Originally released back in 1987 but reissued in 2016, we have the debut album from Brazillian thrash act Mutilator for the first time ever in a CD format. You may not be all that familiar with these guys as they broke up shortly in 1990, never to reunite again. In that time, this record was released to a solid 80% (five reviews) on Metal Archives, followed by the band's sophomore and final album Into The Strange, which released a year later to a 73% (four reviews) on the same site. If you happened to catch Metallica last night, then you'll soon come to realize that the thrash here is much different than what Lady Gaga performed on stage. Here we have a rather warm and hard-hitting thrash, that actually sounds like thrash metal. Rapid-fire riffing combines with a ferocious amount of drum punch and shouting vocals on the front-end to introduce a band that absolutely defines the very genre compared to what the aforementioned put out last year. Not to mention the fact that we have blazing guitar solos, which are an absolute staple of thrash.
Not surprisingly, Mutilator also seem to have a similarity to Brazillian thrashers gone technical groove/thrashers Sepultura, but during their most respected days. Records like Arise and Beneath The Remains come into mind, as well as efforts like INRI and Rotting from Sarcofago. So if you love Brazillian thrash in it's most classic element, you'll love this to. Rodrigo Neves simply pounds the living hell out of the drumkit sometimes, so it's admittedly a little difficult to hear some of (now deceased) guitarist Alexander Magu's leads as well as Kleber's melodies, despite the fact that his vocals are incredibly defined and voracious inside the mix. These guys played thrash the old-fashioned way, long before the Black album and long before Slayer thought they would try to go a bit mainstream and then jump back into their old stomping grounds. This also predates John Bush's arrival into Anthrax, which produced the (still memorable) White Noise album and certainly it comes before Sepultura's Roots (which they're doing an entire tour for). Though the album will undoubtedly knock listeners on their ass, much can't be said for varitey and song structure. Much of the record feels like one big thrash song, which is the same way I felt about Slayer classic, Reign In Blood. If you're looking for more varied thrash, look elsewhere. But if you're looking for hard-hitting thrash that never lets up and doesn't go into ballads or acoustic bits of atmosphere, then you'll find just what the doctor ordered here.
Unfortunately, not even one song stands out above the others, but I'd be a fool to tell you that it wasn't performed with enough bravado and raw power to leave a mark. Maybe Metallica or MetalliGaga should sit down and listen to this one, so they can kind of get a taste of what the genre they made waves in back in the eighties, is supposed to sound like. Without question, Immortal Force comes in as a reminder of what thrash metal music is supposed to be. It's debatable as to whether or not the new sound of thrash is an evolution of devolution, but for you old-school thrash heads that remember what this thing was like on vinyl, now you get another excuse to pick it up and relive the raw energy available on this disc. By the way, it comes with two bonus tracks, “Evil Conspiracy” and “Visions Of Darkness” which are both shorter than any of the tracks here, but are worth checking out in their own right. Obviously these are a bit lower in quality and were taken from a demo recording. Even so, it's great to have them as part of the package now.
(11 Tracks, 42:00)
7/10
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