RSS Feed


LOST SOCIETY
Fast Loud Death

Nuclear Blast (2013)
Rating: 6.5/10

The thrash revival continues. Lost Society are a Finnish outfit who’ve clearly been feeding on the scraps of the Suicidal Tendencies, Anthrax and Exodus vinyl they found in the local skip. Complete with Ed Repka cover art, moshing chants, chugging guitars et al, this is very much 80s styled thrash adorned in Hi-Tec Slammers (huge white trainers us thrashers wore back in the day!), cut off denim jacket and tight jeans.

Yep, it’s another of those debut releases that does nothing to separate itself from the clones, but while wearing all manner of influences on its sleeve, it’s more than happy to ignore the comparisons and rock pretty hard.

However, as I often state in these kind of reviews, if you’ve never heard any of the cool thrash bands of the 80s then this sort of thing may appeal, but if you’re old enough to remember or at least appreciate the hordes of bands who came screaming from that era, then Lost Society may be the sort of band you’ll get fed up with pretty quick.

Fast Loud Death opens with the crunching blasts of ‘N.W.L.’. Vocalist Samy Elbanna – who also plays guitar – is every bit your average thrash singer, his initial words reminding me of Suicidal Tendencies frontman Mike Muir, but once we’re at full throttle his vocal becomes more of a chesty rasp, as the band head into a hyper thrash war dance. Ossi Paananen’s drums are at their most potent when the band slows the pace to an Anthrax-style chug, as Mirko Lehtinen’s bass jolts the ears.

There’s nothing refreshing about this style of archetype thrash, but at times, in its naivety, Lost Society are more than accomplished and less annoying than so many others who’ve decided to spend their entire life aping what’s already been and gone.

With track titles such as ‘Bitch, Out My Way’, ‘Diary Of A Thrashman’ and ‘Piss Out My Ass’ you can tell that Lost Society do not take themselves too seriously, although one of the major downfalls of some of the 80s thrash bands was the rather cringeworthy humour. Even so, these Finnish thrashers do well at combining melody with pure thrash, and some of the soloing on here must be commended.

One of my favourite tracks is the aforementioned ‘Bitch, Out My Way’, due to its fiery guitar work as the band effortlessly shift gears into a D.R.I. / Suicidal Tendencies styled groove before heading back to aggressive thrash. Elsewhere, ‘Kill (Those Who Oppose Me)’ is a full-on head-clanger of a track featuring more solid guitar work courtesy of Arttu Lesonen, while ‘Thrash All Over You’ is half-decent retro-thrash featuring rather formulaic structures.

Whether Lost Society can stand out from the crowd remains to be seen, as there’s a handful of numbers here that will pass for decent thrash tracks, but on the whole – especially when compared to the bands it takes influence from – Fast Loud Death is far from being a debut album that will make this combo a major force within the metal genre.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share