There’s changes at 3rd War Collapse!
Formed between Brazil and Finland in 2016, the band will release a debut album in 2021. The following year, Cristiano Martinez (guitar/vocals, ex-Vomepotro) and Kalle Lindfors (drums, Inferia, Plaguebreeder) welcome Juan Azevedo (bass/vocals, Akinetopsia, ex-Repulsive Concept, ex-Vile Existence) then eventually announce the release of Catastrophic Epicenter, their second album, on Lethal Scissor Records.
Rodolfo Carrega (Clawn, Despised), the band’s previous bassist, was also involved in the creation and recording of this album.
Catastrophic Epicenter, the eponymous track, is the first to strike with a melancholic introduction which quickly gives way to a thick rhythmic pattern with marked Old School influences. The massive vocal parts coupled with the raw groove prove highly effective, as does Legion Of The Infested, which begins with an ominous sound before giving way to its fast, devastating riffs, sometimes nuanced by more melodious, soaring tones. Coffin Shortage continues with this catchy but extremely heavy aggressive approach, leading us into Terror Diffusion, a rather similar composition that follows one moshpart after another without mercy. The band allows us a brief moment to breathe with the introductive sample of Formites, immediately crushed afterwards by a jerky rhythm where borborygms become more present. The carnage continues with Asphyxiating Tyranny and its wall of blasts topped by unstoppable riffs and screams of fury, followed by Lacerate The Rival of which short wave of aggression arrives after a quick military march. The sound doesn’t let up with Heresy Behind The Lies, which unveils a handful of thick impressive riffs, then the musicians let us breathe again with a few sampled vocals before Killing Each Other falls on us, pouring out all its rage thanks to a thick sound. The album comes to a close with The Last Hecatomb, which, as its title suggests, stomps and molests us with its effective, fast-paced riffs before a relatively calm, melodic final.
3rd War Collapse reaffirms its brutality with Catastrophic Epicenter, a rather short album which offers thirty minutes of blast and heavy riffs under massive vocal parts, all in a greasy Old School atmosphere.
80/100