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TERROR ACTIVATOR
Forcibly Wasted

Self-released (2023)
Rating: 7/10

This isn’t a band I’m familiar with but Latvia’s Terror Activator brings its debut full-length album straight from the depths of the late 80s, particularly with those potent crossover elements and more traditional gallops.

High energy thrash metal is the order of the day here with 33 minutes of high octane metal which suffers slightly from an at times mechanical production, but if you can overlook that then you might appreciate the velocity of this opus. Vocally, Ernie is very much of the newer style of crossover yappers as he snaps and rants his way through the pacey affair that kicks off with the hostile ‘Shy Of Enough’ and finishes with ‘Всё будет хорошо’, a cover rendition of the Verka Serduchka song.

I guess by the half way stage the album does begin to grate simply because Paul’s drums sound so metallic and Ernie’s throaty scrapes really do grind on the ears, although at times he does throw in some deeper grunts, as evidenced on ‘Two-Faced Gateway’.

This is an extremely fast outing that zips by in somewhat of a blur, but it does attempt to explore a few different angles in its crossover stylings. The raw face-ripping ‘Suffer And Die’ features some explosive soloing, albeit briefly, and ‘Moshing Is Available’ comes complete with a lethal dribbling bass and hyper speed.

You’ll certainly need a sit down after indulging in this unstoppable rollercoaster of a record, and whilst it’s not the sort of release I’d slap on regularly I most definitely won’t be afraid to refer to it when I’m feeling pissed off.

Neil Arnold

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