Terror Squad - Chaosdragon Rising

[Liu]

Terror Squad - Chaosdragon Rising
World Chaos Productions

Despite what many lost souls out there would have you believe, thrash in its purest, rawest form is becoming quite a rarity these days. Far too many of the bands waving the thrash banner have been diluted by metalcore and gothenberg death these days and their output is questionable to say the least (I utterly refuse to recognize Lamb Of God as a thrash band). That being said, there's still one place you can count on to deliver on the meaty thrashing goods: Japan. You got King's-Evil and then you have Manipulated Slaves, both no doubt fine specimens of the mad jap thrash breed. But then there's Terror Squad.

Take your copies of Pleasure To Kill and Killing Technology (if you don't know who released these albums, you fail at thrash 101) and pop them in a blender. Throw in some saki and an Akira DVD. Press a button. After it has blended into a crunchy (and probably stinky) mess, pour the mix into your cd player and enjoy. You now have Chaosdragon Rising.

Scant guitar chords start out the album and it isn't long before the patented Terror Squad madness begins. The songs are generally blindly fast, with an onslaught of guitar riffs ripping at your intestines and the vocals are spewed incoherently with zero intent on proper pronounciation. Its everything that is great about thrash and more. Who cares about melody when there's some heads to be torn off their respective necks?

Chaosdragon Rising does see the band taking their music into differing avenues. Every so often they'll throw in a jam here and there to keep it fresh. These constant change-ups are possible thanks to Keiji Ohzeki's incredible guitarwork. He is more than capable of maintaining the frantic pace while shifting the direction to twisting grooves. But it isn't long before they return to the breakneck speeds. Then there's Kouichi Udagawa, who shouts at the top of his lungs with reckless abandon. The guy knows he can't really sing worth a fuck but he puts more heart, soul, and pure raging fire in his performance than all those guys who went the classically trained route and go through a strict health regimen to not strain those vocal chords. Get on stage and just sing you fuck!

The band throws a wrench into the mix near the end. After a near endless wild thrash assault, the band goes into the somber instrumental Soma. Not in any way an obstruction to the chaos that preceeded it, it shows the band broadening themselves in the same way Voivod used to do all the time. Its musical brilliance indeed and its placement on Chaosdragon Rising is very appreciated.

Comon, you gotta love a band that titles one of their songs "Hellbound Deathboogie".


01. Chaosdragon Rising
02. Helldozer
03. Sonicriot
04. Tokyo Metal Anarchy
05. Metal Psycho Machine
06. Fight Forever
07. We Bite (Requiem For Restless Souls)
08. Gimme Fire
09. Hellbound Deathboogie
10. Soma
11. Yami Yori Fukaku

Score: 8/10