Ok, here's the deal. Lately I have come across many Italian bands, either for review, either for interview. This time Italy has something important to say. And that thing is... THRASH 'TILL DEATH MOTHERFUCKERS! Hell yeah! This band just made my day! I didn't know that Italy could produce such a great Thrash band! Oh, I would be greedy if I didn't mention the other Italian gods, Necrodeath. So, one more band has just been added in my Italian Thrashers list!
Node were unknown to me up to now. They were formed in 1994 by guitarist Steve Minelli (played as a session musician for Lacuna Coil and I really don't know where the fuck he plays now, I have searched and I haven't understood if he plays in Node or Death SS). The strange thing is that the founder of this band isn't anymore in the line up. This is not something common. Anyway, though Node started out as a Death Metal/Grindcore band, their second demo CD, Ask (1995), put them into a more melodic category with bands like Pantera, Metallica and Slayer (it's still more melodic than Grindcore!). As God Kills is their most mature work up to now and their fourth full-length album. It is also their first one in their new label, Massacre Records.
So, you can take some The Haunted aggression, mix it with some Slayer and add some Hatesphere on it. You're damn right. The result is Node for sure! I can also say that I sensed some influence by Destruction's latest albums. I still can't believe that Italy can produce so aggressive Thrash Metal! No offence, it's just that Italy usually produces Power, Gothic and Black Metal bands... So, As God Kills is a very strong album which takes the American Thrash and mixes it with Swedish Thrash/Death Metal. You can call what they play Thrashcore. They reminded me a lot of The Haunted's new record, The Dead Eye (2006). The production is great and that's where it is more than obvious that they try to approach the Swedish scene. I admit that they have completely achieved it. This album is heavy as hell and I can tell that for sure! They perfectly combine aggression with melody. No, don't get confused! We're not talking about one more melodic shit band or At The Gates wannabes, we're talking about one strong band that I'm pretty confident that they will make their name be heard in no much time. I think that Massacre must be proud of having such a band in their roster.
I think that it will take me a long time before I get this CD out of my portable CD player! I am looking forward to their next release and I think that they won't let me down. Anyway, I don't have anything more to say. I just have to rate this CD and the rating can't be anything else than...