Review by Felix on November 14, 2023.

Oh my God, another thrash album artwork of the category “piece of shit”. It looks like the cover of a band that wants everything but audience. But maybe there exists a mostly unknown rule: the worse the artworks, the better the music (this rule is only valid with regard to thrash metal, Manowar for example are experts in combining shitty artworks with lousy music). Fortunately, Thrashwall have nothing in common with spiritless fast food metal producers. The guys from the Iberian peninsula swing the whip of pretty relentless, sometimes slightly noisy thrash. The staccato beats of the threatening intro lead directly to the first eruption of sharp riffs. “War Outside the Wall” lights the fire with cutting guitars, straight high speed drumming and almost hardcore-compatible vocals, especially in the multi-voiced chorus. The well integrated tempo shifts contribute to the positive appearance of the song as well. No new thrash classic, but a straight and strong opener.

ThrashWall are not able to keep the high quality of the opener permanently. “Warehouse Rampage” is a downer. It holds a lot of mediocre, uninspired yet loud solos, but it does not really create a thrash metal feeling. The track rather sounds like an undefinable number between punk, speed and the awkward noise of newly started musicians who do not know their direction yet. No doubt, the best detail of this piece is its production. The entire album benefits from the mix. It is clear, vigorous and grabs the listener by the collar immediately. In particular I like the thundering, powerful snare which gives the sound thousands of whiplashes, but the organic big picture of the sound is great as well. It lends this debut an extra dose of authenticity. Given this fact, tracks like the restlessly advancing “Mental Destruction” become sonic gold. There is energy, there is violence and there is dedication. Guess we cannot demand much more from a thrash piece. And yes, it is definitely a very, very long way for ThrashWall to “World Domination”, but the the eponymous song delivers another portion of no frills riffs whose precise cuts build an extremely robust backbone for the boisterous bluster of the quintet.

Acts like Forbidden were able to integrate some pretty fragile melodies into their general thrash fury, but ThrashWall do not intend to do the same. They also do not deliver fun thrash like Municiple Waste, but here we have at least some stylistic overlaps. The riffs dominate the chorus, while the chorus fails to dominate the song. Okay, the guitar players are evidently influenced by the early days of thrash and some of their bone-dry riffs could originate from the archives of early Slayer or young Exodus. Yet this does not matter as long as the band purifies the listener’s brain with intense storms like “Insanity Alert”. ThrashWall deliver a lot of solos and in this track, here we find the best ones the band has to offer. In view of the explosive vibrations of the album, it is a pity that “ThrashWall” does not reach the 30 minute mark. On the other hand, this means that the album presents only one filler. The other tracks boast with spontaneity and impulsiveness and so this is a good debut without fuss or quibble.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10