Tales of the Unexpected



Farcry - Slaves of Chaos
This was listed simply as "thrash" on a distro clearance list--a very confounding oversimplification that prompted me to give it a try.  Fairly technical, groovy modern thrash with quite a lot of death metal influence at times--some parts sound like they cross into death/thrash (NOT in the classic sense) territory, but not enough where the album as a whole can be classified as such.  Even the more straightforward parts are too uninteresting and modern for a quick thrash fix, and the vocals are an unfortunate forced style evocative of metalcore.  There are some progressive interludes and the bassist does a few jazzy runs, but in this context, they seem less like nice progressive flourishes and more like routine attempts to inject monotony-breakers into the music.

Meatslab - Slaughter of the Human Pig

Here we have a perplexing fundamental disconnect.  The band name, title, and cover artwork heavily suggest gore- or death/grind.  Certainly what I expected.  Not a trace of death metal or grind here.  Internet sites classify them as death/thrash.  Nope.  The band's own hyperbolic, cliché-ridden bio (http://www.meatslab.com/bio.php) paints them as old-school thrash.  Laughable.  They play that awful '90s style of baggy pants and wallet chain groove/"thrash," which sounds dangerously similar to modern metalcore due to the groove sections and ultra-forced vocals.  Imagine a band of individuals with only casual metal knowledge attempting to emulate Chaos A.D. musically and Phil Anselmo vocally, and you get the idea. 





Nefasto - Exterminador
Musically this doesn't deserve to be lumped in with the previous two modern metal turds, but it was quite different from what the plain "thrash" descriptor had me expecting.  About as punkish as thrash can get before not calling it crossover is deceitful.  Main letdown for me is the vocals, which are a gruff HC/crust style.  Not exactly the South American thrash experience I was hoping for, but that's not the band's fault.  Cover reminds me of a mutant commando version of the shyster from the Jew memes.