Phronexis - Opulence of Metal (2024)

4★

The thrash attack of 2024 is strong, folks. Much like The Usurper, this was a random find for me, but when I listened to it, I thought it was pretty killer. As should be tradition with thrash, it’s a little unrefined and amateurish – but in a good way. What I mean by this is that these are songs that any thrash band could have written, but it’s the overall quirks of PHRONEXIS that make them stand out. First things first, these guys are Bolivian, singing in English, so their diction isn’t quite amazing, but lots of thrash bands “suffer” from this same issue. The vocals are this bizarre mix of high falsettos and standard thrash harsh vocal fanfare, but they pair so well with the oddball riffing of these songs. Speaking of riffs, they are all over the place, with some being melodic and some being brutal, with others being more heavy metal-esque, but always cool at the very least. The rhythm work is nothing amazing, but it does its job and with all the variations in groove throughout these songs, I can’t really complain. The bottom line is that you won’t be blown away by this release, but it’s a very solid sophomore album and shows that PHRONEXIS have a lot of talent even in their early stages.

FAVORITE TRACKS: “Zoonotic,” “Mantis,” “Cursed and Blessed”

FOR FANS OF: Necrosis (Chile), Destruction, Massakre

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Originally published in Aug. '24 (Issue No. 4)