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Riffobia

    
       
       
       
     
             
Riffobia are a thrash metal band from Greece formed in 2011 releasing three albums to date - 'Laws Of Devastation' (2013), 'Death From Above' (2016), and 'Riffobia' released in 2023...    
             
...featuring ten songs of pure thrash metal over a fierce forty minutes. The band have been quiet for the last six years, but are now back with a bang! The new album is full of aggression and hunger - fans of Kreator, Sodom, and Testament drooling with anticipation at the new Riffobia material! Well anticipate no more my friends, for the new album is here - and with a cover, that in my eyes, bears a bit of a resemblance to Iron Maiden's 1990 album cover for 'No Prayer For The Dying', take a look here! Anyway, the sub two minute instrumental album opener 'The Divine Infinity' pushes fans anticipation levels just that little bit higher...    
             
...and then boom! The album is underway proper with the high velocity 'God Of Hate' - forging a savage path across the land with outright brutality. The band delivering an electrifying introduction to their new album, full of snarl and grit, and a heaviness that sits Riffobia at the heavier end of the thrash metal genre. And talking of all things heavy - 'Herald Of Pain' is a much heavier march of thrash, building up to a scorching speed, hurtling along like the Japanese bullet train! The urgency of the opening couple of songs has been phenomenal, the band not waiting for any late comers, blazing a fiery trail of fire and brimstone! An absolute cracker of an album opening continues to show no mercy with regards to savagely battering listeners with brutal thrash - 'Merciless' the next bludgeoning the band dish out! A bludgeoning that is full of pace, energy, and ferocity. 'Merciless' is the fastest song out of the opening treble, banging heads hard wherever it is played and heard!    
             
And without a pause for breath, the band storm on with the furiously fast paced 'Prisoner', and a head bang ability that's just shot through the fucking roof! Even die hard head bangers are gonna struggle to keep pace with this one - necks stretching to breaking point and beyond! Better get the "relief from muscular aches and strains" spray ready for the morning - you're gonna hurt, trust me! 'Consume & Obey' offers a little respite from the all out thrash fest heard so far, with its more sedate intro - that is until the fifty five second mark when all fucking hell breaks loose! With 'Consume & Obey' assuming the albums blistering thrash metal attack, accelerating to top speed and battering the senses with immense savagery. Is there no escaping the bands brutality? Apparently not! Riffobia storming on with the marauding 'Murder' - and an electrifying speed that is just out of this world. Mosh pits and metalheads are gonna go insane for this album - the head bang ability at an all time high...    
             
...with no signs that it's gonna drop any time soon, the album powering on with 'Welcome To Hell' - and no, not a cover of the Venom classic (from the bands 1981 album 'Welcome To Hell') - delivering a cacophony of thrash metal that is immensely infectious and massively head bang-able. And if you ain't banging your head - are you dead! 'Riffobia' is the head banging feast that every thrasher has been looking for. And with just two songs left to go, there's no sign of the album slowing down, 'Riffobia' in fact getting quicker with the all out thrash attack of the red hot scorching 'No Turning Back'. A simply irresistible slab of thrash 'No Turning Back' is a glorious gallop that might even attract a few traditional metallers to the bands soundscape! Bringing a cracking album to a close is the seven minute long 'Soul Collector' - opening with a mellow guitar intro, building an anticipation fuelled crescendo that turns into a menacing foot stomp with snarling vocals - vocals which have been snarling all album long! But seem to be more sinister sounding now the metal is sinister sounding too! The slowest of all the songs on the album 'Soul Collector' is still a throbbing tirade of thrash.    
             
Overall, a high velocity rampage of brutally savage thrash metal with an insane amount of head bang ability.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Metal Gods TV    
             
             
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