Reviews: SODP008
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Lithuanian Thrash band Phrenetix seek to wrench your head clean from your shoulders with their blistering, melodic brand of Thrash.
From the off 'Muddy Tale' presents you with a need to limber up with a galloping riff before they unleash a blistering assault. An angry vocal from Lina further cements that Phrenetix are not here to mess about. One minute in there is some respite with a deep, slower tempo riff before they're off again. This is repeated a little later before a solo build up to the furious end.
'The Art of Jail' begins with a deep, distorted lead riff. They play about a bit with you here. Bursts of aggressive guitar work mixed up with slower crunching riffs. The vocal is angrier still. There's a classy slow tempo guitar section leading into some brilliant crescendo type lead work.
A percussive start to 'Unconscious Game' quickly makes way for some lightening lead work before the frantic pace kicks in. The pace is relentless from here and for most of the track, with lengthy verses that leaves Lina with no time for air.
'Pousera' opens with a classy riff leading into more of a canter to the pace of the rest of the tracks. It's not long though before hell breaks loose again. The rhythm seems to move into a groovier flow. Sung seemingly in the mother tongue, the vocal sounds more venemous. The track gets doomier for a spell before a juicy lead piece opens up.
'Do or Die' finishes the demo as it was started, relentlesly. With an old school Thrash flavour to the riffing. This is my favourite track from the demo as it is no nonsense, unadulterated Thrash, peppered with delightful solo work. The end of the track slows right down with a really dark tone for some finale headbanging.
I really enjoyed listening to this demo, I'm intrigued to how the debut album will sound. I hope the band isn't over produced as I really liked the sound of these tracks. The drumming and Bass work were crisp and the guitar tone was brilliant. The vocals were raw and angry, adding to the powerful onslaught from the rest of the band.
Harmonious were the twin guitars and the lead pieces were short enough and high enough to satiate the appetite.
Definitely a good start for this band and I hope to hear more soon...
9/10 by legalalien
Le thrash metal est, sinon intemporel, universel. Plus de 30 ans après les 1eres démos d’Overkill, le style, popularisé par de jeunes ricains fougueux et que l’on donnait pour mort au milieu des 90′s, connaît un regain de vigueur, avec des prods venant d’un peu partout.
Originaire de Lithuanie, pays d’où l’on verrait plutôt surgir d’obscurs combos de black, une jeune formation a décidé d’apporter sa pierre à l’édifice. Avec un nom tout droit sorti de l’imagination de Marc Dorcel (ou de la bd d’Astérix, suivant votre âge ou vos divertissements préférés) PHRENETIX sort sa démo éponyme en 2013. Bon, autant le dire tout de suite, rien de révolutionnaire, les influences sont multiples et marquées, Bay Area trademark.
Avec la particularité d’avoir une chanteuse/guitariste, Phrenetix nous pond 5 titres de thrash US véloces et catchy. Les morceaux alternent riffs rapides, acérés et breaks lourds. Les changements de tempos sont fréquents et les soli plutôt mélodiques et fort bien exécutés ma foi. Nonobstant un petit manque d’originalité, Phrenetix compose de bons morceaux accrocheurs, comme ce « The art of jail » qui est vraiment agréable avec ses lignes de chant DRI, son riff assassin, son break mélodique, son solo sympa et ce putain de refrain qui vous reste dans la tête dès la première écoute ! Malgré leur jeune âge, les 4 zicos ont une bonne maîtrise de leur instrument, leur jeu est précis.
Seul le chant semble au bord de la rupture mais on sent qu’elle donne tout ce qu’elle a et cela participe au sentiment d’urgence qui se dégage des riffs de nos lithuaniens. Un mot sur la prod qui est très bonne pour une démo, claire et fine. Alors oui, on trouve du Metallica, du Megadeth, du DRI, du Slayer, de l’Overkill, un petit peu de tout ce petit monde du thrash US dans cette démo mais c’est fort bien composé, joué et le feeling est là et pour un groupe de thrash, le feeling c’est tout!
