Any follower of recent metal trends will have noticed a huge rehashing of the early-1980s thrash, as made famous by Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, Exodus, and others. L.A.'s Warbringer are, well, not only bringing the, um, war-- and as their debut verifies, bringin' it without end (!)-- but also building an impressive underground buzz as one of the premier new school thrash bands. They allegedly range in age from 17 to 22 years, and march in stride with other young metal militia such as Municipal Waste, Fueled by Fire, Toxic Holocaust, and Meltdown. Warbringer's debut isn't only fun and nostalgic, however, but a hugely impressive, geeked-out style-study of the albums that have become the thrash blueprints.
These kids have either listened to the same six-to-eight albums so incessantly that they've internalized every Kill 'Em All/Reign in Blood riff, or these dudes literally sit down and have a caucus deciding which passages sound like they were appropriately crafted between 1983 and 1987. Essentially, Warbringer sound like modern-day E-string chuggaholic purists, and they've made a record that sounds exactly like slightly altered phrases from the early classics. Unlike new school thrash-y bands such as Shadows Fall they don't dabble in metalcore, death-metal, or anything except old-school speed. Assisting these insanely specific and spot-on recreations is the production work of Bill Metoyer, the noted knob-tweeker behind early albums from Slayer, D.R.I., and Dark Angel.
On the anthemic album opener (and likely live mainstay) "Total War", vintage Slayer and Exodus chunklets lock horns while blown out Dave Mustaine–like solos get WWF smackdowns via Kerry King-esque dissonant tremolo bar dive bombs. Extra party-dude testosterone comes courtesy of gang-chorus backup vocals à la Anthrax. Elsewhere, "Systematic Genocide" begins with an intro a smidge too similar to key moments from Metallica tracks "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Trapped Under Ice", and "Creeping Death", but it's then tickled with a little of Anthrax's "Caught in a Mosh".
Vocals and lyrics are also time machine-authentic, lyrically oscillating between quasi anti-war teenage deep thoughts and generic war slogans ("kill with no remorse," "shoot to kill," "time to die," etc.) and vocal barks reminiscent of a youthful Tom Araya (Slayer) or Paul Baloff (Exodus). In a recent thrash-revival feature in Decibel mag Warbringer frontman John Kevill declared that they don't write about politics and even purposefully use incorrect grammar to make things sound more "deranged." That's fairly appropriate from a sound steeped in mushroom clouds and inverted-crosses-- not always as a political or anti-religous statement, but a fashion accouterment. As we slide into-- or, as some would say are already deeply in-- a recession, it's interesting to note that the blue-collar ethos of thrash metal (originally birthed in the cold war of Reagan's frightening version of GWB's fear politics) is back, loud and proud, and almost totally pretension free. (Goodbye metalcore white-belt whine-scream?) It's a welcome retreat, even if it comes at the price of some envelope-pushing.
