Review by Greg on June 25, 2024.

After Kobold's first two efforts Death Parade and Masterpace were like night and day, it would be a tragicomic circumstance for the crucial third effort to fade back into mediocrity, especially after the incredible heights reached by the sophomore. Luckily, Elio Rigonat's crew seemed totally unstoppable, by now, after finding its footing. Technofascism, released in 2022, cemented the band's position as one of those so unpredictable they're always, always worth a listen whatever they do... it surely helps that what they do is badass, most of the time.

Now, it's natural to fear some disappointment after a brilliant record, and Technofascism does represent a tiny step below its predecessor, although it isn't meant to say that the band's incredible upward trajectory had suddenly halted, as much as I think Masterpace managed to effectively and awesomely fuck up your mind in a more concise time – but man, we still get a delicious mass of unhinged thrash, extreme influences, electronic elements, manic vocals, and cryptic lyrics. More specifically, the first three songs after the intro are deflagrating. 'Into Purgatory' might not be on par with 'Masterpace', although I'd be hard pressed to find a song that does, but delivers another blow to the listener's head like it's really picking up where said album left off, after having built an awesome intro upon the famous The Warriors sample (although I now feel extremely dumb since I don't remember where else I've already heard it). 'Empire - It Is Us' and 'Soul Cacophony' double down on the matter, arguably ending up amongst their most viscerally angry tracks ever, before abandoning the pure thrash component until 'Death By Life' appears later on, and I won't accept any complaints about a song starting with a South Park sample.

Another point of contention might be the choice of adding several guest vocalists to Rigonat's already histrionic delivery, which might be a bit too much to stomach in some instances – although it definitely has its advantages when he's joined by some lower, guttural growler (like especially 'Empire - It Is Us' showcases brilliantly) – and, most of all, creates an even more stark contrast from song to song, and Kobold aren't exactly one-trick ponies on their own. That also means we get some of their deranged, schizophrenic material ever, like 'Neosynthesis' employing the 'proper' clean vocals of a post-rock artist alternating with merciless, brutal accelerations, or the demented Satellites-era Celldweller-style electronic intro of 'Seven Tongues Of God'. I can't say each and every idea hits the mark, like, I'm not necessarily a fan of the clean vocals used on the otherwise unforgiving 'Virus', nor I was fond of closer 'Ketamine' (which hosts the current Gorgoroth vocalist), and some songs being cut off rather abruptly left a bitter aftertaste after all those cool extended endings on the previous outing – yet, for every episode not winning me over, there are dozens I fell in love with, so this is why I say they always deliver. It's simply hard not to be impressed by their music.

Technofascism is perhaps the Kobold album where the 'avant-garde' tag is most justified, for better or worse. The fact that the guys made a couple of albums that are even better than this one isn't much of a detriment to it, but rather the proof that they deserve to be in the upper echelon of the genre... wait, if we still can consider this thrash?

Rating: 8.4 out of 10