Bonded By Blood

Exiled To Earth

Written by: EW on 28/07/2010 19:52:29

Of this continually-prevailing neo-thrash scene Californians Bonded By Blood have managed to push themselves near the top of the pile, sharing centre stage with the Toxic Holocaust's, Evile's and Gama Bomb's of this world in proving that those who wrote off (myself included) the scene almost as soon as it exploded are going to be wrong, very wrong indeed. Following on from 2008's rather good "Feed the Beast" record, BBB have toned down on the comic humour (a little) across "Exiled To Earth" to make an album as aggressive a thrash record I've heard in recent years and one positively dripping with years spent listening to the 80's classics we all adore.

The band's monicker may bely a minor Exodus penchant but in "Prototype: Death Machine" and "600 A.B. (After the Bomb)" BBB thrash away high on Destruction in both riff and vocal snarl. Slip in some of the chaos of Dark Angel recordings (and a fucking annoying anti-piracy beep, cheers Earache) and BBB sound as energetic on record as I can confirm they are live. Though offering precious little answer to my main gripes of limited originality and variation within song structures of all bands in the neo-thrash scene BBB's performance of said style is undoubted in it's passion, offering us dear listener a nice array of lead work courtesy of the talented hands of Alex Lee and Jose 'Aladdin' Barrales so-thrash-it-hurts vocal style. Just be careful Barrales, Schmier will be wanting his vocal chords back for the recording of the next Destruction LP…

As if it need be declared "Exiled To Earth" offers no substantial variation on the well-trodden thrash template across it's 11 songs, which by the end begins to resemble a bunch of dudes filling in a 'Thrash By Numbers' workbook, but such is the nature of BBB's art one can't hate on them for it. Maybe the fabled 'difficult no. 3' album will tell us what the future of these upstarts has in store, but in the mean time expect some serious levels of touring and a few cases of whiplash to be diagnosed as "Exiled To Earth" spread it's diabolical ways across an expectant audience hungry for but one thing - thrash fuckin' metal.

7

Download: Blood Spilled Offerings, Cross-Insemination, 600 A.B. (After the Bomb)
For the fans of: Destruction, Dark Angel, Thrash
Listen: Myspace

Release date 16.08.2010
Earache Records

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