Florida is known for two main contributions
to metal: fantastic old-school death metal and Savatage. Aside from Nasty
Savage, it seems as though few thrash bands from the 80’s came out of Florida.
25 years later, however, the band Lacerate delivers thrashing goodness to the
people in the Southeast United States. “Savage Devastation” is their first demo
and sole release to this point. It is a competent effort with plenty of riffs
alongside a couple of really cool covers.
Before getting to the songs, it’s worth
pointing out the guitar tone. Some may call it weak because it isn’t punchy or
in your face, but the better term for this guitar tone is buzzsaw. This sound
brings back memories of Destruction and Razor, among others, and a thrash band
couldn’t ask for any higher compliment. Unfortunately the album is pretty
quiet, but if you crank it loud enough, these guitars move to the forefront of
things. The riffs tend to be pretty standard thrash fanfare. There aren’t many
that stick out, but there certainly aren’t any that suck. Lacerate is a band
that understands the art of writing riffs, and it’s not hard to imagine them
creating some truly deadly riffs with a bit more practice. Over top of the
buzzing of the guitars comes the voice of James Brooks. His vocals epitomize
thrash. They are a standard shout, which is entirely devoid of melody. This is
some attempt at avoiding being completely monotone, and Brooks generally
succeeds in this regard. The band could benefit from having slightly more
character in the vocals, but Brooks’ style is actually so simplistic that it
manages to differ from many other thrash bands out there.
“Savage Devastation” consists of five
original tracks aside from the two covers, and they tend to be relatively
similar. There is the occasional slower moment, or rage-causing, mosh-inducing
riff, but you can mostly predict what the demo sounds like before you hear it. The
songs are not particularly memorable, but certain parts will stay with you
after a couple of listens. The cover of Sodom’s “Outbreak of Evil” is
particularly interesting because it manages to be considerably tighter than the
original and puts an impressive spin on the track. This was definitely an
excellent choice for a cover, and Lacerate does the song justice.
Lacerate is a band that shows a lot of
promise. It may appear from this review that this demo is somewhat mediocre,
but that’s just not the case. Unfortunately it is becoming increasingly more
difficult to stand out in the metal world, particularly as a thrash band where
the confines of the subgenre are so limited. With some more practice in
songwriting, and a better production job, it’s easy to see how Lacerate could
become a top thrash band in the near future. Since this is a demo release, I
really can’t fault the band for anything, as they’ve put together a very
respectable set of songs that leaves me awaiting their next output.
Highlights
All of it
Final Rating
3.8/5 or 76%.
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