Anticlockwise
Independent
I don’t hear of many metal bands coming from France, but in those rare moments the experience is enough to remain with me for an indefinite period. Deadly Sins from Lyon, France are giving me one those moments as I listen to their full length Anticlockwise. This album is blistering 80s’s style thrash that assail your senses from the first note. Definitely an old school feel among these songs, and no mainstream friendliness to be found anywhere. Just rude and crass sounding songs, especially where the drums push the string instruments onward with a relentlessness that should be felt firsthand. For a French band they seem to have the vibes generated by German bands of the classic thrash era down pat, with some Bay Area themes added for good measure (a la Exodus, Testament). The lead vocals are somewhat reminiscent of Mille Petrozza (Kreator); at times there are hints of Sodom’s Tom Angelripper on In The Sign Of Evil; supported by backing vocals resonating of dangerously rowdy, heavily inebriated bar patrons. The musicianship conveys the songwriting in a harsh, unapologetic manner. At times the delivery is so intense I feel my skull is about to implode any second. With no ballads or mellow parts, the energy is made plain by the bloodcurdling scream accompanying the beginning of the first track and compounds itself as the album progresses, even leading to a blast section here and there. If more thrash bands were like this one, and there were fewer copycats of Metallica and Slayer, thrash may not have waned in popularity in the late 80s. -Dave Wolff