lista zespołów Thrash Death Empatic Gods of Thousand Souls (CD)

Coming from Poland, Empatic formed in 2005 and released two demos prior to the release of their full-length debut Gods of Thousand Souls on Polish label Wydawnictswo Muzyczne Psycho. Touring rather extensively, the band developed a strong local fanbase all devoted to their music.

This debut released late last year features 11 tracks of Death Thrash or is it Thrash Death? Hard to say really, the musical base is often based on Thrash Metal while the harsh vocals are more Death Metal but sometimes it seems it is quite the contrary. Much like Sepultura's Beneath The Remains, the boundaries remain blurred though the Thrash feeling is indeed the most prominent one in the riffing though there are some really heavy breaks a la Death Metal here and there. At times it feels like Bay Area Thrash Metal, at times it’s got more a Goteborg Melodeath feel.

Production is crystal clear and a bit too modern to my tastes. I could have enjoyed some “rawer“ stuff but it’s probably the recent trend around Blackened Thrash Metal acts that is misleading me. Most of the tracks seem to be built to be delivered live on stage, building up, accelerating, releasing, they all have a very agreeable format which is the perfect vector for headbanging. Still I find that their use of melodies dull the overall performance giving it some feeling a la Testament (everyone’s entitled to their bad tastes, haha). The Thrash Metal that is well executed but that kind of lacks the speed and brutality we came to love from bands like Kreator or Slayer but that you could enjoy if you're more into stuff like Laaz Rockit or Forbidden.

There is in the end a cover of OMD’s Enola Gay that lost its way on me though I can definitely sense the live performance and its appeal to the public.

All in all, it’s a mixed bag feeling that developed over the listens of Gods of Thousand Souls. Though the music is perfectly capable and well produced, I find it not as percussive as other titles released by Psycho though I’m perfectly aware that they can and will find their public with this record. It's just that I'm not as ecstatic as I was when listening to Neolith, Pandemic Genocide or Ethelyn. Oh well nothing to kill or be killed for.