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Thrashrockin' Beats

    
       
       
       
     
             
Wake Up Frankie are a heavy metal band from Finland formed in 2017, releasing to date one E.P. 'Green Is The New Black' (2020) and one album 'Thrashrockin' Beats' (2023).    
             
Founded by guitarists Otto Halli and Vesku Paakkonen, the band is completed by singer Kassu Merilainen, bass player Dimitris Kavvadas, and drummer Jari Rantanen - Wake Up Frankie are a tour de force, perfectly blending the sounds of Slipknot and Pantera to produce wave after wave of crushing aggression! Not for the faint of heart, 'Thrashrockin' Beats' is a ten song tsunami of searing thrash tinged heavy metal, featuring vicious vocals to match the music's fierce nature! The album opens with 'Total Thrashrock' - a high energy, full throttle tirade of in your face attitude! The band are menacing, a little scary too, yet sewn into the fabric of 'Total Thrashrock' is a melodious intent strong enough to keep the bands music one step away from brutal thrash!    
             
And if you thought the impact of 'Total Thrashrock' was emphatically immediate, 'Ratatata' will knock ya for six! The slamming riffs and rhythms are fucking deadly, sending listeners jaws dropping to the floor in amazement - take the groove of Pantera, the energy of Slipknot, and then turn the screw with regards to a "pissed off" nature, and you'll get somewhere near the sound of Wake Up Frankie. I say somewhere near, 'cause until you actually listen to the Helsinki five, you've no fucking idea how awesome they sound! Maintaining the albums breathless barrage, 'Killbeat' crushes with a heaviness greater than a thousand wrecking balls all hitting at once! The pace is incredible, the band upping energy and tempo to levels higher than ever recorded! To say the opening treble has taken me a little bit by surprise, may be the biggest fucking understatement of the year - it's not just Frankie the band are gonna wake up, it's every-fucking-one everywhere! And without dropping a beat, Wake Up Frankie march on with 'Drop Dead', the aggression level remaining just below maximum, the band keeping their collective feet planted in more than just the one genre too. It seems the Finnish outfit are not gonna keep within musical boundaries, breaking them down to stretch their horizons much further than many of their peers!    
             
And for the first time since the album began, blistering pace takes a back seat, the bands savage nature coming to the fore as 'Traitorous' foot stomps into view and shudders the ground, crumbling walls and razing buildings to rubble! 'Traitorous' comes across as a frightening fury blended with a menacing march, sending many listeners diving for safety behind the sofa! But there's no hiding from the all conquering power and force of Wake Up Frankie - it's gonna get ya wherever you are! So stand tall and front the fuck up, be a real metalhead and take everything the band throw at ya - 'Bloodlust' picking up pace and oozing energy in abundance! The intensity since 'Thrashrockin' Beats' began has been incredible, every song loaded to the hilt, 'Bloodlust' probably loaded with the most. And it's only now that methinks there's a little Fear Factory within the bands sonic assault too - an assault that rockets on with the heaviest barrage of savagery heard so far! 'Bathe In Blood' is a ferocity fuelled, fast paced, almost brutal slab of immense power, the band hitting listeners harder than a world champion heavy weight boxer! Wham! Bam! Thank you Wake Up Frankie!    
             
With the most attitude laden title on the album, 'Sh*t Outta Luck' is as devastating as its sentiment! The pace is electric, the band storming by faster than a force twelve hurricane, wrecking the necks of every single head banger in the world - local A&E departments along with pharmacies are gonna be incredibly busy dishing out painkillers and neck braces! But you gotta seize the moment though, they don't come along that often when you can just go fucking mental and head bang like it's the end of the world! Every song on offer clocks in at under four minutes in length, paving the way for a frantic, fast moving album of unforgiving heaviness. And infectious too - 'Seize The Day' taking the sounds of Fear Factory, Pantera and Slipknot, the band adding tonnes more oomph and their unique blend of melody and savagery. What an incredible combination, and one that works too! Very well! Better than very well, fantastically well in fact! The "Helsinki hurricane" as I'm gonna know them as from now on, bring their debut full length album to a close with 'Damage Control', keeping every level at maximum, maintaining the incredible intensity and infectious nature of 'Thrashrockin' Beats'.    
             
Overall, a fierce barrage of belting thrash come heavy metal, with an immense infectious level and tonnes of head bang ability.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Metal Gods TV    
             
             
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