BASANOS “Cracking The Sledge”

BASANOS
“Cracking The Sledge”
(NoiseHead Records)
Thrash metal might not be the first thing you think of when Italian metal is mentioned but there’s a great tradition for it too in Italy. Think Necrodeath and Schitzo and you have to great Italian thrash giants. Basanos (from Austria) are more groove oriented in a Sepultura-way. Maybe even more metalcore (lo and behold) in their sound. But not to such a degree that it becomes bothersome. This is one kind of thrash that I have no problems with. There’s the already mentioned groove but you also get the right amount of anger and attitude for “Cracking The Sledge” to work over an album’s worth of songs. Thrash metal for the 21st century. Anders Ekdahl