BRAIN DEAD – In The Deep Of Vortex

In The Deep Of Vortex, and albums like it, send a clear message: Thrash Metal is here to stay! It never left the Metal world in the mid 1990s, like so many thought and no matter how twisted it got over the years, with various add-ons, one thing is certain – Old School Thrash Metal will forever be the truest form of this infamous sub-genre.

Brain Dead are no different than any other newcomers in Thrash Metal, yet the reality that it’s hard to unearth good solid Italian Thrash Metal bands, marks their presence as a wonderful addition.

Relying mainly on US Thrash Metal acts such as Overkill, Heathen and Dark Angel, Brain Dead massively focus their attention on society’s faults and its ongoing decay. However, most of the Thrash bands concentrate on the same theme, every one of them has their points of view on these matters. When society turns out to be blind, the need for the truth behind the possible pink future is needed and Brain Dead and bands like them (e.g.: Nuclear Assault or Megadeth as a rather social / political group) are here to provide it. Brain Dead’s sentence… “Now you hear the voice, of society’s poison” is probably the most suitable approach to describe their view and behind this sentence there is a lot of antagonism towards ignorance, deception, oppression and the list goes on.

Brain Dead’s music is common to other Old School Thrash acts that roam in today’s Thrash scene. However, Brain Dead is an interesting mix: They follow the grooves made in the late era of Overkill (say somewhere in their mid 90s period) , the speed and intensity of Dark Angel and Heathen’s approach concerning the Thrash / Heavy Metal riffs. Nevertheless, this sort of mix was produced with considerable simplicity. Brain Dead are not trying to be as complex as others, you can spot that while listening to some of their uncomplicated solos. A definitive part of the solos, so it seems, is minor to the rhythm, which through it the kick ass vocalist, Felix Liuni, conveys his messages, with strong raspy (sometimes growly) heavy accented tones, to large crowds of headbanging Thrash heads. As you will probably notice, the rhythms are almost the same as the solos – straight forward attacks with a touch of groove. Good examples of both are the memoriam song for 11.9.2001 “Struck In The Honor” and “Death Illusion”. In general, Brain Dead’s music is not a newfound Old School Thrash Metal creation, yet, the music alongside the well-written texts; produce almost 50 minutes of Italian Thrash fun time – just don’t eat your pizza while embracing this one.

In The Deep Of Vortex is actually a three part deal. The first two parts are the band’s earlier EPs, Rage Of Thrash and Double Face. The third part contains new songs that were previously unreleased. Whether you knew these guys or didn’t, the experience is well worth it. Not every band gets to play with Iron Maiden and Judas Priest in the Gods Of Metal Festival.

Highlights from this Thrash assault: “Deep Vortex” , “The Double Face” , “Death Illusion” – find out the Heathen influence. “Dreaming Your Fear” , “Till The End Of Time” and “Seasons Of Your Destiny” which uses the “Symphony Of Destruction” riff a bit.