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FEEL THE KNIFE
So Raw…So Nasty…So Hideous

Shocker (2024)
Rating: 7.5/10

Buenos Aires, Argentina-based thrashers Feel The Knife just might be responsible for my favourite album so far this year. I assume the band’s moniker is influenced by the Exciter song of the same name as they plough their way through 36 minutes of raging metal.

After a short intro (‘Convicted’) the band blazes into ‘Death Warrant’ where the riffs fizz like some devilish old school underground speed metal. The way the bass clanks is astonishing amidst the flurry of cutting axe work as the combo rips in raw fashion before the gravelly vocals enter.

This is some really grisly and grizzly stuff, with vocalist Facundo Solano sounding like he’s been swallowing fire previously to recording. Musically, the band also veers into traditional but dark, brooding heavy metal, although one cannot overlook the obscure nature of the dynamics present. In fact, such is the depth and rawness here, one could easily imagine this sort of effort being pushed out in the mid-80s.

There are songs here which sound so damn evil; the chugging menace of ‘The Hitchhiker’, the rhythmic pulse of ‘Men Against Fire’ before its eventual haste, and the measured intensity of ‘Born To Kill’. Now, call me crazy if you want but at times with those trudging escapades I hear Celtic Frost, but more so current Darkthrone. The guitar tone on ‘Bloodlust’ is pure 80s nostalgia; an evil gallop that rushes into a punky thrash with screeched vocal variation.

For the most part, So Raw…So Nasty…So Hideous is rugged thrash, a gem of a debut album that I strongly recommend to anyone, even if for some the vocals may be an acquired taste.

Neil Arnold

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