Abraxxas is a new Australian death/thrash band featuring
ex-Sewercide singer Idris Eldritch. Their debut demo, “Bitter Harvest”, offers
thrash much in the vein of what you would expect from the land down under:
intense, raw, and sloppy (in a good way, of course). Lunn’s vocals are pretty
harsh, and are the main reason Abraxxas draws the death/thrash tag. He is
definitely understandable, but tends to annihilate his vocal chords in the
process of firing out words.
The riffs are pretty solid here, but nothing particularly
special. “Drop The Hammer” opens with one of the stronger riffs on the demo,
but it is still run-of-the-mill thrash. I’m not one to criticize unoriginality
in thrash, and this song is actually the best on the demo because it is par for the course thrash. The song is relatively
upbeat, and makes good use of gang vocals in the chorus. The soloing is
relatively melodic and well thought out in this track, but at other times, such
as on the opening song, it is more spastic in its approach. Both styles prove to be effective, and while the latter is more conducive to this sound,
the former approach helps the band stand out a bit from the crowd. The third
song, “Rattenkrieg”, opens with a nice buildup, but quickly reverts to the
sound you’d expect from Abraxxas. Again, good riffs conquer all in this song,
and the somewhat typical songwriting can be forgotten about if you focus solely
on the riffs. With that said, these riffs are certainly not the height of
thrash, but they provide a good break from the typical low-tuned, excessively
muted rhythms that many bands focus on.
Overall, Abraxxas is definitely on the right path. “Bitter
Harvest” is not the most inspired work, but it also isn’t devoid of quality.
With more time to refine their songwriting, and create even better riffs, it
isn’t hard to see these guys having a lot of success in the future. For now,
this demo is an interesting offering on more violent and vicious thrash metal,
and provides a nice break from the Bay Area worship that is extremely common
these days.
Highlights
"Drop The Hammer"
"Rattenkrieg"
Final Rating
3.5/5 or 70%.
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