the vast stylistic chasm that lies in between. Just for the sake of being Spanish, however, the band does take occasional turns to power metal streets paved by the likes of Destructor and Iced Earth.

When it comes to thrash metal, I do not normally give a rat’s ass about originality, provided that the performance manages to keep my mind diverted from any such matter. Needless to say, this is a remark said in favour of Aggression, whose performance has commanded my deep respect for the band’s evident attempt to capture the core of the genre rather than its outer shell. Metaphorically speaking, listening to Moshpirit can be likened to watching a snow-covered landscape: everything looks so virgin and white from a distance, however the nearer you draw to the features of the scenery the more palpable becomes the adulteration of snow. Thus, originality seekers, who are unwilling to keep enough distance to appreciate snow that has been played with and trampled on, may sadly overlook what other goodness Moshpirit tenders. As for me, I think I will stay in today and enjoy the view out my window.

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Originally written for http://www.metal-observer.com

Not to be confused with the cult Canadian thrash/speed metal band, this Aggression is a Spanish band playing some exciting, riff-centric thrash metal for their full-length debut. This is another of those retro bands which has decided to wear 'thrash' on its sleeve, you've got the mandatory song titles ("Thrash and Kill", "Thrashing Your Brain", and "MoshPirit"). While the old timer in me tires of this, since thrash metal was not a joke to begin with and should not be considered such now, the band clearly does this out of a love for what they are playing. So let's cut to the chase: the music.

Aggression plays a riffy brand of thrash metal which recalls a lot of European classics, in particular there is an energy and attunement to melody which reminds me of Denmark's living legend Artillery. Kreator and Destruction are also in there, with a healthy dash of the American 80s scene. All of the tracks here have some catchy riff or two that makes them fun to listen to, and what more can you expect? The title track "MoshSpirit", the slamming "Psycho-Crime" and the pounding epic "Never Surrender" all caught my ears and kept my neck slamming through their durations. Lyrically this material has the inner city thrash savvy of bands like Anthrax or Nuclear Assault, and vocalist Pol Luengo has a strange voice that is distinct, with only hints of influential frontmen like Schmier or Baloff.

MoshSpirit sounds bright and punishing, you can really hear the power of the mute palms when the band breaks out a meatier mosh rhythm. Like many of the better bands to come along in the 21st century and rekindle the fire of 80s thrash metal, Aggression have actually written a solid set of tracks that have both quality riffs and leads. This is not a phoned-in homage to better years, the band does have the ability and chops worthy of the line. A little less of the silly, patronizing 'thrash' imagery would be nice on bitter old tools like myself (hint: we get it!), but in no way does it detract from Aggression's fun, guitar focused style.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

This was perhaps my most anticipated release during 2008 as I was instantly blown away by their tracks they had on their myspace towards the beginning of the year. I kind of forgot about them eventually and I fell out of listening to music for most of 2009. I began to get back into it a few weeks back and discovered that Aggression had finally put out a full length. Of course I just had to pick this up as soon as I could.

And well I was certainly not disappointed with this album. Aggression show that they are not just messing around having fun playing like all their 80s favorites. Nope they are here to do serious business and make a real mark in thrash. Moshpirit on first glance seems to fulfill all the new wave of thrash clichés. They have an Ed Repka cover of a city in destruction and songs with names like Thrash and Kill with lyrics all about moshing and thrashing. However, I was not discouraged as I already had heard some of their material last year and knew what they were capable of.

Aggression seem to have found the perfect production. This is hard for thrash bands to do today. Some sound too modern and polished making it sound flat and others just sound too much like the 80s. Aggression have the perfect level of polish while retaining grit and a heavy sense of crunch. Think Destruction’s – The Anti-Christ album with a slight metallic sound, but not as metallic as Violator – Chemical Assault.

The musicianship and songwriting is top notch. Angelus Apatrida also from Spain is another modern favorite of mine and like them they have a similar style of harmonies going on here at times, though the majority is still rooted firmly in the style of the bay area from bands like Death Angel, Vio-lence, Testament, Exodus etc. The riffs are played tight and slightly technical as they include so many breaks, and short but subtle tempo changes. Eternal Nightmare anyone? The guitar tone is very much like Exodus was on Tempo of the Damned. However, Aggression have gone for more of a thrashy approach with the riffs, though there is still a hint of groove in it. If you are one of those thrashers that hate any thrash with groove don’t let your alarm bells go off, as this is nothing like Exodus now or all those other comeback albums from thrash bands. This is still heavily rooted in thrash and does not sound watered down but still contains a ton of energy. The solos are well executed as well sounding quite fast and a little chaotic. However, they are used a little too sparsely.

The vocalist is perfectly fitting with a bit of an over the top approach, like a more listenable Killian with a bit of Blitz and Souza in it. He is just full of energy and has that wild and uncontrolled sound that makes Schmier, the late Baloff, and Blitz, some of my favorite vocalists. Occasional use of gang vocals is also included here and certainly adds a nice touch. The drummer is very competent to. The sound is perfectly mixed without drawing attention to himself and just does an excellent job of hitting the right notes and can really speed it up when he wants to.

There are absolutely no duds or filler on here. Every track is a winner. My attention does not wander at all as they include so many hooks and every song stands on its own. Most of the songs keep up the intensity though on occasion like the track, I Hate You they slow it down and go for more of a catchy groove sound including some really nice riffs. This sounds like it came straight off of Tempo of the Damned. This was a real nice change of pace.

My only complaint is that they don’t use more solos. When the solos are this good it feels like they are wasting this talent somewhat. The bonus track and the one in Chaos Anatomy are excellent examples of what they are capable of. So overall this is pretty much one of the best thrash releases of the new wave and fans of old and new school thrash should check this out, as they would be really missing out.