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NEFARIOUS “Addicted To Power”
NEFARIOUS “Addicted To Power”
By Dr. Abner Mality
Bow down to NEFARIOUS, because you are in the presence of thrash royalty when you hear this band! Talk about a thrash supergroup! Rick Hunolt from the glory days of EXODUS, Katon W, DePena from HIRAX, drumming madman Will “The Beast” Carroll from DEATH ANGEL, Doug Piercy from HEATHEN, ANVIL CHORUS and many others and Tom Gears, bass beater from BLIND ILLUSION and ANCIENT MARINER. That’s practically a living history of California thrash metal right there!
And that’s just what NEFARIOUS sounds like...a prime example of classic Cali thrash. These guys gel together so well and have come up with a debut that will thrill anybody who grew up on EXODUS, TESTAMENT and DEATH ANGEL. Katon Depena has never sounded better than he does here. HIRAX plays basic, almost grindcore thrash and his vocals for that band are more like sharp barks. Here he really gets to sing and comes up with some great vocal lines on “Mirror Death”, “Master Plan” and especially “One Nation Enslaved”. This is a real revelation.
Backing him up are a crew of total veterans. I can hear a lot of Rick Hunolt’s old school EXODUS chugging throughout the record, but heard nowhere better than “Together We Rise”, which has got a riff straight off of the “Impact Is Imminent” album. His lead work is also excellent, as is Doug Piercy’s. Doug has been in the Bay Area scene since 1980 if not before and needs more recognition...there’s a touch of the more melodic HEATHEN in the lead work here. As for Will Carroll, we all know this guy lives up to his monicker “The Beast” and he doesn’t disappoint. The real wake-up call is the bass playing of Tom Gears, which is thick and juicy across every track. I’ve never been a big BLIND ILLUSION fan, but maybe I should go back and check them out, because Tom’s work really rocks!
The only song here I thought was a little lightweight was “Day After”, which doesn’t compare with the rest. On the opposite side of the scale, “One Nation Enslaved” is off the chart with totally thrash-tastic riffing and Katon’s best singing. An anthem to match the best of the 80’s!
This is more than just a retro record. This is the essence of what this style of music was all about!
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