Mental Devastation – The Delusional Mystery of the Self Part I (What Thrash is Supposed to Sound Like)

 

Phew, now this title is sure a fooking mouthful. Maybe that’s why it took me so long to finish this review, I was still reading it lol. Actually, I waited because to be honest most of the December promo pool was absolute garbage. This one came in rather early so I sat on it, expecting to give it its proper due before the drop date of the 31st, but then I realized so much of what I was receiving to be released in the first week or so of January was trash I thought I’d just wait until I had pretty much nothing to review and would then drop it. It was worth the wait for you, me, whoever, either way. That thrash metal you used to listen to and get all nostalgic about? This is what it was supposed to sound like.

   

Say hello to probably the best thrash band from out of Chile, hot damn, and definitely one of the new vanguard worldwide. Mental Devastation absolutely kill everything a thrashmaster would expect. The riffs are post-nuclear apocalyptic, the production is slightly muffled, giving it an old school, yet new school presence, and the vocals are angry and self-assured. Solos abound, as do some niceties like atmospheric samples, but man, goddamn this is just good shit. Longer than the usual, but never wearing down the listener, The Delusional Mystery of the Self Part I (phew, so long), is exactly what all that stuff you used to listen to was supposed to sound like but didn’t. Sorry Anthrax fans, Metallica (OS version), or whatever, you hadn’t heard Mental Devastation yet so how could you know it was all a lie before?

 

Mental Devastation Official Facebook

Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls

Mental Devastation – The Delusional Mystery of the Self Part I
Blood Harvest Records, Nube Negra Productions, Suicide Records
Cover Art: Martin Riveros
4.8 / 5