Despite I have been into Thrash Metal for a long while when it was vibrating and alive and not a resurrected corpse (I want to stretch this becouse I am really sorry but today there is so much hype about Thrash in Italy that I really cannot stand it much anymore) I admit I never heard of Formicide before. Thanks to Andrew of Aversionline for rediscovering the band for us ignorant worms. I read that the tracks have been ripped straight from the tapes, if that’s the case I am sorely impressed, all the instruments have a punch that I can barely find in professional recordings. I do not mean it is elegantly encased in a super production, I mean it has the real Metal crunch of the ’80s – hell I can even hear the bass lines clearly, I really wonder why some people had a problem with the production of this collection of demos.

Talking abot the music, Formicide is playing pure American Thrash/Power Metal (Power Metal as in Metallica or Jag Panzer, not Blind Guardian – dick) and later evolved into the mildly interesting HC band Only Living Witness (I have seen the band with Cro Mags years ago and they were hopelessly annihilated). The number of power riffs on this album is uncountable, there is really a load of pure Thrash energy loading these tracks. And the vocals too are not just a moan, but aggressive and raucous without sounding indistinct. That said, I realize now that I am really not much more into this kind of music. I like the single songs, but I cannot really listen to the whole thing in a row, two subsequent spins have really exhausted my reserves of energy. I cannot really tell why becouse this thing is technically perfect, with a perfect share of solos and a spectacular drumwork. Must be I am more into really primitive Metal from exotic countries these days, and after hearing Mortuorio a few hours ago my ears were calibrated on a different frequency. Whatever. I am sure this thing is going to please anyone looking for neat Thrash with all the right proportion of screams and palm muted riffs. In my case I am not sure I will be putting this on again soon…