RAZORMAZE

Holy shit, is it 1992?  Putting on The True Speed Of Steel will surely make you think it's somewhere around that time frame.  These guys are absolutely sick, sick, SICK thrash metal.  A nice throwback to when thrash metal wasn't downtuned and had death metal style vocals to it.  These guys know how to keep the listener interested and leave you wanting more.  They've got some damn good riffs and licks, catchy choruses...I often find myself during the course of the day belting out "SLAUTEROTICA" in a high falsetto voice like my name is Rob Halford.  Forget Bonded By Blood, Razormaze are far more deserving of your ears.  Technical riffs but still staying tasteful and true to what thrash should be about.  You've got your pounding hooks that make you start banging your head, then you got some nice tremolo picking riffs that just make you want to start punting babies and putting that shit up on youtube.

Like most other bands in the Boston/Massachusetts scene, I feel these guys are really overlooked to the rest of the metal community.  These guys are another whole package deal.  The drummer really rounds out the music here.  On top of the perfect fretboard mastery and at times reminiscent of bands such as Sodom and Annihilator, the drummer really holds it down.  To me, a drummer can really make or break a band, no matter how good your guitar players are.  This guy knows when to switch up beats and keep the music interesting.  He knows when to show off, and he knows when to relax and just groove and let the guitars take a hold of your ears.  The guitar playing in this band is phenomenal.  Like I said before, the riffs just jump out and grab you, shake you, poke you in the eye, and then shreds you apart with a blistering solo.  Nothing melodic here, just good ol fashioned thrash solos, the way they should be.  Listen, and you'll know what I'm talking about.  The bassplayer isn't anything special, but the bass is audible, which makes me happy.  Being a bassplayer myself, I really enjoy hearing the bass, and this guy really keeps it solid.  He goes off on his own and plays some small fills of the tasteful variety and hold down the low end something fierce.

All in all, these guys are something else.  If anyone hasn't heard them, I highly suggest you run out right now and buy whatever you can by this band.  Rob an old lady, beat up your little brother to get the money for the CD, do nude flips for cash, run and see them play live.  They're worth every penny and every minute of your time.  I really hope to hear more stuff released by these guys as they really are a TR00 thrash band, no death mixed in, if anything there could be a VERY TINY bit of crossover hinted here and there, but nothing too punkish if you know what I mean.

Check them out on myspace HERE

until next time, keep it fucking metal and support your local scene!

-Pat (the boston underground)