Review by Sonny for Demoniac (CHL) - Nube negra (2023)

I have often been heard extolling the virtues of Chilean thrash metal and I believe it to be the only thrash metal scene that still retains any real relevancy. In the vanguard and on point of the Chilean assault on the world's thrash fans is the excellent Demoniac, whose previous album, 2020's So It Goes, only lost out in the race to be my AOTY for that year to MSW's superb Obliviosus. Well, it has been three years already since they dropped that beauty and they are back with a new album, Nube negra (Black Cloud) and it is no black cloud on my horizon, I can tell you.

There have been a change or two in the Demoniac camp since the release of So It Goes, with guitarist Nicolás Young leaving to be replaced by his Asedio band mate Javier Cisternas and drummer Rodrigo Poblete vacating the stool with mainman Javier Ortiz taking up the sticks in addition to providing vocals, guitar, keyboards, clarinet and accordion - oh, and all the lyrics and songwriting! Still, it is Ortiz' vision on show here and as such Nube negra doesn't miss a beat in continuing where So It Goes left off, despite the personnel changes.

After a short intro of storm effects and a quite reflective-sounding acoustic guitar piece, Nube negra leaps up and goes straight for the throat with a proper pummelling slice of high-octane blackened thrash that hits like a hammer blow. It seems that this time around the black metal influence to the band's thrashing is more pronounced, even so, the riffs still retain that memorable melodicism that marked So It Goes so well, whilst managing to sound even more aggressive than before. The short instrumental Marchageddon and third track Ácaro continue this blistering assault and everyone is on fine form, Ortiz' drumming is lethally potent and drives the track forwards at breakneck speed whilst his blackened vocals spit venom at all and sundry. La Caida continues in the same vicious vein, with Vicente Pereira's pronounced bass work that is so characterisric of Chilean thrash, combining with Ortiz' drumming to provide a precise and powerful framework upon which the guitarists can go to work as they unleash some lethal-sounding and expansive soloing with keyboard support also boosting the depth of the sound. At this point we have reached the final track on side one and Demoniac throw us their first curveball. As La Caida ends with a lone piano outro, we are led into an accordion-fronted piece, Synthèse d'accords that swirls along like something you may hear at some weird, nightmare circus showground.

Side two then kicks off with the seven-minute Granada which begins with an intro featuring Ortiz' haunting signature clarinet, that was used to great effect on their previous outing, however the track soon takes a darker turn as the traditional metal instruments enter the fray before finally erupting into a full-on head-charge with more soaring and savage-sounding lead work howling to the heavens as the guitarists let rip with gusto. Veneno continues in similar vein, with the guitars howling ever more frantically, like a duel between Randy Rhoads and Steve Vai, until at midpoint the track draws a huge breath and takes on a reflective and almost drone-like tone ending the tape slowing and the track grinding slowly to a halt with, for my money, the only misstep on the album. El Final closes out the album with a whirling dervish of a riff that burns a blistering trail to a dizzying album's end.

So, is Nube negra as good as So It Goes? Well, I'm still undecided. It's a close-run thing with the former still just about holding the lead, but I think Nube negra has a very real chance of toppling it as my favourite Demoniac album. It feels less progressive and other than the mid-point breather of Synthèse d'accords and the first part of Granada, it is a fiery and aggressive affair, guitar solos performed with an incendiary, almost neoclassical fervour, a brutally exacting rhythm section, high velocity melodic and memorable riffs and Ortiz' blackened vocals spitting out the lyrics with venomous spite. Everything taken into account, this makes for a 2023 thrash metal album that you absolutely must hear.