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VIO-LENCE
Let The World Burn EP

Metal Blade (2022)
Rating: 8.5/10

At the tail end of the glorious 1980s, San Francisco thrashers Vio-Lence released one of the greatest thrash albums of all time. Issued in June 1988, Eternal Nightmare was a scorching debut record that in my opinion has never been bettered, with the riotous fizzing guitars, the crushing percussion, the belligerent bass, and of course Sean Killian’s unmistakable snarling vocal shouts.

But such was the impact of Eternal Nightmare that within five years the band had folded, never coming close to their hostile introduction. So yes, I was concerned when I heard that the band were gearing up for a reunion decades later.

I’d heard snippets, and was pleasantly surprised by the cover of The Dead Kennedys’ ‘California Über Alles’ two years ago. However, I wondered if Vio-lence Mark II could deliver the same neck-snapping devastation? I saw the cover for this new five-song EP and was unphased by art and logo, but thankfully the sound reignited those feelings of ’88.

Opener ‘Flesh From Bone’ streaks across the sky like a burning comet, the collision of Phil Demmel and Bobby Gustafson’s (ex-Overkill) guitars causing thrash friction in conjunction with Christian Olde Wolbers’ volatile bass. I love the intensity and the youthful blitzkrieg of angst, passion and fury from a band keen to show the kids that today’s thrash isn’t just about generic Ed Repka cover art and beer-soaked party thrash.

‘Flesh From Bone’ is one big announcement bolstered by the frenetic percussion of Perry Strickland and the inimitable, untamed streetwise calls of Sean Killian, and sets us up nicely for the ensuing barrage of rubble that is about to come through the roof.

‘Screaming Always’ is unmistakably Vio-Lence and rattles like a severed head in a bucket, with seething pace, nasty licks and savage drumming. It’s thrash as we’ve always known it, but it’s Vio-Lence doing it.

With barbaric tirades and scathing waves of wire and thorns, ‘Upon Their Cross’ features jarring guitar, bass and drum before that familiar Bay Area chug ensues; crunchy, wholesome yet abrasive. It’s the slowest, yet heaviest track on offer, and a bruising, sneering mini-masterpiece of meshing malevolence.

‘Gate Negro’ is the opposite. It begins with a punky bass clank before throwing itself at the well in a frenzy, as the combo go for the throat with every instrument a weapon. There’s even an Anthrax-styled chug to contend with, but delivered with extra animosity and sharpness. And that’s why the Vio-Lence sound is such a hammer to the skull.

The title track, ‘Let The World Burn’, is grimly apt for such troubling times and it rounds this EP of with such venom, containing all those classic ingredients.

Remember kids, this isn’t a gang of young upstarts venting anger, but a clan of guys that have lived and breathed the thrash life since the 80s. So, get on board, then get thrown back off into the boiling waves by a return of a band that made it their job to teach lessons in violence. As subtle as swallowing barbed wire, the return of Vio-Lence is going to lay waste to the scene.

Neil Arnold

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