HEMOTOXIN – "A substance, especially one produced by a bacterium, that destroys red blood cells." A suitable definition for this technical Thrash band from Pittsburgh, California. Much like cobra venom, this band will slip into your bloodstream and infect you with the thrashing, thriving Metal this band is known for. Let me first start off by saying the cover is a vision of fantasy decadence. A lost landscape of eternal hopelessness. I love covers like this one. But more importantly… the music. ‘Decadence’ opens the album with a Thrash fest of screaming vocals by Michael Chavez and blistering guitars by Chavez and Michael Rohwer. ‘Regression’ continues the pace with epic guitars leading into tech Thrash and eye-blurring drumming by Brandon Wilcox. Nathan Fruth’s bass keeps up the rhythm blissfully throughout the album. A weird sort of technical / progressive / jazz bit opens ‘Minus Human’ before it breaks down into breakneck speeds. More mind-whirling thrashing continues on ‘Not Of This World’, never letting up on sophomore full-length "Biological Enslavement". Jackhammering ‘Forgotten Faces’, soothing-to-epic Thrash ‘The Alchemist’, technical mind-numbing ‘Bleak Prognosis’, progressive ‘Journey Through Dreams’, and album-ending trench-burning ‘Transparent Eyes’ all form a cohesive album that never lets up. There’s nothing more enjoyable than a band who understands how to keep the flow moving forward without unnecessary interruptions between songs. And this band succeeds. I hope HEMOTOXIN continues to infect me with their headbanging venom for years to come. More information at: www.facebook.com/hemotoxin, http://hemotoxin70.bandcamp.com, www.unspeakableaxerecords.com.