Subcyde... Like "straight from the nutsacks"?!?! Well, perhaps. You see, Subcyde come and Subcyde give a good beating. So I guess "straight to nutsacks" is just as well fitting a phrase.

This Swedish quartet have been honing their sonic violence since 1997, but only now they present their self-titled debut album. Subcyde come straight at a listener like a razing juggernaut, as they abuse their instruments. Groovy thrash and post-thrash metal served low-tuned is what Subcyde are about. No, Subcyde aren't any kind of modern cling-clang nu-"metal", but are inclined towards the roots of thrash metal, even though very far from them. Pantera, Pissing Razors, Misery Index and Exodus bound the area where Subcyde quarrel in, so there's fast attacks and slower mosh-pieces. While majority of the songs are good, there's a few songs that blow over even though aggressively thrown towards listener. Another negative side is the lack of real speciality, which could lift the band up from the mass of metal; in other word, Subcyde are faceless. The soundwise this rips and kicks ass while everything is well-heard. A really fine produced album.

Vocals are growled and partly shouted. Thankfully not in metalcore style. Anyways, the vocalist sounds he's seriously pissed off, but the lyrics are piss-poor for a big part. Choruses such as "we all dissolve, the past is gone, we all dissolve, regret your hate" and "take a look into yourself, the way you preach, the lies you speak" are simply crap. But to me it's pretty much same what's delivered over rolling aggression.

If you can't get enough aggressive modern thrash metal, then check out Subcyde, it's definitely worth the trouble. They give a beating, but they also require something of their own to rise above the gray mass of molten metal. Hopefully the next album will feature individuality next to aggression. Could have been better, but also much worse, so not a bad "start" for the band. I mean there's not really shortage for this kind of stuff.

Rating: 6 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
05/11/2007 18:53