ALBUM REVIEW: Mind – Vorbid

After POWER TRIP, KREATOR, IRON REAGAN and MUNICIPAL WASTE all made sure thrash had a killer year in 2017 we’ve been waiting for the first standout thrash album of this year, well it’s finally arrived in the form of VORBID‘s first album Mind. Hailing from Arendal, Norway the band have built upon the sound of their self-titled 2016 EP, enhancing the progressive and melodic elements to create a debut which truly allows them to shine in a dark underground full of backwards-looking revivalist thrash.

If the killer late 80s style artwork doesn’t sell Mind to you immediately then the first minute and a half of single Zombie definitely will. Michael Eriksen and Daniel Emanuelsen’s riffing harks back to early TESTAMENT and the second wave of thrash whilst the production makes the guitars wrap around Jonas Tellefsen‘s crossover influenced basslines.

VORBID refuse to let ‘sounding old school’ be the only weapon in their arsenal though. The album’s title track and closer is a 23 minute epic with a proggy intro, winding interludes, and a final two minutes creating one hell of a crescendo. It’s one of the most ambitious tracks from a new thrash band in recent memory.

Fans of the last VEKTOR album will probably have already have jumped to listen after reading the words “23 minutes”, and Eriksen‘s wild high pitched yelps will also help send them into fits of joy, but whilst there are many easy comparisons to be made to that sci-fi side of thrash and the late 80s thrash scene, it’s the forward-thinking fusion of the two that keeps VORBID‘s identity intact. Their fusion of prog’s melodic work with their exquisite thrash is the core of what makes Mind a standout fascinating and entertaining listen.

The thrash scene needs an album like this every year, a fresh and young band trying out new things with the genre lest we become drowning in DEATH ANGEL rip-offs forever. VORBID are daring and dangerous to whoever holds the thrash throne. This is only their first album so fair enough it’s not going to make the biggest splash, but if Mind is any indicator the next record will cause a god damned tsunami.

Rating: 8/10

Mind is out now via Indie Recordings.

Like VORBID on Facebook.