This is album number four from Chilean death metal crew Thornafire, but the very first time I have had the opportunity to check them out. South American death metal usually gets the blood pumping through a bludgeoning non-stop ferocity, and these guys are certainly fiery, albeit with a technical edge (and even a classically inspired intro, outro and intermezzo).
The intro has a spooky keyboard led melody which wouldn’t sound out of place on any symphonic black metal album you’d care to mention – and to be honest, although decent, it doesn’t really give a good example of what this band are all about. Once it’s out of the way, the real Thornafire come to the fore with ‘La Sierpe’, replete with blastbeats aplenty and rabid guitars all clambering over the bellowed roaring to reach the finish line first. I can certainly hear the Morbid Angel influence in their sound, but also the strains of later-period Death with their melodic edge (especially notable in the eerie chorus of ‘La Escencia Invisible) and love of technicality in their guitar progression (as noted in their manic instrumental piece, ‘Corvus Corax’).
The song titles and lyrics are all in Spanish, adding that extra Latin spice to the proceedings, and the riffage churns angrily as often as it does flail with expressive technicality, giving a good dosage of each side of the bands split personality. The twangy bass intro to ‘Scorching Iron Thorns’ gives way to a fully melodic song which, whilst blasts away on the drums sounds more akin to something from Gothenburg riff-wise than the Deicide on steroids that some of their material apes. The album ends with another eerie piece, which is similar to the intro and intermezzo – again impacting on the albums otherwise charging flow.
All in all, this is a solid death metal release. I don’t think the intro, intermezzo and outro pieces are really needed (in fact, they stick out like a sore thumb). But, death metal history is notable for this kind of thing (Acheron jumps to mind as a one of the best examples of a band with needless noodlings in between tracks, disturbing an albums continuity). It doesn’t sour the taste of the release as a whole though, as there’s enough melody and battering riffage in equal measures to keep most death heads happy. Well worth a gander!
(7/10 Lars Christiansen)
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