Insect Metal is a genre I've not heard of, so I'm excited to see how this goes. Jokes aside, this is the second full length release from Thrash Metal band DEATHBLOW and feels very mature and informed by the group's wealth of experience, at the same time tossing out a few surprises and presenting a unique brand of the genre. For example, the largely instrumental "Brain Bugs" (vocals kick in after a couple minutes) is thrashy and powerful, but also cerebral and ethereal.

The straight-ahead thrash is also a cut above. The riffs on "Accelerated Decreptitude" are heavy and sharp, while not being restricted to classic chugging or pedal-tone riffs. The band throws in more melodic ideas and harmonies to keep the material fresh and memorable. Another thing this band deserves praise for is the virtuosity of the shred. When it's time for a lead break, the excess and enthusiasm behind every lick is palpable. It may be not choice or it may be tone, but the playing sounds more abstract and wild than the playing of other Thrash Metal lead players. And as shown by the ending lead on "Accelerated Decreptitude", wild and reckless shredding never replaces awareness of melody.

The last fading wails of that solo lead perfectly into "Nefarious Ends", which is a short but satisfying barrage of traditional and slightly off-kilter thrash riffs that weave together and culminate in a soaring twin guitar harmony. "Have you ever heard of insect politics?" asks the narrator before the title track slams forth with uncompromising audacity. The slight dissonance of the tremolo riffs, the steadfastness of the drums, and the tight lockstep in which the band does everything make "Insect Politics" a worthy title track. The little call and response verse after the (as expected) excellent solo is a favorite of mine and demonstrates how DEATHBLOW can write unique riffs and insert them seamlessly into conventional songwriting structures. The Melodic Death Metal inspired riff fading out at the end also points to a surprising diversity of influences.

Thrash Metal bass players don't always get the spotlight or the acclaim they deserve (all you have to do is say the words ...And Justice For All and you'll see what I mean); and to fix that, I submit "Through the Eyes of Delusion", which starts with a rumbling and swaggering bassline, that continues to churn underneath the rest of the band's activities. After the first time the vocalist says the title, "Through the Eyes of Delusion" transforms, turning from a solid Thrash Metal beast to a difficult-to-define masterpiece reminiscent of VEKTOR (or the more explicitly Thrash Metal DISTILLATOR). There are eerie harmonies, cosmic-sounding dual guitar riffs, and furious tremolo bursts with enough frequency to completely shatter any preconceptions of Thrash Metal as boring or generic.

I think the worst song here is "Convert or Die!", but I'm not saying that because it's a bad song, only because it is the most typical to what you would expect of a Thrash Metal song. It's most defining feature is the lavish lead towards the end and otherwise the riffs, though great, are nowhere near the instant mindfuck that they are on songs like "Through the Eyes of Delusion" or "Agent Zero"; the latter of which is more obviously thrashy but creative as all hell. There are multiple solos that flow into and from sublime harmonies, there are pummeling brute force riffs, and there are high-flying, penetrating tremolo melodies all bouncing around in a sea of swirling yet perfectly clear madness.

The album ends with the fastest, most urgent-sounding song on the album; "Behind Closed Doors". The vocals are spat out with the venom and fury of a demon high on PCP, the riffs smolder with grit and edge, and the rhythm section barrels forth like a tidal wave. Yet at the same time, there is space for melody and hair-raising histrionics in the lead guitar department. A lot of shredders or bands centered around shredding overemphasize the shred at the expense of blander riffing and rhythm parts, but DEATHBLOW preserves the quality of every element, often writing in such a way that riffs and leads become one another. It is very early to say things like this, but I believe wholeheartedly that Insect Politics is going to be on a lot of 'album of the year' lists going forward (it came out so late in 2020 that it's basically a 2021 release), and rightly so. This is a boundary-pushing work of genius that sparks hope for the future of Thrash Metal and of metal in general.