ATHANATOR – Earth Of Blood

This lot hailing from Medellin, Colombia sure has got conviction. They seem to be death certain that the thrash metal of the 80’s was and still is the shit and go about vigorously proving this by attacking their instruments like the 90’s never happened. Their vocalist Jaime Ocampo has definitely earned his keep by shouting himself hoarse fronting this band of die-hard trash maniacs. In fact the first song “Earth of Blood” which starts with the whispered vocals would better fit to close this album so that “the losing ones voice” effect would make more sense.

The obvious weak point here is the production which makes the drums in particular sound a tad too piercing and metallic and at times it sounds like you are listening the drummer doing a sound check rather than giving the songs the backbeat they deserve which does get a bit annoying.

The songs go from straightforward speed metal races (“Even the Angels Fall”, “Walk down the dark”) to the ones with slower parts mixed in (“Saviour of God”, “A death in a Hole” and “Perverse Paradise”). “Perverse Paradise” is the longest and most versatile song here with its varied tempos and spoken parts. The tempo of this song surprisingly enough brings to mind early Accept. The slow beat in the chorus really hammers the chorus home. There is a spoken narrative in the middle of “Healing by the Blood” too. And another catchy chorus that has you singing “I want to drink your blood” before you know it.

Athanator has got a knack for writing catchy choruses and the rhythm of the songs and the tone of the vocals almost demand you to join in despite the fact that Ocampo has a really raw voice and could easily front a death metal band with his growling. Still it’s easy to see the masses in their black t-shirts headbanging and shouting along to any of these trash delights that Athanator offer.

The more one listens to this, Athanator’s second full length release, the stronger the urge to dig out the old trash classics becomes. Some of the guitar solos in particular bring the urge to give Megadeth’s classic “Rust in Peace” a spin. Not that Athanator is up in that league yet. Their sound is still way too dirty and messy to be embraced by the larger masses but they do undeniably have the needed fire and passion in their bellies.