BALLISTIC – Ballistic

Thrashedy-thrash-thrash. That’s the best way to describe Ballistic’s debut CD, Ballistic. It does everything that is right with great Thrash Metal. It will bring you back to the glory days of Bay Area thrashers like Exodus and Nuclear Assault, but besides the same breakneck speed, they own their own sound and don’t sound like copies of the aforementioned bands. Plus, how could a song called, “Corpse Stacked High” ever fail?

Ballistic is a Tom Gattis (Duece, Wardog) creation. In his own words, “The best that we can do is the best that we are, and that is BALLISTIC.” So, no love songs, no songs about being pissed at their dads, no bawl baby pissy pants whining. This is just full speed ahead thrash, and God bless ‘em for it.

Where do you start? “Corpse Stacked High” is a fun place. The song begins with a raging drum and bass section, guitars playing so fast that a gnat with ADD would say “wow, that’s pretty fast,” and then vocals that are, well, you won’t mistake Gattis for Chris Isaak, but he fits the music perfectly. In fact, where other thrash bands just yell, Gattis occasionally sings the note, albeit hard as hell, and it makes them stand apart.

“Watch Me Do It” has a Metallica-sounding intro, but turns into a sort of bass and drum romp. The vocals are fun, the lyrics are excellent, and the song structure itself just leads to wanting to mainline whiskey. And that’s why there should be more bands like this out there.

“The Dissection/Into the Sever Chamber” is the one place where they make take the whole thrash ride a little too far. The vocals are barked here, and while Gattis sounds harsh and believable on all the other tracks, he tries a little too hard here. It sounds like someone trying to cover a Slayer song. That being said, once he mellows the vocals down a little bit towards the middle of the song, the angry guitar and riffing will pull you in. This could be the worst song on the CD, and it’s still good. Especially the solo by guitarist Petio Petev. That guy must have about 15 fingers, because the speed of his solos is impressive.

The best song here is probably “Call Me Evil.” There is something inherently “fuck you fun” about Thrash Metal, and this song embodies it. With lyrics like, “I’m watching your style, watching your face, I’ll wipe that smile off your fucking face in no time,” you can’t help but think of Lemmy, and say thank you. The chorus and also the chanting of “they call me evil,” and “they know I’m right” is just too much fun to not join yelling along with.

The other tracks, well, “Silent Killer” has another intense guitar intro that will amaze, “Threshold of Pain” has an odd vocal beginning that sounds like a guy yelling while choking on marshmallows, and “Undefeated” has the most Power Metal feel on the whole CD.

You won’t find a lot of tempo change or progressive structure on Ballistic. That’s why drummers for bands like this can always kick your ass; all they do is drum as fast as they can for 2 hours straight. This is Ballistic’s first CD, but with the mind of Gattis and the talent of those around him, here’s hoping that they keep Thrash Metal coming our way for a long time.

(From Tom Gattis, regarding the review: Very cool, glad you like the cd. By the way the reason the “Dissection” vocals don’t sound like me is because it isn’t me. It is Dave Brockie (Oderus Urungus of GWAR) who is playing the part of a mad doctor ripping me (the patient) open on the operating table. I wake up in the middle of the operation and head for the door, but he catches me at the end. It is … a duet.) And that’s what we reviewers get for being dolts …