Finnish four-piece TASTEFUL TURMOIL did a little late-night grave robbing, dug up a Thrash grave from the early 90s, reanimated it with some science-y... machines (I have no clue how they make dead people alive) that were powered by their instruments, and successfully brought their creation back to life. TASTEFUL TURMOIL's second full-length album "The Phantom Fear" takes us under swirling, gray skies in "Prophecies" where a crackling pyre burns and we are given orders to die in the seething flames. "(March) Into the Flames" features towering walls of inferno, instruments blazing. All of Riku Lauri's talent is showcased during the solo.

"The Phantom Fear" exudes major badass energy. Fiery fast-paced riffs that come charging out from the gates of oblivion, the flames from the friction setting everything they touch ablaze. The machinery of "Man, The Machine" extends to "Gears of Greed", both songs a reflection on how humans are just the worst in the empathy department. Title track "The Phantom Fear" is a slow-plodding, dirge-like track that features harpy-like vocals that contrast sharply against Severi Kaako's usual brooding growls. The brain-consuming "Noxious Offender" seeks to destroy itself from the inside out with Speed Metal-style drums and riffs, the track carving a path of destruction that ends in a twisted metal scrap heap and screams.

"The Phantom Fear" is the fear that we all pretend not to notice. That feeling of dread that we can't tell if we are in danger or just overreacting. And in an environment full of uncertainty and shifty individuals, that anxiety can wreak havok on anyone's psyche. TASTEFUL TURMOIL injects a huge dose of acidity to their Thrash that adds a nice violent streak to their psychotic edge, as if they somehow weren't aggro enough. "The Phantom Fear" is here to remind you all that you are hiding from yourself.