Back to basics for Chemicide!
Hailing straight from Costa Rica, the band made up of Frankie (vocals/guitar), Sebastian (guitar), Kohke (bass) and Chalo (drums) are approaching twenty years in the music business, and now offer us Violence Prevails, their fifth album, after signing to Listenable Records.
The band’s energy is palpable from the very first seconds of Do As I Say, a composition with which I discovered the band’s sound, firmly rooted in virulent Thrash with Old School influences. The rhythm is perfect for any mosh attempt, and the furious vocal parts confirm this impression, but the track passes relatively quickly and gives way to Red Giant, which continues in a similar direction, albeit a little slower and heavier. Rage soon resurfaces to speed up the track, but a few harmonics also add an ominous touch before letting dissonance taint Systemic Decay during the introductory vocal sample. The unhealthy tones soon return to make the track more martial, then suddenly much livelier, drawing us along for the ride until the groovy Parasite and its strident harmonics. The jerky riffs differ slightly from the previous tracks, but remain effective and quite dark, while Violence Prevails returns to a steadier pace and picks up on its devastating Old School influences, as does Prey of Failure, which boasts a dark, eerie sound in its instrumental. The vocals provide the necessary rage, as they do on the virulent and rather short Chokehold, which uses its two minutes to shower us with blasts before slowing down again as the first melodies of Supremacy begin. Fortunately, this salutary pause is short-lived, and the saturated sound returns to energize the vindictive composition and give it a taste of revolt before That’s Right, We’re That Spic Band!!! – a cover of Los Crudos – takes over with its dose of wild punk. The band then take on Metallica with their rendition of 72 Seasons from their latest album, which clearly seems to suit their energetic approach while remaining vocally very close, then the album comes to a close with Hear Nothing, Say Nothing, a song originally performed by Discharge and which confirms that the band know just as well how to adapt to more Hardcore/Crust tones.
Although I’m not much of a Thrash Metal fan, Chemicide managed to convince me with their rhythmic and varied tracks. Violence Prevails is a pretty good listen, with a few surprises in store!
80/100