For all that Thrash Metal has undergone a Thrasholution recently, and the Thrash scene is now flooded with identikit bands all Thrashing out to the endless delight of the Thrash massive, there’s few that are really capable of rocking your socks off – ‘you’ here being the type of Metalhead that is impressed by more than cut-off jeans and a debut album that rips Exodus off. Enter Finnish upstarts Dead Shape Figure, formed in 2003 and with their art honed to a razor point with plenty of touring in support of the likes of Chimaira and Maroon. Mixing the rabid end of Thrash with the rabid end of Melodeath, the band sets out to do one thing and one thing only: destroy!

From the first moments of debut album The Grand Karoshi, Dead Shape Figure prove there’s more to them than a silly name. The best way to describe them would be recent Testament meets old The Haunted, guitarists Juhani and Erno bending their instruments into all sorts of headbangable shapes, whilst vocalist Galzi growls over the top and drummer Rainer (formerly of kickass Deathsters Spirit Disease) and bassist Neissue fill out the bottom. The intro features Eastern drones, turning into epic Power Metal riffing before first track proper Blades bursts forth, coming at you like old Machine Head on speed. It’s little short of brutal, Galzi’s growls deep and forceful, louder even than the guitars at times – the one point against the band – as the sheer number of riffs overwhelms you.

Other songs such as Lesser The Man shake and shudder chaotically, more melodic riffs mixed well into the maelstrom. Need it be said that solos are frequent and little short of awesome, placed perfectly to incite the masses into a frenzy? This is one band that will almost definitely be causing a live slaughter, their music practically designed for moshing to. Bend The Weak has enough ‘motherfuckers’ to keep even Children Of Bodom fans happy, whilst Remington Lucifer’s gang-shouts, the title track’s epic Metalcore and 6 x 9’s technical twists and turns will keep most Metallic listeners happy. It’s eight-minute-plus finale Perinde Ac Cadaver that’s the best track on offer, overall, with the only clean singing on the album and enough changes (tempo, time, riff) to justify its length.

The Grand Karoshi is hard to fault. Considering that it’s a debut album, there are no weak songs or obvious slip-ups as there usually are, and in terms of what is offered more than delivers. Thrashers everywhere will enjoy this, whilst everyone else will dig the ferocity and riffage on show – it’s hardly the best thing you’ll hear all year, but close enough to the top to warrant serious consideration. If the next album doesn’t make them stars then there’s something wrong with y’all.