I'm always interested to hear South American bands, because they often have a reputation of being raw, true and non-trendy. I bumped into Chile's Nuclear one day, and found this third album, lovely titled and fantastically illustrated 'Jehovirus', and decided to grab it. And being a good boy, I paid for it, too. However, I felt I didn't quite get what I paid for, though.

Still, repeated listenings revealed a good thrash metal album. Sounding like something I had't heard since... well, mid-90s! Here, Nuclear remind me of two magnificent albums: Slayer's 'Divine Intervention' (1994) and Kreator's 'Renewal' (1992). Them two transition albums, that are still pretty much detested today. 'Jehovirus' is a small stunner for the fans of those two platters.

The production is dry yet pretty punchy. It truly reminds me about those two albums. Yes, it can be short for beefy sound, but it does have its charms. The instruments are very exposed in the mix, and at times there's some slight sloppiness to be heard at times, e.g. evidently on the drumming on the opener track. Then again, how cool does those cymbals sound, huh?!?! Generally the sound's organic for sure. The guitar tones are also dry-ish, and the bass is clanking and definitely somewhat buried in the mix. At best, the performances are tight as a duck's arse; there's no technical fireworks, but the band do what's needed from them.

Nuclear do not equal those two legendary bands in songwriting skills, though. There certainly are some interesting twists in plots, mostly caused by tempo changes and melodic bits. For example the album opens with a hugely catchy guitar intro in good old way, before getting into thrashing gear. Talking about melodies, 'Acts of Depravity' sounds like a tribute to 'Dead Skin Mask' with its brooding atmosphere. Sometimes there is a considerable lack of energy, though. The beginning of 'World Depletion' is one of such moment; lame playing and unexciting groove metal start before the song goes into thrashing. Generally, there is no stellar riff or whole song on the album.

The vocals are kind of mixture of Mille Petrozza with a hint of Tom Araya in them, full-on angry barking. Oh, the guitar solos... They are very much inspired by late Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King.: Insane fret-board fiddlings. Nuclear aren't, of course, as tightly-grown a band, with much less years behind them.

To tell the truth, 'Jehovirus' isn't a very catchy album. But if you are looking for this certain sound, it does its job. Then again, the band's influences cannot be more in-your-face; trying something a bit different could work wonders.

Rating: 6½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
03/01/2020 14:10