Ireful - The Walls of Madness

Thrash. That could be the whole review, but it would do a disservice to these Italians to not differentiate between their approach to the genre, because what is to be found on their debut EP, The Walls of Madness will lead the listener not to the dollar menu of Bay-Area thrash, but to a much more refined group of influences. Yes, there will always be influence from Slayer and Dark Angel at the more extreme end of the thrash spectrum, but Ireful share more in common with Voivod, Sodom, or Razor than they do with Metallica or Megadeth. Guitarist Matteo Thunderbolt: "Actually we wanted to be an hybrid between Bay Area style and Teutonic one. You can find many influences, sure stuff like Exodus, Vio-Lence, Kreator, Tankard…". Ireful bring the right type of attitude along with their thrash. It is aggressive, serious, in your face thrash with grit and growl. There is a sense of creativity throughout the tracks which elevates this EP above many newcomer bands. 

The album opens with "Panzerschreck" which may give off an Agent Orange or Tapping The Vein Sodom vibe from it's opening rhythmic chugging riff. High speed picking ensues thereafter; a whizzing blur of aggressive and angry riffs and gritty harsh vocals sets a nasty attitude which carries throughout. "Fear and Loathing On U-96" offers the type of creative elements previously mentioned in both name, as well as in the vocal approach of Anselmo Medusa, who imbues his performance with a bit of the psychotic and insane mentality expected of a song which seems to reference the excellent Depp led cult classic. "Sicko's Short Fuse" has the tang of Rrröööaaarrr Voivod in it. "Rusty Nail" is a favorite of mine. It's under two minutes long, reeks of atonal violence, and reminds me most of Aspid and Voivod. The EP ends with the title track, "The Walls of Madness." Another scorcher, it shows a more mature structure through the central instrumental portion of the song. 

I asked Matteo about the production of the album. "The Ep was recorded in multitrack way, but honestly we’re satisfied for the result we obtained. Our sound engineer Marco has perfectly understood the sound we wanted. For me, there’s no reason at all to record Old School Thrash with modern sounds, but that’s our humble opinion." It's hard to disagree with Matteo on that final point, even if it can be hard to objectively cite what a 'modern sound' is, in terms of thrash. But the Old School Thrash sound is something intrinsically known by metal fans; spectral in a way. We know when that tone is there and when it is not there, but that 'knowing' exists in a subjective realm. It's possible to objectively detail it using specific language regarding scooped mids, Marshal JCM-800 cabinets, and 'the thrash beat', but that all would be missing the mark somehow. Ireful nail the objective thrash requirements but more importantly have discovered that integral subjective element that often evades bands. 

So I really love this demo. It's refreshing to hear a thrash band that only likes to play really fast. I can't think of the last time a traditional thrash band omitted a mid-paced or slower track completely and recorded everything as if they were guzzling rocket fuel. For an EP, this speed works great, and there is a lot packed into the five tracks. Twin lead guitarists M. Thunderbolt and Fabrizio Madpig are impressive throughout with leads and solos throughout the twenty-three minute EP. My beautiful highlighter blue tape copy came from Life After Death but I believe there are a few different CD versions out there as well as a 12" vinyl press. I will not be thinking twice about future releases from Ireful.