Demoniac (CHL) - So It Goes (2020)^{Release ID: 26665}

The scathing attack of Demoniac is a welcome approach to how I like my thrash metal. With a frantic pace to proceedings, So It Goes stamps and stomps a mark in sheet steel when the band are in full flow. Those sneering vocals and razor-sharp riffs over a plodding bass and relentless drums makes for a great combo. As such, there are parts of the record that connect well with me. The Kreator and Sadus vibes are strong in this group. Heck, even the progressive wizardry of Vektor gets incorporated into the Chileans sound. At face value, this is exciting music for any fan of thrash or speed metal. As always though, there is a lot to be said for some adherence to some semblance of control and restraint.

Whilst it is not unheard of that I am alienated by a band’s sound or chosen style, sometimes even by an individual track even, I would not call it a regular occurrence by any means still. In those moments when I detect that sense of “WTF is this?”, then this usually does not bode well for the artist or release concerned. The clarinet is not an instrument many of us would associate with metal music. Its inclusion here on So It Goes is an absolute bolt out of the blue for me and no matter how hard I try to fathom the rationale behind its appearance, I cannot attribute any reasonable logic to it. It just seems like one of the band members plays the clarinet as well as guitar and so they have included it on the album. It holds no place on the record for me beyond setting some element of atmosphere. Its timbre is too bold and the texture it induces is too warm for the aesthetic of the music Demoniac play. What annoys me even more is that there is no need for the band to try and make themselves stand out by way of such a gimmick. Demoniac can play. Some of their lead work is mindboggling. Their vocals are perfect for blackened thrash and that drummer certainly knows his way around his kit too. Hell, even the bassist can make their presence known without taking over whole sections of tracks with progressive wankery.

I cannot say the clarinet rules my experience of the record, there’s far too much high level, well played, intense thrash metal being played here for that. However, it does ruin the album for me overall. It is just so unnecessary an addition and it retains an almost anarchical presence when considered with the rest of the record. So much potential here as well but this one is destined for the lower end of my ratings.  So it goes, indeed.

For the longest time I believed that thrash metal held no more surprises for me. That, however, was before I had heard Demoniac's incredible 2020 sophomore release, So It Goes. Sure, I have been very impressed by the vitality of the contemporary South American thrash scene, but the albums I had heard to this point were in the main existing tropes, taken and sharpened to the point of lethality. Some excellent stuff that had rekindled my interest in new thrash metal material, but Demoniac have gone well beyond that and So It Goes is a complete revelation to my jaded sensibilities. They play intense thrash metal with blackened vocals and hints at progressive tendencies and with a technical proficiency that is exceedingly impressive. The opening couple of tracks illustrate that these guys can out-thrash the shit out of almost anyone currently playing thrash metal. Fast, vibrant riffing, snarling vocals and a rhythm section that will destroy your apartment block if they play within a mile of it, deliver everything you could ever want from a thrash metal album. Then, following the opening one-two salvo, Extraviado opens up with a.. jazz clarinet. This is a weird and wonderful kind of doom and jazz number that may well leave you scratching your head, but I personally think is a glorious curveball that lets you regain some composure before the next neck-mangler. Equilibrio fatal is another riff-fest of lightning-powered thrash that will remove the skin from any unprotected body parts as it hurtles from riff to riff and contains some terrific soloing and superb basswork from Vicente Pereira.

This then brings us to the second half of the album, which consists solely of the almost twenty-minute suite of the title track which is a thrash metal tour de force and the track where Demoniac really show their chops and leave the competition eating their dust. Riff follows riff, solos rise and fall, that awesome, crunchy bass keeps baring it's teeth, Javier Ortiz snarls and sneers his way through the lyrics and our old friend that crazy clarinet even makes a reappearance. This track is one of the most glorious, OTT celebrations of thrash metal you are ever likely to hear and with the searing power of the shorter tracks from side one makes for one of the greatest thrash albums I have ever heard. Believe me, if this was released in the late eighties this would still be held up as an out and out classic. If, like me, you thought thrash metal was dead then spin So It Goes and behold thrash's Lazarus-like resurrection.