The Spanish-quartet VIOLBLAST return spectacularly to keep the fires of thrash-metal alive and burning brightly. On their new-release "Theater Of Despair", displays a steady-building maturity since their 2016, well-received "Conflict".  They continue along the same path, dancing effortlessly between styles of death, thrash and doom, though the obvious thrash sound is first and foremost in the VIOLBLAST delivery.

From the incendiary-crank of "Trivialization Of Murder", the intentions of the band cling firmly to the flag post.  This is a dramatic, eerie track which brings the head-banging joy back into the format.  Not a fast offering but it grooves and chugs at a magnificent pace.  Singer Andrés Pere has a vocal style which is very accessible, not too far gone into the ether of doom.  The title track "Theater Of Despair" continues along the same path, but reinforces the teams, whilst galvanizing the sound, whereas "New Orphans Elegy" and "Martyrs Without A Cause" may not be as memorable as other sections, they do carry a restrained charm that makes the album flow.

"Secret Reality" is one of the standouts, both lyrically and musically.  The band is oozing with confidence, comfortable in their own skin, again not too fast but very well constructed.  The lyrics show a quality of well constructed thought, not second place at any time to the overall sound and deliciously add to the impact:

"I can see through your affliction
I can feed you with my fiction
I can fill your emptiness
Over thrown your hopelessness"

"Prevail" is a tempo-swinging marvel, steeped in the violent, loud noise, it shows strengths and experimentation in guitarists Sebas Silvera and Santi Turk.  They are key to translating the old school thrash into a stuttering, stop-start which is the core of "Theater Of Despair".  The stunning "Painless" is completes a hat trick of downright decent metal.  A steady beat is provided from the trigger-happy skin beating  of Sergio Ruiz, kick-drums trigger faultlessly through the ten-tracks, and he is given enough space on the production to carve his own identity.

The sound of VIOLBLAST is nothing new, that is the fact, though they play it so well it as if they are creating the genre all over again.  In terms of this being only their second release, they have nailed it perfectly and show how, even when sticking to a well known format you can still bring surprises to the party.  A point of fact shown throughout "Theater Of Despair" and similar to their first release "Conflict", VIOLBLAST remains instantly recognizable, similar to the old-gods of thrash.