Album Review: Rise of the Lifeless // Tortured Demon
I review music with my friends for our metal album club. Back in August 2021, we descended on Bloodstock for the first time, and it was a wonderful experience. One of the bands we saw that day was called Tortured Demon, and they were wonderful. The chaos reigned, all the stories you hear about their set are true. They tore that small stage up completely, and it fell down around them. With plenty of potential, their second album is set for release in June. So with plenty of anticipation, here we go!
And they race out the blocks, wow! Here is some true thrash on “Rise of the Lifeless” which follows on from a beautiful intro, acoustic guitars galore. This track is just so fast and suits a circle pit nicely, with the song itself whizzing by in some powerful drums and some incredible guitar work. It is fast and reminiscent of Exodus. Stupendous. Fantastic start.
I did wonder what direction this band would go in. I thought it might be something hardcore influenced. But no. Full of bruising circle pits and bloodshed. Wow! The album is incredibly thrashy with some massive production – you can tell they’ve morphed into a different beast with this album. Everything seems spot on, and it is a joy to listen to. I’ve heard it a few times, and it’s proper thrashy heaven.
I can see the comparisons to Evile massively, it’s full of heavy thrash, especially on “Virtual Death” which is actually my favourite song. It really packs a punch, leaving the listener bruised. On “Global Threat” it starts off like Exodus, then heads in a brutal breakdown, and I think it could be about war or a threat to power. This and “Conflict of interest” move on at breakneck speed, going very fast with riffs that weigh a ton.
There is a hint of metalcore that includes a disgusting breakdown ON ‘This War Will Come To You’, which is very exciting. There are some dissonant chords that happen in the outro, which set it apart. But there are no bad songs on here at all, so Tortured Demon’s future looks extremely bright on this evidence.
https://open.spotify.com/album/4p5DNbOtajuuGwlTsRNzg5?si=IAnYuStHTEG0l-Q-oEgh6Q
Words by Ermis Madikopoulos