Torture Squad - Hellbound - 28.04.08

After an 18 year career, Brazilian 90’s thrash aficionados Torture Squad show no signs of straying from their familiar well trodden path, even after everyone else chose an alternative one back in 1995.

But acting as a boon to their quest, thrash metal as a genre seems to have an ability to transcend timescale and can still sound relevant to the die-hard fan today, if willing to seek out the bands left doing it, to Torture Squad’s credit.

Moments of Deicide, Morbid Angel, Anthrax and Iron Maiden spring to prominence on their latest effort. And with TS’s trademark stop-start, technical weavings and collective complex arrangements directed by a rhythm section as tight as a nun’s knickers, it’s an accomplished exercise in everything that’s celebrated as old-skool.


Verdict:

JIM BURT