Albums

Album Review: Torture Squad

[Album: Hellbound]
[Label: Wacken Records]

Torture Squad are one of Brazil’s biggest metal bands and you’ll invariably find them somewhere on tour peddling their own brand of old school-thrash fighting spirit meets death metal battery. Yet it wasn’t until 2006 that they stepped into Europe and the interest they generated lifted them to the next level. Playing the Wacken Festival, in particular, appears to have been a great career move as they won the Metal Battle competition there and subsequently signed to Wacken Records. They threw themselves into the studio and this album is the result.

Starting at the beginning, we have ‘MMXII’ which introduces orchestral strings, thudding timpani, keyboard sweeps, a church bell, even a spot of triangle. This is more Viking than Brazilian! Very gently, electric guitars start to filter in and then - whap! - we’re into ‘Living For The Kill’ with it’s rapid, Pantera-style chugging and instantaneous breaks to silence. Megadeth would be proud if they could produce something today with anything like the vibrancy or intensity of ‘Chaos Corporation’. It begins to sound like the end of the world as Amilcar Christofaro’s drums hit full-speed, Vitor Rodriguez brutalises you with his death vocal and the guitars claw over and over again at your eardrums. Attack, pause, attack, pause. It’s like being trapped inside a washing machine on a thrash cycle. Wash clockwise, rest, wash anticlockwise, rest. Rinse and repeat.

The heart of the album is mostly relentless extreme-speed but there are moments of careful track construction that will give the album a universal appeal. ‘Twilight Of Mankind’ and ‘The Four Winds’ feature surprising clips of acoustic guitar, a chance to chill and appreciate the subtlety. Then, just in case you’re getting too cosy, there’s Rodriguez to blaze out the title-track and remind us what the Squad are really all about. But, this sure ain’t torture, Vitor, it’s terrific.

For fans of: Anthrax, Megadeth, Hatebreed
Band links = Torture Squad

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