Bio-Cancer – Revengeance (Hammerheart Records)
Clad in artwork by Dan Goldsworthy (Corpsegrinder, Aborted, Glory Hammer, Xentrix, Alestrom, Accept etc), recorded by George Emmanuel (Rotting Christ, Wothrosch, SepticFlesh) at Pentagram Studios in Athens and mixed/mastered by Pete Rutcho (Revocation/Havok) at Damage Studios. Revengeance is exactly the kind of extreme thrash metal you’d want with all of these men linked to it.
Formed in 2010, the Athenian band Bio-Cancer were part of the new thrash explosion at the beginning of the last decade, inspired by the Bay Area style while also adding the extreme metal/crossover inclinations of the Germans, the second wave of thrash bands and also Scandinavian black metal, drawing comparisons to Greek bands, Flames, Acid Death, Suicidal Angels, but also Kreator, Testament and Dark Angel.
Two albums under their belt, the last one in 2015, Bio-Cancer have had plenty of time to redefine themselves and my lord have they done that on this third record. Conceived during the pandemic, the first Greek metal band ever to play China, worked tirelessly to make this the biggest sounding record they have made, meticulously trying to outdo themselves, in every aspect of their sound.
While highlighting both the thrash and death metal side of their music the latter on the crushing Footprints On My Back and the explosive title track and the former on Citizen…Down and Dream Merchants. The switches between styles, technically gifted playing, foreboding atmosphere and the vocals reminding me of Skeletonwitch.
Tomek Solomonidis is frightening behind the kit, laying down blasts and double kicks with ease, Thanasis Andreou and Stavros Marinos’ guitars carving up the riffs between them, with speed metal ferocity and technical precision, bursting into flashfire solos as Giannis Lagoutaris’ virtuoso bass fills in any gaps in the musical assault.
Assault being the operative word for what Bio-Cancer do, if it’s not the explosive instrumentals it’s the frankly terrifying vocals of Lefteris Hatziandreou, I can feel the soreness in my throat just from listening to him scream. Having been accused of being a little one note on previous albums, Revengeance is a true reinvention where musical ambition is met with the experience and maturity. Fantastic! 9/10
Refuser – Refuser (Sleaszy Rider Records)
Forgotten… – Whispers Of Existence (Self Released)
Sarcovore – The Calling (Against Human Filth Records)
The Calling is 26 minutes of extremely brutal death metal, that I can’t fucking hear! ‘Blessed’ with two vocalists; Greg and Tasos that both gargle marbles, the riffs come from Theo but I’ll be damned if I can hear them as this album is so horribly produced that it’s just a big distorted mess. Occasionally you can differentiate when things stop and restart, or there’s an intro like on the title track but with the Coroner/Cynic reverb on the vocals, the similarity between all nine songs, and the drum programming just sounding like a jackhammer, this is less Uncompromising Death Metal, more unlistenable death metal. 4/10