Total Thrash Terror

I like thrash. I like thrash a lot. But I am much more into the more technical side of the music. I am more one to enjoy bands like Toxik, Heathen, Defiance, Coroner, Mekong Delta, Blind Ilussion and other bands that have more brains then brutallity when it comes to their thrash metal. That is not to say I need a little bit of a more brutal band to come in and satisfy my needs for some thrash metal with no progressive tendencies, balls out heavy, powerful, and in my face.

At this, Skullbreaker does incredibly well. The band is pretty tight for the most part, as they have what appears to be a pretty good grip on their sound (which is something like Vio-lence with little bit of Reign In Blood Era Slayer in there as well with a dash of Nuclear Assault on top). This is a good things for thrash metal fans who are into more brutal side of the genre, yet the technicallity here is enough to the point where fans of the more technical side of the genre will at least tolerate it.

Unfortuantely however, what we find is that the band is rather week at what they do. Other then drummer Hazim, all the members are mediocore to crap at best. The lead guitars are reminscent of that of Mike Sifringer of Destruction (as in he has a good grip on shredding and a genereal knowledge of theory but is not good at applying it to the instrument), the vocals are somewhat drab and flat (they are somewhat like a younger version of Mille Petrozza without as much growling), and the bass is really nothing special and is actually rather out of time. Mr. Hazim however is a truly amazing percussionist with blistering speed and high end talent is really shown well here. If only his band mates were as compitent.

Production here is actually pretty good. Hazim's drums stand out well and do not cut through the sound too much yet are not deadened, and his triggering job on the bass drums is positively stellar. The leads are a bit deadened, but they are not horrible. The rhythm guitars stand out very well and sort of overpower a lot of the other elements of the band, but it is not so bad as you cannot hear anything else. The vocals are very clear and are not one bit overpowered by all the other members. So for an independently released album, Total Thrash Terror scores about a 4.0 out of 5. Pretty good if you ask me.

All in all, if you want no compromises in your thrash metal (and you want to find out more about the real thing), Skullbreaker's full length debut is for you. But be warned that this is all the album is, and not something that more technical thrash metal fans will truly enjoy.