Σε διαδικασία ετοιμασίας του πρώτου τους full length, οι Λιθουανοί Phrenetix, δίνουν στην κυκλοφορία το πρώτο τους ηχογράφημα, ένα demo/ EP πέντε κομματιών, το οποίο εμπεριέχει πρωτοκλασσάτο thrash, εθιστικά ρυθμικού, άρτια παιγμένου και τρομερά αναζωογονητικού, σαν μπυρίτσα υπό 40 βαθμούς Κελσίου.
Κάργα old school riffοποιΐα με καθαρότατο ήχο, από μια τύπισσα που ακούει στο όνομα Lina που όταν ανοίγει το γαμωστοματάκι της, σου κάνει την καρδιά περιβόλι με τον θυμό και την αγριάδα της, όμορφα με heavy άποψη τα ομιλούντα solo, εξαιρετικός ο Jonas στα drums και συνολικά ένα πακετάκι από μια πολλά υποσχόμενη μπάντα, που δεν ακούγεται στάσιμη, αλλά το εξαιρετικό Xendrix-ικό thrash (επί παραδείγματι), μπολιάζεται συνεχώς από σύγχρονες πιο άμεσες, street punk thrash φόρμες.
Λογικά σκεπτόμενος, θα κουνηθούν αρκετά κεφάλια αν στην πλήρη δουλειά τους δείξουν την ίδια δυναμική. Αρκετά καλό, κοιτάει στα μάτια τους δικούς μας, εγχώριους ημίτρελους.
Phrenetix are a band from Lithuania that plays an old school form of thrash metal and this is a review of their 2013 demo which was released by Symbol Of Domination Productions.
A very heavy 80's style thrash metal sound starts off the demo along wit h some powerful bass lines, fast riffing and melodic yet aggressive vocals and the guitars also utilize a good amount of melody and after awhile guitar solos and leads are added into the music and they also continue the old school thrash metal tradition of the bands musical style.
All of the songs on the demo go back to the 1985 era of thrash metal before the genre became commercialized and there is a great amount of raw aggressive energy being utilized in the music from beginning to end and as the demo progresses clean playing can be heard in certain sections of the recording.
Phrenetix plays more of an underground style of 80's thrash metal that has the perfect balance between heaviness, aggression and melody, the production sounds very old school yet professional all at the same time while the lyrics cover violent themes.
In my opinion Phrenetix are a very great sounding old school thrash metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre you should check out this demo. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "The Art Of Jail" and "Do Or Die". 8 out of 10.
Extreme Underground Music Zine
Phrenetix are a very young four-piece from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, formed in 2011 and consisting of (female) guitarist / vocalist Lina, bassist Daumantas, guitar player Tomas, and drummer Jonas. Shortly after they recorded their untitled demo (or entitled as Demo 2013, if you want to), they were able to sign to Symbol Of Domination Productions, which can be considered a sub-division of Satanath Records (you might find little more information on the review I did for Soliloquium’s The Concept Of Escape-EP; see update December 25th 2014). It’s released in a limitation of 100 copies only, by the way.
Demo 2013 consists of five tracks, which last for four to five minutes each. What these guys, and girl, bring, is an energetic, galloping and little catchy form of Traditional Thrash Metal, yet with quite some up-tempo heaviness. The songs are very classical in approach, yet filled with technically crafted elements. Especially the Bay Area-trend comes to mind. This goes as well for the variation in tempo, the breaks and hooks, and some additions of the Crossover-trend. Metallica (there’s quite some tribute to within the global riffing, and then I am referring to the era before the black album, evidently), Testament, Overkill, Nuclear Assault, D.R.I., Megadeth and Exodus are clear influences, though Phrenetix do not limit themselves to these bands only, by giving an own twist to this stuff. But these comparisons might give you an idea of these Lithuanian musicians. Every track, by the way, has something unique, like the vocals in the mother tongue on Pousera, the wonderful intermezzos from Art Of Jail, elements from the European (and like in Do Or Die, more specific: the Teutonic) scene, or the Maiden / Priest-alike leads in several songs. It’s rather groovy and catchy, but Demo 2013 is a lovely interpretation of the roots of Thrash.
Demo com pinta de álbum oficial, é isso que este único trabalho até então lançado pelo Phrenetix representa. Além da boa produção, a energia que esses lituanos demonstram nesse trabalho empolga e mostra que estão no caminho certo para gravarem um debut.
