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MINDWARS
Do Unto Others

Dissonance Productions (2018)
Rating: 8/10

Having formed in 2013, Los Angeles-based Mindwars is a band extremely notable within the thrash metal genre for its connections – via guitarist Mike Alvord – to brilliant 80s thrashers Holy Terror, and Do Unto Others is the third full-length record from the group, coming two years after the decent Sworn To Secrecy sophomore.

Mindwars is very much an 80s styled thrash band; their sound flecked with punky hardcore details which marry up well with traditional metal rumblings.

As with previous outings we get a nifty, youthful aggression featuring sneering vocal attributes, which at times pay homage to late Holy Terror frontman Keith Deen as each track speedily worms its way built upon Alvord’s cutting guitar chords. There are 11 tracks, not overly heavy but very much retro in design as lyrics abound with tales of planetary unrest, conspiracy theory and political angst; perfect subjects for music of this aggression and structure as the guitars fizz throughout.

The album zips by at quite a rate with varying nods to the class of Holy Terror, particularly with ‘Allegiance To Death’. Meanwhile, ‘Blacklisted’ provides a dirtier, riff-heavy foundation. This is all built around Alvord’s excellent guitar sound, a refreshing yet always vicious assault to the ears but one which remains technical and precise. The same can also be said for Danny “Z” Pizzi’s bass which trickles and tremors in gloriously retro fashion throughout, particularly with the hyper approach of ‘In God’s Name’, a track where the solos literally puncture the skin with their ferocity.

Opener ‘The Fourth Turning’, the excellent ‘Conspiracy’ and ‘New World Order’ are typical examples of that sneering hostility Holy Terror provided. There’s such vim to this trio of tracks in their construction as the rabid rhythms surge in unison, and they are a vast improvement on some of the tracks which littered previous records as rather unimaginative and regurgitated. In fact, with Do Unto Others you get the feeling that the band has evolved and finally found its ideal sound, and one so compact in spite of its throwback speed metal crossover energy.

But what really drives this opus on is the layer of seething darkness that quite literally coats a majority of the tracks. After all, where else will you find mention of the assassination of Pope John Paul or China’s military strategist Sun Tzu? And where else will you find songs inspired by Neil Strauss?

Without being confusingly technical, Mindwars devilishly sneer, snipe and snake their way through the Teutonic charge of ‘Conspiracy’, with its Egyptian-styled solo, and, another favourite of mine, the punky ‘Wall Of Fire’ with scientology being its subject matter.

I’m sure you can fathom that Do Unto Others is a record jam-packed, not just with controversial topics but enough musical complexity and speed to fry the brain.

Neil Arnold

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