Violator - Annihilation Process

If you can't tell by the cover art already, Violator play a retro-80's trash metal, and they play it damn well. Picked up on them after reading this excellent review over at aversionline. Annihilation Process was released in 2010 on Kill Again Records. Expect fast guitars and bass and drumming that is equal to the task. Vocals have a more hardcore sound to them (not the burly kind, but rather the higher end type) a little different than I would have expected, but not by that much. It's also worth pointing out that the vocals don't come across as overdone or standing in the way of the general awesomeness of the music. The band is from Brazil, and because of this reason, probably don't get the same kind of a play that similar bands such as Municipal Waste have garnered. They nail the speed of the genre and more importantly, the precision. The music is tightly played and well produced on this album. The occasional guitar solo is welcomed and usually done in the short "one-off" sort of way as opposed to anything overly self-absorbed. The band has developed a mastery of tempo shifts, though they aren't chucking them all over the place or anything like that. I think it's the execution of the the style that may very well set them above others who do this type of music well, definitely digging it in any case.


Violator - "Poisoned by Ignorance"

Had a pretty hard time picking a single song to use here since they're isn't really a bad one in the whole bunch, so I finally gave up and went with the first track, "Poisoned by Ignorance". The song starts with a short intro of metallic sounds, not quite as menacing as I think they wanted, but whatever, it's short and once the guitars kick in it's auditory excellence (well if you love thrash anyways). The guitar and bass shred through the initial part of the song, all instrumental through the first minute. Drumming is tight with a general focus on running that beat out there and not throwing in too many fills or excess cymbal play. Perfectly content with hitting the accents. The song hits a driving groove at about the 2:20 mark, but none of the departures from the central theme last all that long. I think because of the unselfish play (really by all of the musicians) you have a fine song that with the exception of a short lived guitar solo near the end, stands on its songwriting alone and stands very well.

The band's myspace page has more songs you can check out for free and record label, Kill Again Records, is selling this CD through their site, but it seems that you can only get it if you live in Brazil through them. In the U.S., Hell's Headbangers has it thankfully through their site.