American Beer, core sharks and Australian Crossover Rad Wolves have come together to release ‘Stolen Thoughts‘, one big Old School Thrash party of blistering speeds and sonic power.
For a more complete understanding of this releases’ context and inspiration, check out our gig review from when Disintegrator and Wehrmacht united last January in Sydney.
Wehrmacht/Disintegrator Show
Disintegrator are one of the forerunning Sydney Crossover-Thrash live acts these days, delivering a blisteringly chaotic sound always aiming to outdo their idols of D.R.I, S.O.D, Poison Idea, and the likes of Municipal Waste. Combining frenetic drumming, crusty-grind influenced bass work and all the riffage and gang-vocals of thrash with a hardcore vocalist that sounds like he’s gonna lunge out and strangle you through the speakers.
In early 2014, the Disintegrator boys hooked up with the ‘Pioneers of Lightning Fast Shark Endorsed Party Thrash’ Wehrmacht from Portland Oregan, (critically praised for their inspired “Shark Attack” and “Biermacht” LPs and well-deserving of props as one of the fastest/drunkest band in the world.) The two bands decided to put 2 live tracks from Wehrmacht’s Australia tour (featuring their new singer Eric Helzer) with 5 of Disintegrator’s new offerings into ‘Stolen Thoughts‘. So, beyond all the hype, how does this collaboration hold up?
Starting with the guests Wehrmacht, they give us ‘Gore Flicks 13’ (Gore Flix from ‘Biermacht‘) and ‘United Shoe Brothers’ from the Shark attack record. Gore Flicks gets things going in the right direction with a breakneck beat and frenetic yet disciplined playing, while ‘USB’ is best noted for its err… Unique audience participation, all I need to say is if you ever wanted to know what happens when you combine young thrashers, a gumboot, copious amounts of alcohol and some brilliant singalong punk-metal, this would be a good reference point. We then transition into Disintegrator’s contribution to the project.
Starting with crunchy ‘Demon Samurai‘, Disintegrator presents their metal-edge front and centre throughout this snarling, minute and a half assault which makes this actually one of Disintegrator’s longer songs. While some could agree that ‘Crossover songs are too damned short’, I find this approach refreshing as it keeps the listener on his toes and never bored while encouraging the band to cram so much more extra riffs and content into each track, with repetition being something that can never be complained about with this approach.
This blitzkrieg style of songwriting serves the band well with most of the other songs based around catchy yell-along ‘choruses’ intended to whip up a passionate frenzy at live shows. The most obvious instances of this would include the rhythmic stamping mosh-groove of ‘Feed ’em to the Mutants’, the chaotic barking that characterises some unpretentious social commentary in ‘Nothing Changes’, and the less deep but absolutely furious punk fun of ‘F**k you Rich Kid‘. The songs flow nicely into each other, with no real conflicting musical or lyrical elements that take you out of the vibe the Disintegrator is building here.
While the mere presence of a respected band like Wehrmacht to a release of this scale is certainly nothing to sneeze at when making a rating, Disintegrator absolutely blows things out of the park here with a performance that makes full use of their talents. If I didn’t know otherwise, I’d assume the entire record was being played live. While sometimes people say a band’s live show is not to be missed, I’d say (even more so than their previous demo-tape ‘No Life Till Crossover‘) this particular release is a near essential listen for Thrash/Old School Hardcore/Extreme Metal faithful. Stolen Thoughts succeeds in capturing the intense energy of these two bands so that listeners who may or may not have seen these bands, can easily envision the power behind their physical performance. Furthermore, while certainly being on the more abrasive side of metal, I feel as if there is always an inherent, underlying melody that holds the sound together while still not sacrificing the exciting, exuberant frenzy of this sort of music conjures up. You definitely ought to check this one out, it’s a Bloody Ripper.
Release Year: 2014
Label: self-released
Category: Split
Country: Australia / USA
Reviewed by Jay
