Violator - Chemical Assault (2006)

   Thrash metal was forced into background and had only some tertiary role in the main scene since the early '90s. Except the oldies, several promising, but short lived new bands and plenty of fun made nostalgia projects, nearly decades have been passed without any new really charismatic thrash metal band.
   The appearence of Violator brought back the long lost and awaited intensiveness into the genre. The most aggressive and intense old school aspect of the style had a modern reinterpretation in their music - it's thrash metal at it's best quality, just the way how it used to sound. There's not a calm moment to find on their debut, and maybe it's not an exaggeration to say that nothing similar was released from a new band since the '80s. Their impressive swing could be compared to Sadus, their heaviness to Slayer, their rudeness to Sodom. It's also interesting that if cultic scenes growing out themselves and disappear or just remaining in some vegetative state (like the Bay Area scene or the once so influental German thrash scene), the newbies may appear at various other locations, but South America always seemed to be as a stabile outpost of old school metal. So it's no wonder that Violator wasn't the first and not even the last band from there with evidently traditional ambitions. "Chemical Assault" partly recalls the feeling of the '80s, but also proves that thrash metal still could be very effective and harsh sounding compared to the changes both into softer and more extreme directions that meanwhile happened in the main scene. An excellent album for the most prejudiced fans of the genre!