Review by Saxy S for Critical Defiance - No Life Forms (2022)

I might have to come to terms with the fact that thrash metal might just not be for me anymore. It feels like a toxic relationship at times; where I know I should leave, but something just keeps bringing me back hoping for a change. A genre that seems so contempt with playing a very safe formula of thrash music that borrows almost on cue from Megadeth, Slayer and Exodus. The genre has next to no innovation and until someone comes in to fill the void left behind by Vektor, I may never see a need to return to this genre again.

But that opinion does appear to be changing. While many mainstream outlets are paying attention to a new wave of Japanese metal, extreme metal seems to have found a comfortable mold in South America, and specifically, Chile. Within the last six months, I have been introduced to technical death metallers, Inanna, and in thrash, Parkcrest and Critical Defiance. And each album has provided some positive strides for their respective genres, with No Life Forms easily being the most surprising album of the bunch.

Let's get something clear out the way quickly: thrash metal is not a very difficult genre of music to perform. With roots firmly in punk, a messy and juvenile approach is very easy to replicate. For this, Critical Defiance would get a free pass, but would have to compliment it with something else, particularly in the songwriting. For that, Critical Defiance are doing thrash metal far better than most others. No Life Forms is melodic and hook heavy; every track is built on one or two ideas and weaved together instead of just piling riffs one after the other with no sense of direction. 

What also helps is the length of this record. I cannot begin to tell you how agonizing it is to look at a new thrash metal album with a runtime exceeding fifty minutes. Critical Defiance are literally being defiant here by having a record short of half-an-hour. Tracks are punchy and to the point. Guitar riffs take center stage on every piece and they influence every other piece of the song; from the bass lines (yes there are bass lines here!) to the percussion and the vocals. Solos are aplenty and most are implemented remarkably well, except for maybe the instrumental "Elephant", which does suffer from sounding like a glorified wank instead of say "Orion".

Compositionally I think No Life Forms is trying a little too hard to be like classic thrash, but Critical Defiance have a unique timbre about them making them stand out from some still clear influences. Such as the structure of "Kill Them with Kindness" being a direct copy of "Angel of Death". While the rest of the album (i.e. "A World Crumbling Apart", "Dying Breath" and "Warhead (Emotional Fallout)") takes a lot of liberties to early Sepultura.

No Life Forms by Critical Defiance might not be the most modern thrash album ever, but for what it's worth, it is a great album. Music does not need to be progressive in order to be good, it just has to sound like it. This band has mastered the thrash metal formula of old in order to turn it into something new and if more artists start following in their wake, thrash metal will be better for it.

Best Songs: Altering the Senses, Dying Breath, Kill The with Kindness, No Life Forms