I have the feeling that I must really start to refrain from calling bands “young and hungry“ but that’s what this is, too – a young, hungry and apparently very capable Thrash band from South America. It’s great to see that this in-your-face attitude is still so much alive and kicking decades after the inception of Thrash Metal as a genre. “Toba“ is a a well-played and well-produced album that is more than just a reminiscence of successful Thrash acts of the 1980s; it sets a new, different tone towards a more blackened yet very elaborate side of the genre. The lyrics follow a concept: according to Encyclopaedia Metallum, the album is “related to the Toba catastrophe theory, a supervolcano eruption that occurred around 74,000 years ago during the Late Pleistocene at the site of present-day Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia“. Other historical episodes and places are also mentioned such as Olduvai in Tanzania, a place often referred to as “Cradle of Humankind“, where important fossils dating from the Stone Age were excavated. My song recommendations are ‘Eschatological Symphony’ and ‘Hazardous Prowler’. The first is an instrumental song that shows all the trademarks of the band’s sound – speed combined with technical brillance, packing a hell of a punch, and presenting many different facets of guitar shredding. The second one is less varied but even faster (if that is possible) and hits you right between the eyes. ‘Olduvai’s Lullaby’ represents the Black Metal side of the band, reminding me also of old SODOM or KREATOR (definitely no bad references here!). ‘Extinction & Mystery’, too, has melodic and atmospheric guitar runs as well as Black Metal like, more simple passages (calling these simple, however, does not really do them justice). Other bands with a similar sound (of which there must be many more in South America alone!) are Colombia’s GUERRA TOTAL and Brazil’s SODOMIZER (check out the former’s magnificent “Más Allá De La Tumba“ or the latter’s fantastic “Confessioni Di Un Cannibale“). Or just stick with MAYHEMIC – they definitely are very facetious and highly skilled in composing great songs and writing thoughtful, intelligent lyrics. A band we hopefully will hear a lot more from! More info at: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100036174441864, www.facebook.com/sepulchralvoicerecords