The End of World

I'm not well versed on the metal community of Peru, but if Mudra are any indication of their thrash scene, they've taken some pretty obvious cues from the ongoing Greek revivalist craze with the 80s exploits of the Teutonic trio. Particularly when it comes to the overtly fast, embryonic death metal character that typified Kreator and later 80s Sodom, perhaps best embodied by the likes of Drunkard and Suicidal Angels insofar as the present Greek scene is concerned. But any band that is looking to get a leg up on the competition will have to put their own spin on a given style if they hope to stand out, and in this respect Mudra actually proves to be equally capable and slightly less derivative than their Greek counterparts.

Rather than obsess over the occult and only occasionally interject a reference to war and violence the way Slayer and Kreator tended to, Mudra goes full out on the warfar side of things, almost to the point of being as fixated on it as Sabaton is with war history. The thick character of their production is not quite as overtly 80s as most of the current revivalist scene, and hints at the sort of crisp, chunky polish exhibited on the past couple of Death Angel albums. But arguably their greatest point of contrast with otherwise comparable bands taking up the Neo-Teutonic banner is their sense of melody, particularly insofar as their riff work is concerned. At times it takes on a consonant, almost NWOBHM character that was influential on a number of early Bay Area releases, particularly Heathen and Testament.

For the most part, this album follows the straight-line approach of cooking at either full speed or nearly full speed and only occasionally stopping off for a breakdown or haunting interlude. In typical skull crushing fashion, shorter songs like "Rise Up" and "The End Of World" remind heavily of a number of killer neck snappers off Drunkard's "Like Sin Explode", or Sodom's "Agent Orange" for a better known and older example. When the songs go a little bit longer as on "Resistencia" and "Anger", there are a few additional elements that come in, usually in the form of more frequent instrumental breaks with consonant lead lines that form a smoother contrast to the rough edged vocals. The vocal work itself is similar to the jagged edge shout of Mark Osegueda, while also being accompanied by some nastier shrieks and groans, along with enough gang shouts to make Anthrax blush.

While perhaps only a slight departure from the present trend in thrash metal, it can be safely argued that "The End Of The World" is a fun album with plenty of memorable anthems to man's depravity during times of war. Lyrically they bring to thrash metal a less preachy version of what Violator has been doing for the Brazilian scene lately and what a number of American bands did back in the late 80s, opting to show rather than teach. With all the flash and flair of any established name in the past and present thrash world and a good eye for nuance, this is definitely a band to watch in the coming years, provided they don't go the way of many 2nd and 3rd tier 80s bands and fold after 2 albums.