Band:	Mayhemic
Album:	Toba
Style:	Blackened thrash metal
Release date:	July 26, 2024
A review by:	X-Ray Rod

01. Kollarbone Crushed Neanderthal
02. Extinction & Mystery
03. Valley Of The Tundra
04. Triumph Portrait
05. Eschatological Symphony
06. Hazardous Prowler
07. Olduvai's Lullaby
08. Toba

In Chile, first you get the thrash, then you get the black, then you get the headbanging.

Chile has recently got into a great run of punchy thrash with a heavy amount of blasphemy thrown into it. The veterans Pentagram Chile recently returned from their slumber, and Demoniac (CHL) absolutely killed it last year, along with solid releases from Concilivm and Mortify the year before that. All these bands sound quite different from each other, but there is a common theme of trying to create a mix of evil thrash, black and death metal. Even doom metal acts like Procession and Capilla Ardiente have some hints of thrash sprinkled here and there. So basically, Chile likes to spice their metal thrashy, but it has to be evil, primitive and blasphemous thrash a la old Kreator and Sodom.

So enter Mayhemic. I gotta be honest: I hate the name. But I also admit it works for this type of music, because there is no bullshiting around. You know exactly what you are getting into and there is no room for questioning. I mean, “Kollarbone Crushed Neanderthal”? What the hell is that? Is it when a Neanderthal crushes your collarbone with a club? Is it a Neanderthal that got his own collarbone crushed? Why is it spelled with a K? Fuck if I know, but I just don’t care. The track kicks in along with my adrenaline levels.

The title Toba is most likely a reference to the Toba Eruption, which was one of the largest volcanic eruptions in the Earth’s history. Ballsy name for your debut album, Mayhemic. Fortunately for us, the name and its implication is justified by the music. But already after the first two skull-cracking tracks, Mayhemic decides to slow down a bit to display a keen sense of catchyness in “Valley Of The Tundra”. This switch is welcomed but also brief, as the band quickly returns to a much faster, intense approach. You know the drill by now: Furious riffs, lightning-fast solos and drums going wild with high-pitched, maniacal, goofy-but-still-fucking-cool shrieking vocals on top.

Sometimes the style can be almost too overwhelming though. Case in point, the first half of “Triumph Portrait” is such a vicious display of blitzkrieg riffs that I can barely make heads or tails of the song. It seems that it’s going to fall apart at any moment until the two-minute mark, when it finally slows down just a bit. This chaos is enhanced by the cavernous production that increases the animalistic, raw nature of the music. Surprisingly, there is some sense of sophistication in the form of the instrumental “Eschatological Symphony”; it is overflowing with neck-breaking riffs, and it has an excellent flow. No one would be able to convince me this track is not a reference to the great instrumental “Inquisition Symphony” from Sepultura’s legendary Schizophrenia. The rest of the album is a return to the core sound of the band, with special mention going to the closing title track, which is the longest song here at nearly 7 minutes. It is without a doubt the most intense track of the album; it’s not unlike the waves of catastrophic events its namesake explosion probably did to our planet. It effortlessly fluctuates from moody Bolt Thrower-like midtempo riffs to alarmingly fast and chaotic sections, all led by the imposing drumming.

Toba is not the most original album this year, but it sure as hell is one of the fiercest and most impressive debut albums. Mayhemic has definitely secured a spotlight in the ever-growing Chilean extreme metal scene.