Lost Society – Terror Hungry (Nuclear Blast)
Wednesday, 26th March 2014
Quite unsure where to notch Finnish whippersnapper thrash. Thrash, as a viable subgenre of metal, has been largely ignored by Finland, mainly because the proven success rate lies in folk and melodic metal realms, so Lost Society should be given a nice little pat on the (denim) back for mowing down some not-so-familiar territory central to their home country. And while their appearance and general modus operandi is of the tried-and-true (and rather overdone) variety, their sophomore Terror Hungry effort provides a suitable amount of romper-room, snappy, old-school thrash.
The predictable thrash truisms play out as expected across the album’s 13 selections, some of which have the dexterity and range to stay out of generic territory, like the tremolo blasting on “Tyrant Takeover” or the juvenile gang shouts on the title track. One would hope that some of the band’s Scandinavian surroundings would creep into their sound (could you imagine such a pairing?), but the band obviously has their turntables set to Americanized thrash, portraying lively Exodus, and a more technical DRI on “Game Over,” “Overdosed Brain,” and “Wasted After Midnight.”
Lyrical matter, is at best, a rung below Bodom at their worst (cue up the alcohol stories), yet it feels rather aligned with Lost Society’s overall presentation. Even if we try to poke holes in this thing, the tunes are largely enjoyable, sort of blowing past the forgettable 2006 – 2009 retro barrage, and into comfortable, but not novelty territory. Guess that’s the catch with a bunch of thrash-bashing Finns, the first of their kind to really get out and about.
