Band:	Blood Tsunami
Album:	Grave Condition
Style:	Death metal, Thrash metal
Release date:	April 2018

01. Poison Tongue
02. The Allegory Of The Cave
03. The Collapse
04. Gargoyle
05. The Acid King
06. The Cruel Leading The Fool
07. In The Dungeon Of Rats
08. For Faen i Hælvete!
09. Steel Meets Steel

Grave Condition is the fourth full-length album by Norwegian thrashers Blood Tsunami, but it was initially intended to be a 7" with only four songs. Among countless empty beer cans, scratched Slayer vinyls and denim jackets with large The Exploited patches, the band found some older unreleased material in their basement; suddenly they realised they had an album.

Grave Condition is a furious, belligerent, face-melting and natural follow-up (or prequel? or b-sides collection?) to For Faen! The gas pedal is floored during the 27:30 minutes of the album's duration with vibes of old Slayer, Venom and Bay Area thrash echoing throughout, featuring less classic heavy metal melody injections than before and more of a hardcore/punk attitude. The latter component is evident from the black and white cover art, which is also very reminiscent of the band's previous offering, so I guess this record can be viewed as For Faen!'s twin brother with the same amount of acne and testosterone.

Beginning with the scream "Helveteee!" and never slowing down until the end, Grave Condition is sadistic and thundering thrash metal. The riffs vary from punkish to a bit more melodic but always aggressive and fast, at times there's a Scandinavian feel and the fiery solos are scattered everywhere. The production is also on the raw side, adding to the old-school, '80s thrash atmosphere.

Blood Tsunami have included two songs already released before, "In The Dungeon Of Rats" and "For Faen i Hælvete!", along with a cover of Onslaught's "Steel Meets Steel", which means that we have less than 20 minutes of music we haven't heard before in total (and, given the throwback songwriting in general, it's not exactly that we've never heard all this stuff before).

So, besides being violent and fun, as good thrash should be, this is mostly one-dimensional and not always inspired. The previously offered variety, with the more NWOBHM-influenced, progressive and instrumental "Godbeater" and "Horsehead Nebula" off Thrash Metal and Grand Feast For Vultures respectively, is sorely absent. In all fairness, the last two albums of Blood Tsunami sound and feel less "mature" than their first two.

Shortcomings aside, Grave Condition is a record to listen to if you're looking to bang your head, feel the blood rush uncontrollably in your veins and dangerously increase your heartbeat. It does ejaculate prematurely on old and overused bed sheets but overall it makes for a good soundtrack to instigate a riot.

"Whatta hell is goin' on?
You speak with a poison tongue
I bet strife and conflict turns you on"