Review by Felix on September 23, 2024.

Cynically speaking, blind people must be healthier than those who have eyes to see, because they do not suffer from miserable thrash metal album artworks. Thrasherwolf’s new release is another output that is disgraced by its cover – it is not the most painful ever and the “artist” did not use these ugly neon colors (thanks!), nevertheless, it is still senseless and bad. Thank God, the music is better – but, now we come to the real weakness of Inside The Sickened Mind, it still leaves a lot of space for improvement. Why? Well, the quartet does not lack technical skills. Furthermore they combine energy with euphoria. Therefore it is all the more sad that one crucial thing is missing: over-average songwriting skills. Some songs put different parts together which have absolutely no organic connection and the band also has no instinct for the appropriate length of their pieces – they are almost always too long. To be fair, I also want to mention a recognisable number of good sections. Anyway, listening to Inside The Sickened Mind gives me ambivalent feelings.

But let us leave the general aspects behind. An opener should be a more or less representative track and 'Final Act Of Aggression' (the delayed mirror image song to Exodus’ “The Last Act Of Defiance”?) does not lack fury, high velocity or solid riffing. Its tempo changes are okay – but only until 2:27 minutes. The following part has nothing to deliver but unmotivated high speed hammering. It does not go hand in hand with the remaining sections and tears the song apart. A similar dilemma shows up in the nonsensically fast bridge of the following 'G.B.H.'. (By the way, what kind of vapid joke is this? Do they present a track called “English Dogs” on their next release?) You can't sugarcoat it, the boys are getting in their own way a bit. This makes it somewhat difficult to enjoy their good riffs (which definitely exist) and the bone-dry, vehement production. But exceptions confirm the norm: 'Shameless Loser' attacks impressively with shredding guitars and mostly more than solid riff.

The lead vocalist heralds negative messages in a pretty ordinary yet authentic manner. No clean vocals, of course, no singing in the narrow sense, but the old D.A.M. school. By the way, I still need to review their debut from 1989. It’s on my imaginary list. I can babble about other bands, because we do not miss (m)any highlights while I write this. The mid-tempo parts have an almost antique thrash touch, but they do not achieve the charm of old mid-paced classics like Exodus’ “And Then There Were None”. Speaking of Gary Holt’s sonic empire, a riff of 'Scream Till Death' seems to be a slavish imitation of the Exodus riffs from the “Exhibit” times. Okay, why not? Such a section is better than the slightly funky bass line which suddenly appears, introducing a sing-along part. Too many ideas can ruin a song, particularly if some of them are bad. 'Haunted' can tell you a thing or two about it, too. Half ballad, half Metallica/Flotsam mix means full failure? Not totally, because the solo is pretty good, but that’s it.

Thanks to the final, spicy and angry title track (with a horror film-compatible break in the middle), the Brits manage a conciliatory conclusion. Despite the weaknesses I have found I am sure that the guys have potential for more. Maybe they just need a bit more experience when it comes to the song-writing process? For the moment, Inside The Sickened Mind does not really disappoint, but has to admit defeat to some of the competition's albums.

Rating: 6.3 out of 10