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Filthgrinder

    
       
       
       
     
             
Xenos are a thrash metal band from Italy formed in 2018 by bass player and singer Ignazio Nicastro, releasing their debut album 'Filthgrinder' in 2020. Inspired by legends of thrash Megadeth, Xentrix, Annihilator and Slayer, 'Filthgrinder' is an aggressive rampage of ferocity, and in your face attitude. The album gets underway with the mellow 'Soldados' - a two and a half minute instrumental that builds and builds, and leads into the opening song...    
             
...the title song 'Filthgrinder'. Uncompromising and pulling no punches, 'Filthgrinder' (the song) is aggression fuelled and savage. The raspy, throaty vocals will more than likely lacerate your throat should you be foolish enough to try to copy them. There is very much an old school flavour here, with Slayer, Kreator and Xentrix springing immediately to mind. The savagery continues with the faster paced 'Post Apocalypse Breed' with its highly Slayer-like riffage. The scowling vocals only add to the songs already aggressive stance. If you're looking for a melodic thrash album in the vein of Testament, Metal Church, or Flotsam And Jetsam - you need to look elsewhere. This is thrash of the brutal, savage, and ferocious nature. You have been warned!    
             
Featuring a guitar solo from Jeff "Mantas" Dunn, 'Birth Of A Tyrant' is one of those slower but extremely heavy thrash metal stomps. It's frantic, fierce, and ferocious, and is gonna crush skulls and break bones wherever it decides to wreak havoc. 'So Old, So Cold' increases the intensity and in your face attitude, fairly rumbling along at pace. There is also a feeling of a release of a lot of pent up aggression - 'So Old, So Cold' a furious furore of angst and attitude. Xenos aren't pulling any punches, the band as menacing as Mike Tyson in his prime, and as devastating as a major volcanic eruption. Picking up the pace and adding a huge amount of frantic energy, 'Iconoclast' screams past at high velocity. And the vocal delivery is more throaty than anything heard previously, Ignazio spitting venom with wild abandon.    
             
The mid tempo heavy foot stomping style of thrash makes a welcome return to the album, if only briefly, as 'Angel Of Silence' begins, becoming a high paced and highly frantic rampage. Slowing the pace, Xenos deliver a cracking cover of 'Peace Sells', by thrash legends Megadeth from their 1986 album 'Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?'. The pace is close to the original, the whole feel and sound is very similar too, the only difference is the growling vocals of Ignazio. Megadeth's main man Dave Mustaine is well known for his venomous vocal delivery - Ignazio adds a bit of menace too. The final song on the album, 'Of Magma And War', features guest vocals by Anihilated front man Simon Cobb. Ignazio and Cobb trade aggression, as 'Of Magma And War' rattles by at a fairly fast pace, rounding the album off in explosive style.    
             
Overall, a savage barrage of aggressive thrash metal, Xenos pull no punches, hitting very hard with menacing brutality.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Xenos    
             
             
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"a varied array of thrash, ranging from brutal and savage, to mean and moody, to fast and mid tempo, 'The Dawn Of Ares' is a very addictive listen" Read Review      
     
     
     
           
             
             
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