5 years after their debut record, Italy’s Brain Dead is back
with a second album of willful thrashing force. Given the band’s location,
name, and album art, it should be no surprise that they are signed to the
consistently awesome Punishment 18 Records. The band lives up to their thrash
roots quite well; in fact, that’s about all they do. Being named after the
classic Exodus song, it is clear that Brain Dead are big fans of Gary Holt’s
awesome riffs, and that is an influence that is rampant throughout “Menace From
The Sickness”. It almost feels like most other thrash influences are ignored in
order to attain Exodus’ wicked sound (mostly the sound they had during both
Zetro eras).
“Menace From The Sickness” tends to have a wide variety of
speedy and mid-paced riffs, but the golden rule on this record is that each
riff must be crushingly heavy. As if taking direction straight from classics
like “And Then There Were None” and “The Toxic Waltz”, Brain Dead manages to
deliver immortally heavy riffs that aren’t just based on playing fast. Aside
from the opening of the title track, there is little attention to including
large amounts of melody, and even that brief moment is immediately forgotten
when the next brutal Exo-riff comes in. As you could predict, these riffs tend
to feature plenty of chugging down picking interlaced with huge power chords
and some higher notes on occasion. At times, it truly is remarkable how well
Brain Dead has captured this sound; the aforementioned title track, alongside “Final
Truth” and “Eye of the Cyclone”, does the best job of emulating Holt.
Ironically, it is Exodus’ current weakness that I feel
plagues Brain Dead as well. Most of the tracks on the first half of the record
reach the 6-minute range, and that’s simply too long for a band like Brain
Dead. They don’t focus on creating the most memorable songwriting, so it would
be more effective to deliver shorter, more straightforward blasts of
aggression-fuelled energy. At times, it feels like the songs just go on without
any specific direction. That’s not to say anything on “Menace From The Sickness”
is bad, because it certainly isn’t, but there is no need for this album to be
51-minutes long. There are a few standouts, however. Most of the entire second
half of the album is quite impressive. “Pay For A Better Life” is the single,
and it’s easy to see why. It is sure to be stuck in your head for at least a
little while. The two tracks that follow, “Menace From The Sickness” and “Final
Truth”, have some of the best riffs on the record. Ultimately, however, this
album is really only for the die-hards of newer thrash. It is not original in
any sense, and it lives and dies on the quality of its riffs. Devout fans of
Exodus should definitely give this a shot though.
Highlights
"Pay For A Better Life"
"Menace From The Sickness"
"Final Truth"
Final Rating
3.5/5 or 70%.