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DESOLUS
System Shock

Hells Headbangers (2024)
Rating: 7.5/10

Washington D.C.-based thrashers Desolus finally breaks out its debut full-length album, five years after forming. The trio of Jimmy Frost (guitar and vocals), Vivek Rangarajan (bass and vocals) and Travis Stone (drums) come donned in the 80s serious thrash look and the music matches.

Forget cartoon tomfoolery, Desolus crank out a nasty racket spiked with a volatile cocktail of Teutonic spunk and Slayer-esque fizz. The band rip through the title track and ‘From Man To Machine’ in rapid succession, and yet in spite of the belligerence there is a cleverness within the layers of this beast.

Desolus are more than happy to scorch your flesh with sniping thrash, but there are measured segments too as showcased on the opening strains of ‘Sea Of Fire’ and ‘The Invasion Begins’. Of course, with this sort of thrash the violent assaults lurk around the corner with every twist, like on ‘The Sigilite’ where the band channels vintage Kreator with its scathing speed and yapping vocals. Meanwhile, ‘Curse Of The Technomancer’ begins steady enough but soon blasts the ears with such a malevolence due to the axe work of Jimmy Frost.

Right down to the spiked leather wristbands the old school influence here is obvious, but Desolus aren’t here to beat around the bush with fancy dynamics. Instead, they set fire to it in turn torching the whole neighbourhood.

Neil Arnold

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