Thrash is the universal language. Have you heard of the Voyager Golden Record? It is a phonographic record carried by both Voyager spacecraft on their journeys deep into the void of space containing various recordings intended to represent in some way human culture and life on Earth, but unfortunately it is all a massive waste of time and resources because it doesn’t have any Slayer on it. Most people idiotically think that the Berlin wall came down because of stuff like societal progression, political revolution and a general triumph of freedom over oppression that epitomised the ultimate incompatibility of socialism with real life, but in reality it was the voice of thrash that obliterated the iron curtain into smouldering rubble and dust.
Conspicuously saxophoneless Czech(oslovakian) band Sax were some of the key perpetrators of this destruction, forming in the mid 1980s amidst growing political dissidence and social liberalism within their own country before rising from the ashes of the defunct state to release a couple of really good albums and communicate with the world through razor sharp thrash. Reading the names on the track list of
Moravské Nářez, their sophomore album, doesn’t reveal much to anyone unfamiliar with their language. Mysterious names such as “Smrtici muka” or “Sbaven pout” or “Maniak” don't offer much context to the humble foreign listener, but when the riffs start there is no question as to what these songs are about because these songs are about thrash.
Judging by the tone of the guitars they are ready to explode, the tuning dangerously taut and delicately potent to mirror the frantic, technical riffing itself. The riffs on the album are delivered with sophisticated vitriol, utilising complex time signatures, unconventional rhythms, and impeccable licks to neatly cut from all angles and carve their sound into the listener’s skull. The album is incredibly consistent in its devastating intricacy, but highlights include the exquisitely twisting riffs during and following the solo in opener “Uhnivat zaziva”, the meticulous opening riffs of “Zbaven pout”, and the ever escalating riffs following the solo towards the end of “Nádech smrti” where it seems like the guitar surely can’t get any faster or more intense and suddenly it does. Speaking of solos this album has lots of great ones, adding healthily to the overall semblance of shred but tastefully applied and never overbearing.
Even if the listener was able to contrive a situation where they could get down on their hands and knees and press their ears as closely as possible to a nun’s cunt, they would still not be able to hear anything remotely as tight as the drumming on this album. With production far superior to their previous effort
Zóna strachu, boasting countless and seamless stop starts and immaculate tempo changes, not to mention more fills than a convention for people named Philip, the drums offer tireless energy and accentuate the riffs superbly. In fact, despite the prevalence of exceptional riffs, the bass and drums feature strongly in the song writing, such as in the patiently restrained drum-led section early in the closer and title track where Sax slow things down and the drums augmented by placid but potent undistorted guitar and bass build the groundwork for a crushing closing song, and the bass break preceding the guitar solo in "Uhnivat zaziva". The vocals are again and improvement from their previous release but the harsh mid-range snarl is used sparingly as the riffs do most of the talking. “Zbaven pout” is a great example of just how naturally the members of Sax play together, during a section where telling riffs are punctuated alternately by a bass throbs and a drum fills, all slicker than the dick of a dude who just discovered an oil well beneath his feet.
In the astronomically unlikely event that some poor alien out there in the indifferent depths of space comes across the Golden Voyager Record and beholds all the bull*** and nonsense held within, it will perhaps in some unknown capacity relent not being able to contemplate the album art of Moravské Nářez, wherein Sax were able aesthetically embody the essence of thrash by depicting some kind of angry skeletal terminator looking robot being struck by lightning whilst also examining a severed pigs head, a piece of art which would tell it every single thing it needs to know about mankind. If we are ever to communicate with other life forms, or even to legitimise our hollow existence, humanity needs more thrash like this.
