RSS Feed


TOXIC CARNAGE
Praying For Demise

Self-released (2024)
Rating: 7/10

As the band name may suggest, this is a thrash affair created by a Brazilian trio that knows how to blast the listener with crisp riffs, devilish drums and hostile bass. These guys from São Paulo aren’t out there to try to reinvent the wheel, Toxic Carnage just wants to thrash hard and deliver spiteful vocal snaps. Like a lot of recent thrash albums, parts of the composition nod towards the halcyon days (Slayer, Exodus et al) alongside the more recent outings of Destruction and Sodom.

The band, consisting of Robson Dionisio (vocal and bass), Roberlei Christiano (guitar) and Bruno Campos (drums), has been in existence since 2008 when the thrash revival was in full bloom. Since then Toxic Carnage has issued four EPs, several split projects and in 2019 a debut full-length album entitled Doomed From The Beginning.

With Praying For Demise the guys continue their energetic outbursts with the crunchy ‘Thrashing Over Thirty’ that channels Slayer with those frothing vocals and serrated riffs. The only real variations throughout this 11 track album are the tempo shifts. ‘The Unholy Book’ and ‘Pyramid Of Death’ are good examples of the measured chugging, but most tracks soon transform into speed monsters where ‘Obedience’, ‘Nuclear Addiction’ and ‘Echoes Of The Future’ bristle with that latter era Slayer violence.

Behind such hostility is a storyline concerning wealthy businessmen, who, sick of living on earth alongside the sick and the poor have created their own floating fortress in the sky. To the common man the fortress is a creation of a god whom they pray to, not realising of course that it’s a malevolent structure. A decent idea then expressed through volatile thrash methods where the listener feels the rage, not only of the deceived humans in the story but also in the lashing of drums, the torrent of riffs and the seething vocalisations. Praying For Demise is a good thrash album and a very good return to the fold for the Brazilian band.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share