Massive Aggression

Chronic Ascension EP

Written by: PP on 22/03/2015 23:07:09

Copenhagen based thrash metallers Massive Aggression have reached their sophomore EP with "Chronic Ascension". A year in the making, it's an improvement in all areas from their rather amateurish debut EP "...And Then There Were None" from four years ago. That record had its fair share of production issues, but most of all the songs didn't feel ready to be shared with the wider audience just yet.

On the new EP, the latter part has been corrected to an extent. The band still shreds and thrashes like Metallica did during the mid-80s, but work has been done to distinguish the band a little more on the identity front. Now, influence from the likes of Slayer, Megadeth, Exodus, and even Municipal Waste can be heard in the riffs department, where speed, speed, and more speed is the answer on most songs of the EP. Lightning speed fretwork ensures any old school thrash fanatics will feel right at home on this release. On the production front, the band has improved, too, but it's still not as crystal clear and crisp as it needs to be before it's ready for prime time (read: export). Still, the 80s thrash metal yells that fall somewhere between cleans and screams are the consistent weak spot for Massive Aggression and continue to drag their material down. It's a decent Hetfield impression but very clearly a more amateur version, and that's not a good thing.

Furthermore, when you share the national scene with one of the best newer thrash metal bands Essence, who are also renowned internationally nowadays, you know you're going to be benchmarked against their release. Here, Massive Aggression simply fall way short of the two Essence records "Lost In Violence" and "Last Night of Solace". "Heavy ass thrash" might be an accurate way to describe Massive Aggression as they wrote in their press materials because it also symbolizes their overall sound. The will is there to write textbook thrash metal the old school way, but the songwriting capacity sadly isn't. While decent, "Chronic Ascension" is miles away from its peers in thrash metal royalty.

Download: Chronic Ascension, Run Like A Coward
For the fans of: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Exodus, Municipal Waste
Listen: Facebook

Release date 01.03.2015
Self-Released

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