Bloodrocuted – Disaster Strikes Back

“Disaster Strikes Back” is the second album from Belgian thrash outfit, but it marks the band’s first record for the thrashiest label around: Punishment 18 Records. It would be fair to say that Bloodrocuted’s music is very much in line with what most of the label has to offer. This means that “Disaster Strikes Back” is a very standard modern thrash effort. The production is in your face and aggressive, which goes well with the numerous thrash riffs. As expected, these riffs generally feature lots of palm-muting, excellent rhythmic dexterity (both in terms of down-picking stamina and throwing in gallops and tremolo picking), and lots of speed. Of course, you’ve probably heard these riffs many times before. A familiar sound isn’t bad, especially given the nature of thrash metal, but as the album wears on, some of the riffs definitely feel a little too close to specific riffs from 80s giants. Nevertheless, you can’t fault Bloodrocuted for paying homage to bands like Destruction or Exodus with their riffs.

The band’s singer is likewise in line with what you might expect. He’s more on the harsher side of things, though not quite brutal enough for death metal. His voice is largely restrained to the low end, and while this means you’ll only really hear him barking out lyrics, it is appropriate for the album. Though he doesn’t provide much melody, the guitars certainly have the ability to do so. This is done largely through solos, but there are some melodic lines thrown in as well.

While “Disaster Strikes Back” is a formidable effort for all fans of thrash, it lacks a few things that could elevate it to the next level. Firstly, the songs just aren’t that great. They don’t aim to be memorable, and as a result, all that you are really left with are the riffs, which are the second problem. Yes, they’re good, but everybody in the scene has good riffs at this point. These riffs don’t exactly match Destruction in terms of how brilliant they are. So while this album does everything it should do well, it fails to capture the more human elements that make thrash great. The final problem is that Bloodrocuted doesn't have any sort of distinctive quality. With certain bands, even if you enjoy their riffs but can’t remember any songs, if there is something that separates them from the pack, it’s easy to justify going back to them. Unfortunately Bloodrocuted is very run-of-the-mill thrash. This doesn’t mean this album isn’t worth buying, it just means that you won’t remember too much when it’s over.

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Highlights

All/none of it

Final Rating

3.3/5 or 66%. 

Written by Scott