Year: 2024
Total Time: 49.16
Label: Alma Mater Records

We are in the middle of the year and new album releases are coming one after the other. Till now in this year we have enjoyed very quality works, with some of them standing out. One of those (and will probably figure in the top 10 lists at the end of the year), is the new album of the Brazilian band THE TROOPS OF DOOM entitled “A Mass To The Grotesque”. An album that balances perfectly between Thrash and Death Metal.

THE TROOPS OF DOOM with this second album, (preceded by another full length in 2022 entitled “Antichrist Reborn” and two EPs) show that they are not joking and will definitely be the protagonists in this genre in the coming years, if they continue releasing such quality works. The album is consisted of 10 songs, plus the intro that lasts just over a minute. The total duration is close to 50 minutes and cannot leave anyone unsatisfied. The quartet from Belo Horizonte performs their songs excellently and looks that they are taking over from SEPULTURA’s “Chaos A. D.” and onwards.

On the one hand, it’s normal, since the mastermind of the band is Jairo “Tormentor” Guedz, the guitarist who played on “Morbid Visions” and “Bestial Devastation” by the Brazilian gods SEPULTURA. The album starts with a short intro and then comes the storm and havoc with tracks like “Chapels Of The Unholy”, “Dawn Of Mephisto”, while it will let you catch your breath somewhere in the middle of “Denied Divinity”. One breath is over and “The Impostor King” begins, followed by “Faithless Requiem” which will surely transport you to other eras, somewhere in the 80s when Thrash Metal met the absolute apotheosis. But the album still has a way to go. . . What did you think you would easily get away with??

Follow-up with “Psalm 7: 8 – God Of Bizarre”, an 8-minute steamroller with a more Death character and some Black elements that make it the darkest song of the other nine. And now take your deepest breath because we’re going for a fire trio with “Terror Inheritance”, “The Grotesque” and “Blood Upon The Throne” and whoever can stand it. . . The album closes with “Venomous Creed” which even though it was missing, I don’t think anyone was left complaining. The riffs throughout the album are like polished razors that don’t let anything stand in their way. The vocals are so aggressive but also “dirty” where needed while the drums are the heavy artillery of the band that could flatten even heavy armor buildings. As you can see from what I wrote, this is an album that I am sure you will love it too. It is also not one of the albums that you will buy and forget in your record library.

Above we mentioned Jairo “Tormentor” Guedz, but we must also mention the other members of the band who have a rich resume and great experience from many bands. Accompanying on guitars is Marcelo Vasco, on bass and vocals is Alex Kafer and the lethal quartet is completed on drums by Alexandre Oliveira. It is worth mentioning the creator of this amazing cover who is none other than Dan Seagrave whose name has been associated with many covers in the field of Death Metal that are easily characterized as works of art. The album was also mixed and mastered by Jim Morris at Morrisound Recording’s studios. I should also mention that THE TROOPS OF DOOM belong to Alma Mater Records which is the record company owned by Fernando Ribeiro who is the voice of MOONSPELL.

THE TROOPS OF DOOM with this album leave us a sweet taste of nostalgia of the early SEPULTURA’s years, which we had missed so much. We hope and wish the best for them and hopefully soon they will pass from Greece, for an old school Thrash Metal live. I’m sure that most of you will enjoy this album! I leave you with a lyric from in there…

“Kill, torn, suffocate the souls and hearts
Your reign call to the death
Rising the thorns of evil..”

Rating: 8,5/10
Editor: Andreas Fytros
Related Link: THE TROOPS OF DOOM – Official Page