O estilo proposto é um Thrash Metal direto que flerta com Crossover. O mais interessante é que de primeira a demo causa estranheza, já que conta com uma vocalista, Lina (que também é guitarrista), que não faz questão nenhuma de soar como os marmanjos e berra (bem) como uma garota mesmo. Mas, conforme a bolachinha roda, vai ficando cada vez melhor.
O bom trabalho das guitarras é outro diferencial. Apesar de não fugir muito das características do estilo, os riffs e solos empolgam e são bem desenvolvidos. Algumas quebradas leves também caem como uma luva e trazem ainda mais qualidade para as composições.
Aliás, uma dessas quebradas faz parte da melhor faixa do trabalho, The Art of Jail, seguida por um ótimo solo. Outro destaque é a faixa Do Or Die. Não é à toa que o selo francês Infernö Records assinou com o quarteto que está trabalhando duro em seu primeiro álbum. Muito bom!
O estilo proposto é um Thrash Metal direto que flerta com Crossover. O mais interessante é que de primeira a demo causa estranheza, já que conta com uma vocalista, Lina (que também é guitarrista), que não faz questão nenhuma de soar como os marmanjos e berra (bem) como uma garota mesmo. Mas, conforme a bolachinha roda, vai ficando cada vez melhor.
O bom trabalho das guitarras é outro diferencial. Apesar de não fugir muito das características do estilo, os riffs e solos empolgam e são bem desenvolvidos. Algumas quebradas leves também caem como uma luva e trazem ainda mais qualidade para as composições.
Aliás, uma dessas quebradas faz parte da melhor faixa do trabalho, The Art of Jail, seguida por um ótimo solo. Outro destaque é a faixa Do Or Die. Não é à toa que o selo francês Infernö Records assinou com o quarteto que está trabalhando duro em seu primeiro álbum. Muito bom!
I Phrenetix arrivano da Vilnius in Lituania e si sono formati nel 2011; a due anni dalla loro formazione, rilasciano questo demo da 4 pezzi, intitolato semplicemente “Demo 2013” (un po’ scarsi a fantasia!), arrivatoci solo di recente. La band, capitanata dalla screamer e chitarrista Lina, suona un furioso ed arrabbiato thrash metal, in cui le due chitarre della predetta Lina e di Paulius sono gli strumenti protagonisti, tra riff ed assoli al fulmicotone, con pochissime concessioni alla melodia (nella sola “The art of jail”, c’è qualche attimo di respiro). Il demo è composto da 5 pezzi molto tirati e violenti, per un thrash senza compromessi e, come detto, con poche concessioni alla melodia. Le canzoni si lasciano ascoltare gradevolmente ed infondono energia ed adrenalina, come il genere impone; il rischio, però, di essere etichettati come la “ennesima thrash metal band” è abbastanza elevato, dato che di originalità e personalità ne ho sentita ben poca; un assalto sonoro con il coltello tra i denti per mietere più vittime possibili, ma poco o nulla di più di questo che già abbiamo sentito da tanti altri, soprattutto in questi ultimi anni. I Phrenetix credo abbiano bisogno di individuare una strada più personale, forse sarebbe meglio che Lina diventi più una singer che una screamer, o magari che imposti il proprio stile anche su parti più meditate e melodiche, invece che urlare la propria rabbia dal primo all’ultimo istante. Mi sarebbe piaciuto ascoltare un po’ più di basso (Daumantas ci dà un assaggio della sua perizia in “Unconscious game”, ma nel resto è un po’ troppo in secondo piano) ed il batterista Jonas si limita a svolgere il suo compitino di accompagnamento, mentre mi pare possa avere le qualità per essere protagonista come un drummer di serie A, ispirandosi ai vari Lombardo, Bostaph ed Hoglan, tanto per citare qualche altro batterista thrash da cui prendere esempio. I Phrenetix mi sembra insomma abbiano le qualità per farsi notare, ma devono trovare una strada più personale per il loro thrash, non limitandosi a picchiare duro dal primo all’ultimo istante; li aspettiamo quindi alla prova sul debut album che dovrebbe essere in lavorazione, per ora solo una sufficienza per incoraggiamento.