Review Summary: An intense display of technically proficient musicianship and vocals that sound like Satan on a diet of razor blades
8 of 12 thought this review was well writtenSo many people have let great modern thrash metal albums slip by them that it is getting ridiculous now. Eliminator are a band that released their first album, Breaking The Wheel, in 2008, and nobody gave a ***. The band were just completely overlooked and even the people who heard that album are largely unaware that they now have three albums with a fourth on its way. Those with a little wisdom, however, would know that this band are something quite special. Their first album is a mixture of some of the most technically proficient riffing you will find in thrash metal anywhere, fast paced drumming and evil-sounding vocals. All this from a three-piece band. This album truly is something special.
This is one of the most relentless approaches to thrash metal since its glory days. From the start to the finish their is no sign of an unnecessary clean sung passage, but what there IS is nothing besides non-stop thrash metal. Every moment of this album is ridden with rage, hate and aggression and there really is nothing to be done about it. This does not need anything changing about it and is a formula that works throughout its entire thirty five minute duration. The soloing is fast, chaotic and kept to a small period of time per song, the drumming is some of the fastest in the genre, bordering on typical death metal speeds, whilst the riffs are a mixture of lightning fast tremolo picking and some very intricate fills scattered throughout. The bass work is audible throughout and makes a lovely back drop among the chaos, being highly technical. The lyrics are not the strongest out there, with lines such as "i am clinically insane, using my weapons to kill" sounding somewhat forced, but they get the job done. This is an album where every musician is on top of their game and it is hard to believe that the band will ever accomplish such a masterful display of incredibly fast and creative thrash metal ever.
The title track is probably the best thing here, with an amazing clean guitar section leading into one of the angriest mid-paced chord based riffs I have ever heard. Vocalist Warchild, who also handles the bass and guitars, roars out the titular words with a voice sounding like Satan himself, and then in comes one of the coolest solos on the album. This relies heavily on the bottom four strings and a lot of quick runs right up the fret-board, and is one of the longer solos on the album. Do not think that this release is a one-trick pony, however, as each song has something to talk about. Despite the fact that they are all songs that thunder along at one primary speed, each song is still distinguishable from the others, and it takes no effort to recall moments such as the furious scream that introduces the first track and the incredibly fast guitar fills found on it; or else the manic solo on Disgust. This is a frantic, relentless approach to thrash that is hard to forget and sticks out as arguably the finest example of thrash from a modern band (yes, including Vektor). The only slightly negative point about this release is that the production is a little mediocre, as it was recorded on an extremely low budget, but that does not detract from the album whatsoever as each instrument is still more than audible.
Breaking The Wheel is an incredible debut from Eliminator and it is hard to believe the band ever topping this work. Service Your Leader and the title song are two tracks that I recommend checking out, with the former having some incredibly technical fills scattered throughout to keep you interested.
