BONDED

Rest In Violence

Century Media
rating icon 7.5 / 10

Track listing:

01. Godgiven
02. Suit Murderer
03. Rest In Violence
04. Je Suis Charlie
05. The Rattle & The Snake
06. No Cure For Life
07. Where Silence Reverberates
08. Galaxy M87
09. Arrival
10. The Outer Rim


Contrary to popular belief, thrash metal really didn't need to be revived in the mid '00s. What ended up being resurrected and given a new lease of life was old-school thrash, and the furious, crossover substrain in particular. And while there was absolutely nothing to dislike about the rise of MUNICIPAL WASTE and their retrogressive peers, that whole phenomenon did a significant disservice to the countless modern thrash bands that had kept the genre alive during a tricky era. BONDED know what I'm talking about: "Rest In Violence" is an absolute godsend for fans of the kind of skull-flattening, super-polished thrash-meets-groove metal that has been propagated effectively by old-guard icons EXODUS and DESTRUCTION, but also by the likes of DEW-SCENTED and (most recently) HATRIOT. This is defiantly modern stuff, sonically monstrous throughout and more concerned with giant hooks than with self-consciously emulating something more avowedly classic.

With two former members of SODOM, one ex-member of SUICIDAL ANGELS and vocalist Ingo Bajonczak from cult German thrashers ASSASSIN, the pedigree of this newly minted unit is unquestionable. All of that would be worth nothing if they didn't have the songs to back it up, but BONDED certainly have plenty of those: "Suit Murderer" is a flat-out riff bombardment with a wickedly grim hook; "The Rattle & The Snake" is a joyous, timeless, none-more-metal anthem with lashings of blazing lead work; "No Cure For Life" is a menacing descent into slower tempos and morbid grandeur, with faint shades of CROWBAR for added weight. Best of the lot, "Where Silence Reverberates", hurls some blackened disquiet into the mix, with a textbook lumbering, melodramatic intro buildup and transitional riff that sounds like a panzer swarm in hell, before the song itself erupts and slams like Satan's dungeon door.

It's all thrillingly brutish and precise, but also supremely assured: the sound of weather-beaten veterans re-asserting their authority and having a fantastic time in the process. It's also a modern thrash record that honors the genre's basics while never forgetting that heavy metal is a malleable thing with limitless possibilities for destruction.

Author: Dom Lawson
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).