Obnoxious Youth // Burning Savage // Album Review

I love me some thrash metal and some hardcore punk, so when you mash the two of them together you would expect nothing less than fireworks and that is exactly what Obnoxious Youth is serving up on their latest release “Burning Savage”.

The Swedish-Finnish powerhouse has gone above and beyond to deliver twelve stonking tracks that will leave you battered, bruised and baying for more. After the foreboding opening “Alpha Diabolos” you are smashed right in the face with the musical equivalent of a shovel in the form of “Imminent Evil”; an assault on the sense that leaves you in a heap; from the screaming vocals of Phantasma to the slashing riffs of Zeke and Spine, not to mention the ripper solo, and the combination of Cult’s drumming and Shit’s bass this is one hell of a track, gasping for air is an understatement. Title track “Burning Savage” opens with a cool riff with a bluesy rock feel before doing a complete 180 and blasting your ears with a maelstrom of drums, bass and killer riffs as Phantasma continues to tear the vocal chords out of himself, the midpoint of the song sees another turn to the bluesy side again with a brilliant solo and a more melodic finale. “Lethal Revenge” is a ferocious affair that lasts about ninety seconds but has beaten the absolute shite out of you in that time.

The ominous theremin opening to  “Black Magic Whore” belies what’s about to happen as you will have your face melted in a flurry of drums, screaming vocals, a savage bass line and cutting riffs, short but incredibly sweet. “Torrents Of Black Blood” is the longest track on the album, a Black Sabbath doom vibe drips off this one at the opening which gives way to a cool heavy groove that is surprising given what has gone on on previous tracks, but it’s not a bad thing as it shows the bands versatility of being fast and thrashy while having the ability to play a slower heavy/groove rock style, this ones for the stoners. Going full circle is “Ultra Death” which sounds like a Rob Zombie track at the intro but that is where the comparison ends as the band carries out a full frontal assault on the senses, Phantasma is back to his rip-roaring best, Cult pummels you with a brutal drum beat and is backed up big time by Shit’s bass line while Zeke and Spine tear it up on the guitars, a savage track. “Bitchkrieg” is a hardcore beast that slaps you about the place for a couple of minutes, violently sweet. Shit’s thumping bass intro to “Ethereal Termination” sets the tone for this one as Phantasma roars in over the top of it, the crunching guitar riffs and blistering drums kick the intensity up a notch, a nice solo midway through adds a bit of panache, a big time banger. “Phantasma” is a full-throttle hardcore killer that is short and to the point in the most aggressive way possible. “Tornado Of Blades” is a brilliant track that has elements of punk and metal mixed with a killer groove that runs throughout, the guitars on this one stand out big the, track of the album for me.

The album closes with “Omega Therion” an instrumental that has all the hallmarks of a horror movie soundtrack, with a creepy theremin riff and subdued drums that make it every more eerie, it changes midway through as the guitars come in fully with some cool riffs and a great solo, Phantasma’s spoken vocals add to the creep factor as the track plays out.

This is a great album that gets better with each listen.

Review: Conor