Review Summary: Tech thrash from Ukraine that reeks class.
Through the entirety of tech media outlets, digital or hard copy (whichever of them persists in that format, anyway), journalists and corporate moguls can be found, vividly advocating for the world wide web’s increasing efficiency in terms of human interaction and all sorts of data exchange. And while the multifaceted progress in that tenet is undisputed, bits of information deemed important for fundamentally different groups of people, still slip through the cracks or become denigrated in the smorgasbord of pipelined information. From the solution of previously undecipherable problems by efficient, yet perpetually ignored scientists, to the recreationally mundane task of disseminating the merit of promising music releases, there are more than a couple tales to be told on the matter. For example, less than a handful of strictly underground metal blogs, rightfully pinpointed the positive pledge made by Bestial Invasion’s debut album
Act of Retribution. What also went unnoticed was the collaboration of these Ukrainian tech thrash prospects with acclaimed peers like Kenn Nardi (Anacrusis) and Alan Tecchio (Watchtower). Not more than a year after their debut, Bestial Invasion released an EP which intensified their effort in setting a much sharper tech thrash shop.
Act of Retribution album, while adamantly painting the portrait of a band whose instrumental prowess stands well above average, was a bit of a mess, in terms of song writing. On par with the tendency of new bands cramming all their available ideas into their first album, these Ukrainians included every musical aberration they could conjure, which resulted in an entertaining, yet perceivably incoherent listen. In contrast,
Trilogy… sees Bestial Invasion tiding up their sound and their arrangements, the latter for the most part; EP closer, a tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien (and the LOTR soundtracks) which picks the baton from “Numenor” in
Act…, rekindles the band’s knack for convoluted affairs, albeit in a more structured undertaking. Therein, seasoned tech thrash fans will sense the band’s respect for Mekong Delta’s legacy regarding the matrimony of progressive/thrash metal, and classical music. That’s not to say though, that Bestial Invasion are exclusively affiliated to the sub-genre’s European school. Rather, additional know-how is ported from the other bank of the Atlantic (namely Watchtower), with the hybrid sound fleshing the EP highlight “Zodiac: Crime World Mystery”. The said duality is evident in Vakhtang Zadiev’s vocals, an alloy of Bruce Dickinson, John Cyriis, Alan Tecchio and Leszek Szpigiel (the voice of Mekong Delta in
Lurking Fear).
For years now, the realm of tech thrash feels like a desert with a restrained number of oases quenching the thirst of the relatively few fans still roaming its wilderness. In that picture, this Ukrainian outfit is a welcome addition, given that prospective listeners will go past the band’s name (which may equally hint to a slamming/brutal/technical death metal outfit), and that progression in future releases, will take place in a timely fashion.
