Besieged (Canada) – Visions Of Pain Demo

Brutal! Sure, it’s not an adjective that’s usually used to describe thrash metal, but it’s the only word that fits in this case. Besieged is a brutal fucking thrash band; in all honesty, possibly one of the most savage I’ve ever heard. First off, this has nothing to do with any bullshit Bay Area stuff, so you can keep your Metallica and Megadeth. This has much more in common with the good stuff: Sepultura (the largest influence), Sodom, early Kreator, etc. There’s a big resemblance to pre-Chaos A.D. era Sepultura, when they were more concentrated on being fast as fuck than being ‘progressive’ or ‘melodic’.

There’s only two songs here, but you could listen to them over and over again without any trouble whatsoever. Side one: ‘Visions Of Pain’, which begins with a deceptive ‘South Of Heaven’-style acoustic intro before ripping immediately into pure, savage Thrash Fucking Metal, with a Max Cavalera-style vocal delivery on the part of Nolan Smit and fantastic riffing all around. Throw in two brilliant solos and mix on ‘ear rape’. Side two: ‘Savage Life’, which doesn’t even bother with any acoustic bullshit before diving right into absolutely blistering thrash frenzy. This is fast as fuck; there are bands that exceed Besieged in BPM, but they don’t have the same aura of pure, unhinged SPEED, almost like early Cryptopsy, where the band sounded like they would fall apart at any moment. Sick as hell.

Rarely do a couple songs make me tremendously crave another release, but these do. Besieged’s performance on the ‘Visions Of Pain’ demo has already made me a huge fan, and I can’t wait for the release of the same-titled LP. Any even remote fan of thrash needs to hear this: it’s like the entire universe kicking you in the face at once. In an AWESOME WAY.

~ by noktorn on March 25, 2007.