Terrordrome – The Day Of Sacrilege

It is no secret that I’m a very big fan of Terrordrome and there are numerous times I have stated that they are my favorite band from the city of Thessaloniki. I have praised them many times for their live appearances, as it is not a coincidence that they always play their demanding material without losing a note on stage. The last time I saw them, they had presented tracks from their second album ”The Day Of Sacrilege”, which is finally out four years after the crashing debut ”Vehement Convulsion”. It was clear that the band was taking it somewhere else and that we’d have to deal with a very mature work that not only keeps the basic elements of the band’s brutality and technique, but also straightly looks into the future and adds a lot of marvelous elements to the whole death metal scene. But how did we come to this? Let’s try and see what was in the band’s mind.

I can only suppose (you can never be 100% certain for things that happen in life) that the band wanted a clearer (but not less brutal) approach to their music, so things start first from the marvelous production. The vocals are the big change here, they sound much better and expressive, not hidden behind the instruments or the vastness of the material, so they are making the band sound refreshed and able to pass its compositions even to fans that were not close to their music. Is ”The Day Of Sacrilege” an album to be heard by not so die-hard brutal death metal fans? Yes, it is! This happens mainly because the effort of the band to give something different succeeds in getting the listener’s attention and it offers him a modern album with traditional death metal stuff, full of diverse ideas, crazy parts where you start losing the rhythm (the band doesn’t at all) and some tracks that stick to your head at once.

”Alas In The Wound…”’ and ”…For Mayhem To Begin” are the first two tracks that were the samples of what would follow, both included on the split with Oath Of Vanquish and the ”Seeds Of Fear, Begotten” EP that were released a few months ago. Terrordrome’s recipe is hard to play but rather easy in the process in their minds. Insane, chaotic, ultra-technical and heavy riffing ALL the way from the beginning to the end of each song, a furious rhythm section following (or sometimes leading) the tracks’ structure and as mentioned above, the improved vocals which prove to be the automaton that annihilates every tresspasser in their way. Especially the drummer and the bassist are doing miracles in the tracks, proving to be a steady unit and a perfect filling to the guitarist’s out of control hands. As the album flows, though it’s short in duration (33 minutes only), you find parts and elements which you want to listen again and again.

I can’t help but praising the band for the ideas to the connected duo of ”Bounded” and ”Moribund”, where you will listen various stuff, from flamengo intros to devastating battery assault. The nine tracks of the album prove that Terrordrome can truly use the word progress for their music, remaining though a very merciless act that will pound you with enormous force if you think they have soften up that much. A careful listening to ”Compel To Sin” (which is the drummer’s favorite song if I remember well, so this says a lot) will ensure you that the guys didn’t forget where they started from. On the other hand, albums like these prove that death metal gains much more flexibility through the years and that’s maybe one of the many reasons for its survival at first, and its continuous production of great bands in many subcategories (from real classy death metal, even to some deathcore new bands).

Terrordrome released an album for which they should be very proud. It got a little late and I hope the next one won’t delay so much, but if they are to produce something like that again, I won’t mind (that much). The ending of the album with ”Antediluvian Malediction” and its haunting initial bassline, is the perfect way to relax and reconsider your opinion about extreme music on its whole. Voivod, Satyricon, Dying Fetus and even the mighty Death parade on this one in the same straight line. Magic without words… ”The Day Of Sacrilege” is an album which could lead brutal extreme music to new paths and I hope that the old fans of the band will embrace it as they did with ”Vehement Convulsion”. They are two completely different albums and that’s how they should be faced. The essence of the band remains the same and that should worry none. A bright future is ahead for the quartet from Northern Greece, all they have to do is enjoy the seeds they have sown and show everyone that genres are not needed in music.