BEHIND THE HORROR – Burn Up This Truth

Burn Up This Truth is the debut album from Behind The Horror, where Brazilian brothers Gabriel and Lucas Alves craft a modern Thrash vibe with seven varied and hard-hitting tunes. Seven years have passed since they released the four song EP …And The Horror Begins, but there’s no rust to be found in the new collection, which features Gabriel performing all of the guitar and bass duties after the departure of Diego Moreas. Gabriel, a busy young man, takes on all of the vocals as well, his Cavalera-esque rasp providing an extra layer of gravity to the songs.

Although Behind The Horror performs live as a two-piece band, listeners should not expect a Thrash White Stripes/Black Keys type experience when giving Burn Up This Truth a spin. All of the tracks feature multiple guitar parts and bass guitar, and one has to admire the Brothers Alves in their playing and arrangements. Quick-footed Lucas asserts himself on the opening track and never lets up, alternately speeding up or leaving space for Gabriel’s riffing.

“Burn Up This Truth” pulls the listener in right away and doesn’t let go, the time shifts and arrangement making it a highly engaging song where one is eager to hear what comes next. Follow-up “Storm Rage” rides a climbing vocal and guitar passage into High On Fire-ish territory, the sort of song that makes one feel the sky is about to crack open. “Outland” begins with the old Metal trick of a quiet guitar and soft cymbal interlude before dropping the hammer with a kill-riff, but rather than being cliche the choice comes across as honoring tradition before going off in a completely new and modern directions. This isn’t the riff-second riff-riff-second riff pattern of old school Thrash; Behind The Horror tend to use one organizing riff in their songs that they use as a launching pad to fly off in a myriad of directions from.

“Sky Seeker” repeats the quiet interlude trick, but rather than coming with the kill-riff the Alves drop into a Doom-y mode, with Gabriel unleashing his inner Mustaine vocally. A complex extended instrumental break transforms the decent song into a mini-masterpiece.

2020 has not been a great year for many things, but it is undeniably a great year for Thrash Metal releases and Behind The Horror have provided another stellar entry into the Pandemic year canon with Burn Up This Truth.