Being a Thrash fan at heart, I couldn't resist reviewing the debut EP of new Thrash band from my hometown here in Bangalore. PISTON have just released their debut EP titled "Draw First Blood". I had missed all their live shows so far, but had heard great things about them and this being released independently, it got me excited all the more.

The sharp fierce fast paced riffs give you the taste of the band's sound right from the first song in "Mutiny". The screaming vocals and the fast riffs have EXODUS and OVERKILL influence written all over them. The 3 min song in "Enslaved Minds" is another belter of a song. Full of fast paced solos, and hair lifting riffs, and occasional gang vocals, it's a perfect song for live shows. "Walls Of Sanity" pummels your ears with groups of bullet like riffs, than make you air guitar in no time. There is a shred of chaotic Teutonic Thrash to the song. However it must be said that the solos here are unrecognizable and a bit disappointing. The title track "Draw First Blood" has that unique punk-ish Thrash sound, that I think is very unique to underground Thrash bands from India as I have never heard bands from elsewhere bring that sound to the table, although soon the song turns into a chaotic moshpit generator, with few solos sprinkled in the middle. The EP ends with a cover of SEPULTURA's "Arise". Its honestly is not as impressive as the original, and this version falls short of being impressive for me.

Barring the last cover song, the original stuff here is surely promising. It's not without flaws (read, poor production, intentional or otherwise). There have been flurry of Thrash and Death Metal bands from the subcontinent, but their output seems to be far and few in between. So, the only question that needs to be asked for a promising band like PISTON is, where will they go from here, because the first blood seems real sweet?