Brazilian thrash has always been viewed with a keen eye, especially due to the blockbuster international success of Sepultura in the late 80’s and early 90’s through their “Beneath the Remains” to “Roots” album era. So when given the chance to look into the sound of female thrash trio Nervosa through their debut album Victim of Yourself, you wonder if some of that veteran style will seep into these 12 tracks.
Right from the first acidic scream that explodes out of bassist Fernanda Lira’s voice on “Twisted Values”, you can tell that Nervosa are true to the principles of underground thrash and not seeking out pristine production values and obvious ‘breakdowns’ to gain the biggest audience possible. The band tend to employ rhythmic patterns that are very synchronistic – the guitar riffs following the drum patterns, the melodies falling right in line with the riff and drums – almost in the way that worked for bands like Razor or Cyclone, along with a healthy dose of Destruction as vocally Angela from Arch Enemy factors in if thrown through a Chuck Schuldiner blender.
Not everything is delivered at warp speed tempos: “Wake Up and Fight” and the lower punch for “Envious” work just as well as the pummeling thick ‘call to action’ songs like “Death” and the 2:10 “Deep Misery”. Fernanda isn’t content to sit in the background with her bass antics- she can certainly wield fast melting parts in the title cut that would rival the best work of Michael Spencer or Steve Harris. Let’s hope that the vast majority judge Nervosa on musical output versus ‘they play great for females’… because I think their tenacity and energy can go toe to toe with most of the thrash bands coming at you from any country today.
Active since 2010, Victim of Yourself is a great debut and let’s hope that they become road warriors as I think more people need to hear the rawer, uncompromising side of thrash to showcase all facets of this fine genre.
Matt Coe, HMS
Older reviews