Those of us old enough will remember that during the late 80s many thrash acts decided to change their style into more technical or progressive realms and for quite a lot of them it was a death knell, a nail in their coffin to be buried and lost to time. However, some thrash acts that formed in the second or even third wave of the genre in the late 80s and early 90s carried the flame against the burgeoning grunge scene that dominated in that period as hordes of metal fans deserted thrash, death, hardcore or whatever scene you care to mention as traitorous trend-mongers craving more popular and dare I say it accessible music. I’ll admit I liked the scene myself but never shoved what I had been weaned on in the gutter, instead it was just another music genre to listen to. In the late 80s some of you, me included, picked up this Swedish band’s debut album ‘Then Came The Killing’ in 1990 and was suitably impressed as that blazing torch for thrash purity was well and truly lit carrying forth a straight blistering thrash approach that for some reason became frowned upon. Unfortunately like a lot of bands in this time they fizzled out through whatever reasons and only released one demo subsequently in 1991 so when this second album appeared on the review list I was definitely keen to hear it at least but very pleased to review it. Original members of the band vocalist Uffe Pettersson and bassist Conny Welén decided to reanimate the back in 2021 and draft in new recruits on the remaining instruments and the result is this excellent sophomore arriving some 33 years, almost to the day, after the debut.
Quite how Mezzrow would sound three decades after their debut was something I had on my mind and whilst the debut’s raw primitive savagery was tinged with a level of technical adroitness I was hoping this would continue on ‘Summon Thy Demons’, which it absolutely does with no provisos. ‘King Of The Infinite Void’ is the opener as a demonic toning kicks it off before the straight thrash riff slashes at the listener brandishing a sense of groove and melody modern thrash requires. The polished clinical sound is excellent too and instead of having a sterile mechanistic aura the engineering team have done a fine job of making this album dense, immersive and focused on each instrument where required. ‘Through The Eyes Of The Ancient Gods’ follows and like the debut the band opts fort neck snapping speed as the gnarly vocal tone has a clarity many modern thrash acts don’t have. Proper thrash vocals you might say, as the band’s technical flair arrives via the structuring but most importantly the lead breaks which scorch the listener.
The riff that starts the title track is modernity personified in thrash terms as the song shifts into groove territory but maintaining a caustic guitar sound that razors into you as fans of Evile will click with this tune. When the band turns their hand to more technical purposes you get songs like ‘What Is Dead May Never Die’ (is that a line from Game Of Thrones, not sure but sounds like it) as the tune has a very catchy chorus break to sing along to if you so choose as fans of Testament will appreciate this number. ‘De Mysteriis Inmortui’ returns to straight up neck tendon damage, its speed inherently linked to the riffing style as again their sense of catchiness is hugely apparent before a change in mood manifests with ‘Beneath The Sea Of Silence’ with atmospherics and fade-in to enhance the impact of the subsequent surge in speed. Plenty will reference proper era Metallica here, you know what I mean by that I’m sure, as the songs Bay Area like riffing violence is peppered with subtleties but entrenched in a dense blanketing shroud.
Listening to this album I felt it gets better as it goes on especially in the second half as ‘Beneath The Sea Of Silence’ shows but is easily followed up with ‘On Earth As In Hell’ as background effects kick it off before the punishing riff and equally punishing drum work unveils. My Bay Area tag remains, but this time Death Angel comes to mind as does Testament again as the song rarely lets up. No proper thrash album is complete without a tune beginning with acoustic guitar and ‘Blackness Fell Upon The World’ is such a song, its melancholy opening with backing effects allows the tune to smoothly smash into its very melodic riff as incandescent lead work erupts. When the tune switches to a bass riff and vocals it is definitely different to what preceded it as that groove focus is patently obvious here.
The album concludes with ‘The End Of Everything’ which I hope isn’t some sort of signal that this is the only release the band will make after reforming as that would be a shame as the closer returns to blistering violence with a slight air of chaos on the structuring but always easily absorbed. It is possibly the fastest track on the album, saturated in catchiness as once again the band uses addictive choruses to ingrain and embed the song in your head like the rest of this album does.
I am very pleased to see Mezzrow return to the global thrash stage and hopefully we will get some live dates to capture their unerring vitriol as I really would like a t-shirt with the cover art, done by the exceptionally talented Pär Olofsson who also did the cover for Exodus’ last album ‘Persona Non Grata’
A cracking thrash album, inundated with ferocity but balanced by intrinsic melody making this a standout in thrash circles for 2023 for sure.
(8.5/10 Martin Harris)
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