Review Summary: Pretty much a transitional work, Rotten Spiral isn't to be thrown away.
Speaking of the trio that shook Italy's underground in the 80s with their furious brands of extreme metal, Schizo are probably the band that today gets recognized the least by the people, while Bulldozer and Necrodeath are more lucky. The intricate progression of the band's line-up definitely didn't help, and
Rotten Spiral is just the fourth full-length release. About 32 years after Schizo's foundation, the only founder remaining is guitarist S.B. Reder but the line-up seems tighter, with vocalist Nicola Accurso and drummer Dario Casabona having joined Reder for a good decade. It's therefore delightful to see their latest fatigue getting great votes from not only local magazines, even perfect scores. Unfortunately, with my appreciation for Schizo in mind, a question rises quickly: are we listening to the same album?
First of all,
Rotten Spiral shows a different perspective of the band. It's not one we didn't see coming though. The two past releases, while keeping the trademark blackened fusion of thrash metal and grindcore, suggested a change of direction. Hints of moving from violence in playing to oppression in atmosphere, and here they start to take the upper hand. The black/grindcore influences take a backseat in favor of a tamer, groovier thrash metal. One may think that this translates to a more reasoned and interesting songwriting, but in reality that's only half true. Slowing down means that you don't have breakneck speed and insane vocals to cover yourself anymore and offering actual meat becomes a must. Problem is, the band doesn't hit the target with the best accuracy.
The album actually takes off in a promising manner. "Leaders of Deception" builds through many little sections to explode in an unpredictable climax of old school thrash goodness, while "Skeptic Flesh" is a more linear affair that relies on a killer chorus where the band's harder side resurfaces again, more prominently than in the opener. From here on though, it gets samey rather quickly. The songs tend to blend together due to similar twists, similar vocal melodies that changed from tortured wails to a more generic anger, and riffs that don't feel unique enough to sustain the rest. There are a few sparse guitar solos but they are so brief they don't add enough spice. Flaws start to become very apparent in the album's second half, the worst offender being "Hysterical God". The song moves by now predictably and reaches an apparent ending around the 4:20 minute mark, only to start again and plod for a couple more minutes over repetitive riffing.
On the album's defense, a couple of things have to be noted.
Rotten Spiral is, in Schizo fashion, about 40 minutes long. Even if more repetitive and at times predictable than past material, it isn't as tiresome as it may seem. Additionally a tamer version of the band isn't really something one could call soft. It takes a bit of will power to digest every song, but they aren't devoid of character. The varied "Freikorps" for example begins with an ominous intro of rain, and from about half onwards constitutes an highlight by alternating military march rhythms with sudden fits of anger. It's just a shame that the ideas seem less inspired as the album closes. Its highlights leave more excited for the future rather than for the present, a reason why
Rotten Spiral risks to get buried by the many other important thrash releases of 2016.
