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Corruptor - Towering Inferno review



Reviewer:
N/A
Band: Corruptor
Album: Towering Inferno
Style: Thrash metal
Release date: January 06, 2010
A review by: jupitreas


01. Inferno
02. Fires Of Dissolution
03. Full Force
04. Nightmare To Come
05. Burned In Waco
06. Malevolent Creation
07. Iron Empire
08. Darkest Of Days
09. Unleashed
10. Dead To Me

Remember Gex the gecko? No? Didn't think so.

Anyway - Towering Inferno by Corruptor. One could call this a tribute album of sorts for 80s thrash metal and the Bay Area scene in particular. And that's because that is exactly what it is. Plain and simple.

You've really got it all here - there's the barked immediacy of Metallica, the headbanging rifforama of Exodus, the proto-death assault of Testament, some Dimebaggy melodic groove and occasionally even the high pitch squeal of an unlucky construction worker who's had something very dear to him ripped off. The only thing missing here is the hardcore urgency of Slayer but this is because Corruptor is much more into the classic metal sounding stuff.

Reviving the rotting corpse of classic thrash is all the rage right now but few bands do it as well as Corruptor do. These guys have some talent! It's just all in the songwriting and the plethora of riffs that any real thrash fan will find appealing. Vocals are very impressive throughout with singer Tommy J. being able to flawlessly contribute barks, growls and even high pitched wails. The production is appropriate, although a tad too clean perhaps. Not a big deal though since the band delivers the goods with the riffs and melodies. And solos. Lots and lots of them too!

So, dear reader, you might be asking, why am I so unimpressed? Well, it's because Corruptor is Gex.

Gex - the intended Mario or Sonic of the 3DO gaming console. All the critics agreed that Gex was a good platformer and that the team behind it was talented. But who remembers Gex now? Yeah - only a bunch of game nerds. Mario is still synonymous with the classic platformer and Sonic is still synonymous with a successful attempt at redefining the genre. Just as Metallica will always define thrash and Pantera stand as an example of a successful variation of the style. And Corruptor? Like Gex - cool but soon forgotten.





Written on 08.06.2010 by With Metal Storm since 2002, jupitreas has been subjecting the masses to his reviews for quite a while now. He lives in Warsaw, Poland, where he does his best to avoid prosecution for being so cool.


Comments

Comments: 4   Visited by: 68 users
08.06.2010 - 21:28
LeChron James
Helvetesfossen
I remember Gex. haven't heard the name in probably 12 years but, i've heard of Gex haha
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Kick Ass, Die Young

Less is More
Stay Pure
Stay Poor

Music was my life, music brought me to life and music is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there will be a final waltz in my head that only I can hear.
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08.06.2010 - 22:46
Chainer
Witch Hunter Gen
Gex was a pretty solid game, the only reason people forgot about it was that they stopped making games, so if the album is as good as Gex and they keep cranking out material, their future could be a bit brighter than the old lizard Gex
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Written by Dangerboner on 02.11.2009 at 08:11

Everything he doesn't like is metalcore. Britney Spears, Elton John, Michael Moore, and green beans are also metalcore, in case you guys didn't know.

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24.12.2010 - 23:53
Fu-Man
I've been listening to the album a lot recently (picked it up in an Ebay auction with like ten million indie albums) and I think it's pretty good. Though I would like to poitn out just because something is forgotten doesn't mean that it is still isn't good. Schindler's List of example was all the rage in the 90's, yet nobody talks about any more 2 decades later. That doesn't mean it isn't a good movie or that it isn't enjoyed it's just not all the rage anymore.

Gex was far better than Mario. It had more levels, better graphics, better universe, harsher rating ( T > E), and you played as a lizard (COME ONE!). Gex defined Playstation platformers, yet Mario got all the attention because that was Nintendo. I mean to be fair the game did invent 3D jump physics, but that's about it. I see this similar to most metal bands compared to Metallica. They're better, but Metallica came first so they get all the attention despite their albums getting progressively worse from the second. I mean the band is more or less a slower Exodus.
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17.11.2012 - 18:06
tuerda
This is a pretty solid thrash album, but my main complaint is the guitar tone. The guitar has sort of a cheesy plastic kind of sound that would fit better in power metal than in thrash.

That being said, these guys make magic with their crappy guitars. Thrash your heart out!
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