Tracklist:
1. Nihilistic Principle
2. Acrimony
3. Legion of Alienation
4. Unreality
5. Execution
6. Corrupted Flesh
7. Automation
8. Restructure the Molded Mind
Label: Unspeakable Axe Records
Have you ever wondered what would happen if someone decided to cram every Death album made before 1991 into 28 minutes? Well that question was ear-splittingly answered by the California technical death metal/technical thrash metal trio Hemotoxin.
The first song of the album “Nihilistic Principle” bursts into alacrity with clobbering blast beats that wipe out any question of the vigor that this album offers. What’s better than the sheer vehemence of the sound is the suitability of frontman and lead guitarist Michael Chavez’s vocals and lead guitar licks. Its every good quality of Chuck Schuldiner and Mille Petrozza put into one demonic vocalization. On top of that the guitar licks being played over the vocals are frenzied beauty coagulated into the formula that their obvious muse Death used to formulate its signature sound.
What I find most appealing here is the means in which Hemotoxin manage to fit the most anthemic parts of thrash metal into the crushing death metal abuse. This is the type of album you’ll love to sing along to as they destroy you from the stage. I feel like through just two listens, I know the lyrics to “Legion of Alienation” by heart. When every song can punish you but leave a different fist-print in your forehead, you know you’ve discovered something that contains the requisite combination of technicality, brutality, dynamism, and anthemic familiarity for metal greatness.
Hemotoxin have shown – just like they did with 2016’s “Biological Enslavement” – that they are here to destroy the generic nature of the internet age. Wailing solos like in “Unreality” and “Automation” leave you breathless while the pounding riffs are still tickling your propensity for violence. Undoubtedly, this will not be the most popular release of 2020, but in this enthusiast’s mind, it will be one of the absolute best of the entire decade to come.
Rating 94/100
THRASHMANIA\m/ 