Retro thrash seems to be the next major area of focus for a lot of metal fans. People are becoming interested in acts like Municipal Waste and Toxic Holocaust, bands that recapture the 80’s crossover acts and various abrasive Bay Area and German thrash styles. This, though, seems like a natural evolution as a lot of the classic acts are reemerging or their various works are getting remastered and re-released (like DBC, Anacrusis, and D.R.I.).

Enter Funerot. These gory bastards get down the retro thrash groove with very little effort, almost as if they’re straight out of the 80’s and have found a home with the impressive Razorback Records. I found it odd though; while the theme and sample use is there, Funerot is definitely atypical even for Razorback’s thrash acts as the label is usually more in the goregrind/thrash crossover area. Nonetheless, the band delivers a solid addition to the label. There’s definitely a big S.O.D. crossover influence in here, with nods to the speedy thrash of early Voivod. And by early Voivod I mean damn early, going far back to the punkier sound of the War and Pain days, not the eccentric thrash era of Dimension Hatross or the Eric Forrest and Jason Newsted-eras. While I’ve never been that large of a fan of the last two periods in Voivod’s music (Forrest and Newsted), the time period between the early, primitive thrash of War and Pain and the forward thinking approach of Killing Technology, Dimension Hatross, and Nothingface was some of my favorite thrash. Needless to say the War and Pain vibe and the campy B-movie feel of the lyrics brings back memories of the classic days of Voivod and a smile to my face. While they are able to use those influences to their advantage, Funerot is able to weave together some excellent thrash without straight imitation. Admittedly, Funerot isn’t the second coming of Zombie Jesus, but it’s damn good, solid thrash.

Invasion from the Death Dimension is definitely a nice kick. It’s a great way to remind kids what thrash once sounded like and what thrash isn’t. And it sure as hell isn’t the new Sepultura or Metallica album.

Written By: Necro-tron