Drunkard - Like Sin Explode
Surgical Diathesis Records
Thrash Metal
10 songs (36:05)
Release year: 2010
Reviewed by Goat

Greece isn’t the first country you’d think of when turning your brain Thrashwards – well, aside from Rotting Christ, I admit to not knowing many Greek Metal bands – yet the enjoyably titled Drunkard are out to prove that the country does Thrash as well as... erm, whatever else they do! This is their second album in eleven years of existence, and it’s a good one, mixing a modern production and Death Metal vocals with sharp-edged, catchy riffing and solid musical performances from all. The band rely pretty much equally on speed as they do on groove, making for an exciting assault in intro Kiss Of Mayhem that leads into a crunchy, Exodus-meets-The Haunted piledriver in the shape of King Death. It’s not a terribly varied or open-minded form of Thrash, it doesn’t stray far from the central objective of making you headbang, but having said that it isn’t afraid of the odd bass trill or drum flourish. As you’d rightly expect, this is all about the riffs, and the band deliver them by the truckload, from the post-Slayer assault of the title track through the God Dethroned-esque stomp of Bloodcrown. What matters is that Like Sin Explode consistently delivers on its promise, exploding gleefully into fits of riffing on the likes of Project Cancer and never lacking energy.

The one major fault I can find with the album as a whole is that bassist/vocalist Savvas Panzerfaust’s throaty growl rarely changes, and can get a little monotonous, although this really isn’t a problem if you’re concentrating on the music. It’d be nice to hear the band really pushing the boundaries and playing even faster, letting the carefully controlled chaos threaten to spill completely off the rails. As it is, mid-paced pounders like My Nomad Wings are catchy and enjoyable, if a little modern in style to those looking for something more old-school. Chaser will be a comfort to them, like some lost cut from Sepultura’s Arise album, and the epic Triggering The Apocalypse rollicks along without mercy. Sure, by the time you’ve got to closing track Murder Carnage you’ll start to note the slightly repetitive feel of the songs, but the band blast along so convincingly that you can’t help but get caught up and have a good time. A mark of a decent album is that it persuades you to enjoy it despite its faults, and whilst Drunkard do have faults they remain an enjoyable act that I’ll be sure to follow from now on.

MySpace
Killing Songs :
King Death, Like Sin Explode, Bloodcrown, My Nomad Wings, Project Cancer, Chaser
Goat quoted 75 / 100
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There are 4 replies to this review. Last one on Mon Aug 09, 2010 9:28 pm
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