Review: The Troops of Doom “The Rise of Heresy” [Blood Blast Distribution]

While there’s certainly no shortage of thrash metal bands inspired by Sepultura, hearing The Troops of Doom’s The Rise of Heresy was an unexpected surprise for me. Formed by ex-Sepultura guitarist Jairo Tormentor, this is a group devoted themselves to an archaic style of death metal that you just don’t come across anymore.

While their name might make one think of Sepultura’s thrashing heyday, The Troops of Doom reach out to an even earlier incarnation of the band – as they harken all the way back to the band’s Bestial Devastation era. Does The Rise of Heresy then function as a bland reminder of Jairo Tormentor’s better days, or does it actually manage stand on its own? Fortunately, things come down to the latter, even if it’s not flawless. On one hand it certainly sounds like Jairo Tormentor and company have lots of fun playing this style. Alex Kafer’s barks resemble Max Cavalera’s early demonic roars close enough, whereas Jairo Tormentor and Marcelo Vasco create havoc through a series of thick, yet blistering riffs that you can’t ignore thanks to the loud production. Listening to “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” recalls a strong sense of furious, yet hellish nostalgia that’s fueled by the right amount of blastbeats and riffs that sound like a fair tribute to Bestial Devastation.

On the other hand, The Rise of Heresy does feature some cons that I can’t get around. The production is loud and clear and while it’s rather acceptable, I’d have preferred a rawer production job, but most importantly are the questionable segments that occur on this EP. “The Confessional” reminds me that Jairo Tormentor and company have some work to do, as the track introduces some so-so thrashing riffs and an unexpected Celtic Frost-esque stomp between the superior aggressive passages. Somewhat awkwardly composed, the result isn’t as much of a throat-grabber of a tune as it could have been and let’s face it: Bestial Devastation featured nothing but those kinds of tunes – to reach that level of intensity Jairo Tormentor and company need to step up their game.

You’ll also stumble upon two Sepultura covers here and honesty, I feel rather neutral about them. Generally I don’t care too much about covers to begin with, but needless to say they make a decent replication of these older Sepultura tracks. Nonetheless, I’m sure that The Troops of Doom will only become better at what they’re trying to achieve in the times ahead and I’ll gladly look forward to hearing more of this band. Fans of Sepultura’s thrashing heyday might consider The Rise of Heresy too extreme, but if you’re a fan of the band’s earliest days, as well as comparable Brazilian raw thrash/death metal in general, you should definitely have a good time here.

Release date: October 9th, 2020

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