I seem to have a soft corner for bands with names starting with something on 'war', although quality of music is not always guaranteed, it's the cheesiness that attracts me to dig more of these bands. Interestingly we have got a South African Thrash band WARGRAVE with their debut full length album "Suffering The Void" which was released last November.

The album artwork is actually very deceptive, because while the artwork gives the vibe of dark fast paced Blackened Thrash, the music is very different and in fact made me re-evaluate my opinions about the music multiple times even as I was listening to the songs. The album starts with an interesting song in "Blood on the Hands of the Holy". Although the song is fast paced and aggressive in nature, the synthetic guitar solo make a huge difference to the sound of the band. The riffs are sharp melodic Thrash Metal-ish and the vocals are Thrash growls and are very much audible, although the lyrics go get lost here and there due to the chaotic nature of the vocals. "Delusions of Grandeur" is an excellent instrumental containing soft mid-tempo riffs as the sharper riffs take control as the song progresses. Reminded me of another classic song of the same name by the band ARTILLERY.

"From the Shadows" has very melodic aggression to it, which to be frank actually is the core of the sound of the band. The pleading and crying vocals are absolutely bang on and with the chugging riffs and along with the solos, make it one memorable song, as the band creates unique sound that I haven't heard under the Thrash genre is a very long time. And all this without sounding Progressive, to me is mighty impressive as far too many bands start sounding progressive as they try to experiment within their genre, and in turn lose their core audience and attract newer ones leading to identity crisis. But none of those issues creep in here as the lads manage to make everything sound sensible even amidst the neck breaking riffs. "Mutual Enemy" is a much faster song as the synthetic riffs and the main song riffs really take it to a next level. Although I must mention that, in the process of getting faster and getting more chaotic, the song loses a bit of its sensitivity and beauty that it had in the previous songs.

The influence of ARTILLERY is again felt in "Tortured Beyond Recognition" with the sharp eerie riffs, but the band puts in enough meat and innovative music into it to make it enough to not sound too similar to the old Thrash legends. The fast paced growling vocals really makes a big impact in this song, and somehow feels inconsistent in its impact throughout the album. But having said that, to speak only about the vocals, although they aren't extremely new or creative, I think they are impressive Thrashy growling vocals never the less, and works really well for the band, although its impact is inconsistent as mentioned above. Talking about vocals, the vocalist Heinrich Kollner implements both fast paced growling Thrashy vocals, and a slower mid-tempo melodic vocals in almost every song, each version swinging one after the other.

The band seems to just get better as the album progresses as felt in the song "A Damaged Fortress", as even the fast paced solos are really bang on, and the song structure gets more polished still managing to sound fresh and innovative. "Suffering the Void" starts with some slow guitar work before blasting some insanely technical hair lifting Thrash Metal which is both innovative and chaotic at the same time. The riffs are really thought out and innovative and the band really deserves a applause to carefully making sure that the latter half of the album doesn't die out in offering something new to the listener and keeping the listener interested and engrossed. The album ends with 8:28 min song in "Blind to the Light". I have mixed feelings towards this song, because the first half of the song really tested my patience and sounded monotonous, but somehow the song ends well due to some really excellent guitar solos, and growling vocals. I am guessing it would take more time for the song to grow on me, as I listen to it multiple times.

All in all, "Suffering The Void" is an excellent debut album for the South African Thrashers. Clocking just above 36 min, the album keeps you interested all the way through, even though there are some weak parts in the record. It's the unique sound of Thrash that really caught my attention here, and seasoned fans of the genre should really dig this. Even if you are not one, I can see this album appealing to you as well.