Austrian Thrash is Alive and Well…
Until recently, I had no idea who these guys were. Thanks to my ongoing investigation duties deep into Austria’s metal abyss, I’ve now been offered this thrash buffet to ingest thoroughly. It’s the second occurrence in recent memory where I’ve been hit by quite the thrashy sledgehammer, straight to the skull. Though this time it might just be a less old-school affair compared to said first severe beatings by fellow Austrian thrashers (in the name of Mortal Strike).
Both production and stylistic ingredients tend to be a fair bit more modern – thick and slick, if you will. The openly stated groove metal influence is not to be overheard, but Silius manages to make it work within a clear-cut thrash corset and without much of the delirious dreck that made so many of the confused ’90s genre bands sound so damn irritating (and dated by today’s standards).
Alright, maybe this did not need to be over 50 minutes long, as 13 (+1) tracks could be a bit much for the style presented. Indeed, the riffage does sometimes blend into itself as per usual for a groovy endeavor such as this, but on Beneath the Flesh, that’s actually more or less the only notable flaw in its presentation.
The positives, though, are plentiful: there’s a persistent knack for intense and memorable choruses, bludgeoning riffs are nicely accented by a kick-ass drum performance, and the vocals shred the singer’s cords over these instrumentals like saffron over tasty chicken – fit like a glove. Even the rather sparsely placed lead guitar sections and solos know exactly when to step into the spotlight and when to make me smash that office chair right through the adjacent window. Sufficient breakdowns too, so you’d better be prepared to get that neck in the appropriate position because there’s barely a moment to get some rest on those muscles; except for a surprisingly lightweight closing cover of Black Sabbath‘s “Solitude” where I’m still on the fence about whether this should have made the cut. It’s a competent rendition, but it feels quite severely out of place if you compare it to the pummeling majority of arse-whipping material before it. Perhaps it could be a grower.
Clearly, if you don’t despise anything modern in thrash and enjoy some death metal tropes from the groovier side of the genre deep in the mix, there is literally no reason at all to dislike this. Beneath the Flesh is the definition of what’s fun in a genre that so many of us love, without leaning into any ridiculous party-pizza-thrash antics on one end and the smart songwriting preventing repetitive, worn-out retro-thrash-formulas on the other.
Silius is not trying to rekindle the thrash flame of old, they’d rather light a fresh torch, and I want to applaud them for it. Now pick a few songs off this one to get a grip (definitely include “Innsmouth” for its most memorable chorus!) and don’t forget to stretch!
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