AGRESIVA – Decibel Ritual

Agresiva, a four member Thrash Metal band from Madrid, Spain, formed in 2008, is living up to their name on their 3^rd full length album entitled Decibel Ritual. The opening track “Warning” is a spoken word advisement to “…listen at your own risk”.  The tracks that follow feature guitar work that is fast and furious and vocals that are vibrato heavy.  When listening, you’ll be simultaneously shaken by the neck and yelled at.   While this type of assault will get your attention, it may eventually lead to some resentment. This album does not lack solid musicianship, songwriting or effort.  The main failure is a production mix which favors the guitar and vocals at the expense of the bass guitar and drums.  The result is a loss of low end that hollows out the band’s sound.

Some songs manage to rise above the mix issues, however.  The post intro track “Run Like The Wind” sets the tone. It’s a burner featuring the staccato machine gun riffing of a classic Thrash track sprinkled with tasteful breaks of Traditional Metal riffing.  The song “Cleansing – The Aftermath”, allows the bass guitar up for momentary gasps of air resulting in one of the more powerful songs on the album.  The highlight is the break neck paced “Heading For Midnight”, which dials back the vocal vibrato and features a high speed theatrical finish.

Decibel Ritual is a release with a major flaw due the heavy-handed mix of guitar and vibrato-heavy vocals. Listen at your own risk indeed.

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