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Overthrust Suicide Torment review


"You son of a bitch / You killed our brother."

 These bitter lyrics convey the tragedy of Suicide Torment, late drummer of Ghanzi, Botswana's Overthrust. Born Gakeitse Bothalentwa, the known as Suicide Torment was killed in December 2018, by a reckless driver. His stage name memorialized in the title track of Overthrust's new EP. His surviving bandmates honor this Death Metal Cowboy's life with a relentless new record, one of the finest releases of 2019.

 
(In case you missed it, I conducted an email interview Overthrust vocalist and founder Vulture Thrust  last November. He fondly recalled Suicide Torment as a jokester with a voracious appetite for beer.)

 Suicide Torment is a justly pummeling record, especially in the drumming department. The family legacy of Suicide Torment lives on as well. Suicide's uncle is the original Overthrust drummer, Beast Thrust, who returns to the band to deliver an armada of blast beats. If there is an afterlife, his nephew is certainly throwing the devil horns (and probably drinking beer) in approval.

So many styles of death metal have clawed to the surface these last few years. Overthrust's sound, along with their outrageous leather cowboy fashion, stands out for having its own special regional flavor. One hand, it's definitely brutal, and gutteral, but they mix up their arrangements. The guitar riffs are simple, but they sound unlike any other band out there, a tough feat to achieve these days. And their arrangements mix up the sections to avoid sounding like a nonstop string of blast beats and cookie monster. These guys can play their instruments, and do it with the primitive fury of Sodom and Possessed.

 Vulture Thrust commands one of the most feral growls in the business today. It's a bit of vintage Chris Barnes and Frank Mullen from Suffocation. Imagine standing face to face with a lion, poised to strike, knowing its death roar will be the last thing you hear before getting mauled.

The title track is my favorite of the album. It begins with an a capello vocal performance from Vulture Thrust. "You son of a Bitch. You killed our brother," he bellows. Then, it wails off with a chaotic attack of screams and maniacal blast beats. Its spastic nature holds similiarites with Hadez Aquelarre, as well as Sarcofago.

Midway through the title track, they breakdown into a heavy ass groove, simple and bluesy, as the "You son of a bitch..." mantra repeats. It's a catchy passage, and equally haunting considering the real life events that inspired the song.

This is highly recommended to fans of death metal, and boasts of improved production (and album art) from their previous classic, Desecrated Deeds To Decease. 

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