Tracklist:
1. Fooled Again 03:58
2. Watery Tomb 05:29
3. First World Disease 03:54
4. Evil Brotherhood 03:54
5. Destroyer Of Worlds 03:56
6. No Hope For You 03:16
7. Hatebound 04:36
8. Thrash Assault 03:08
9. Troops Of Doom 02:43
Label: Inverse Records
Release date: May 10th, 2019
Hometown: Joensuu, Finland
Purchase the album here.
Finnish Thrashers Maniac Abductor – with their first LP “Casualties of Causality” – lull you into a false sense of security in the first song “Fooled Again” with a 40 second clean intro. But after that, its immediately down to business of thrash riffage and aggressive vocals. Just when I’m expecting this to be “generic thrash record number infinity” it shows a surprising ability to change pace in a way that evokes the familiar whilst still keeping you on your toes. You’ll feel locked in to a Lost Society/Evil Invaders type of vibe which isn’t shocking considering Lost Society are their countrymen and they just supported Evil Invaders on tour.
The question with almost every thrash metal band is “Can they separate themselves? Or will they simply become another new wave of thrash metal band?”. There are definitely a couple moments in this effort where Maniac Abductor separate themselves from the pack. Most notably in the 3rd track, titled “First World Disease” where you feel as if you’ve been shot out of a cannon right from the second the track begins. A welcome respite from some of the tedium that mid-paced thrash albums can flood you with. In songs like the fourth track “Evil Brotherhood” you can see the true European sound culminate into the amalgamation of every blend of European thrash metal, whether it be the beginning which conjures the sensation of an early Sodom track, or the main riff which reminds one of the new wave Distillator/Evil Invaders Northern European gallup. In essense, Maniac Abductor does just enough work to drill into its music, their own take on Northern European thrash metal.
Like many thrash metal albums of the last decade, you can get a sense for the second half by listening to the first half. This is not to take points away from Maniac Abductor (or any NWOTM band) for that matter, it’s a solid piece of work. Plenty satisfactory musicianship on display by the band, great vocals towing the line between clean and growly almost sounding like Phil Anselmo at some spots. It could definitely use some more guitar soloing (with the exception of the awesome solo in “Hatebound” ) and thrash metal absurdity, can sound pretty safe at times. A few bass fills that ravage the glints of lockstep adherence do add some flavor. But – in what is their smartest move – ending the album with the most anthemic work on the album, the eighth track “Thrash Assault”, and a very respectable cover of Sepultura’s “Troops of Doom” sends you home on a very positive note demonstrating to the world that Maniac Abductor can rightfully take its spot on the European stage of thrash metal.
Rating: 78/100
THRASHMANIA\m/ 