The path for Necrodead's second full length album 'Path to Death' was a long and rocky one. The band lost their vocalist during they were rehearsing for the recordings. The band battled on and hit a studio without finding a replacement. The music was recorded, I presume, but the quest to find a new vocalist lasted for almost four years... The vocal recordings took almost a year(!), so the band's fire was quenched way before the album was finally done. This was the second last nail on the band's coffin (the last one will be the demo collection 'The Last Trauma' [2008]).

'Path to Death' consists of pretty varying thrash/speed metal. Sometimes it sounds like it was influenced by German legends such as Tankard, Destruction, Kreator and Assassin, sometimes a bit more weird, reminding me of Canada's Voivod, when they were on their most warped metal era. So, there are many straighter neck-grabbers, whereas some of the song take off and fly above the Earth's atmosphere. Then some of the songs mix these two styles, so there's more to the songs than the usual verse-verse-chorus execution. Slower heavy metal pieces 'Left to Live' and 'Mansu's Bitch' are fitting changes to the big picture. The songs are pretty catchy even though some tend to get a bit warped, and definitely do not lack of energy. There is memorable melody work and infectious riffs on this album, and they should catch any thrasher's attention. And I think the pace fluctuations throughout the album work nicely.

You really would not notice the band's loss of their interest to it all, but I think they lost it after it was all recorded during the long six years. The performances are all good and appropriately thrashy throughout the album. The vocalist sounds something like a more nasal version of Assassin's Robert Gonella, a tad clearer though, but with a huge accent. There's also a pinch of Schmier (Destruction) and Pedro Amorim (Overdose) in them. Speaking of the clear vocals, 'Mansu's Bitch' feature clear vocals reminding me of Mille Petrozza doing his clear ones! The gang vocals are well on the display. Sound-wise this is very close to Assassin's 'Interstellar Experience' (1988), so Necrodead kept it really old school. Meaning, it is sharp, clear, punching, in other words; fucking metal indeed! Something that I miss are the lyrics, because of the vocalist's huge accent.

Overall, 'Path to Death' is an interesting piece of thrash/speed metal from Chile. Try some sample songs on the band's pages to find out that they had more to offer than any average band.

Rating: 7+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
02/08/2009 12:11