WINTERBURN : CURING THE PLAGUE
Unsigned
Swansea’s Winterburn throw up a competent smoke-screen when confronted with the lazy reviewer; their name, artwork and track titles offer no handholds for those looking to make a snap judgement, and rightly so; their pacy, full-throttle thrash racket makes all the more impact for colliding with an open mind. “Curing the Plague” is their first release: three tracks of energetic, rumbling, heavy, aggression which deliver the requisite fist to the solar plexis without losing the momentum to stamp on your face a little afterwards.
For those joining me in the ‘thoroughly sick of the almost-ironic thrash-revival’ camp, Winterburn should be a joy; although deliciously chugging riffs are the order of the day, they’re sharp-edged, blackened unfriendly bastards. Each of the tracks is characterised by a ferocious tempo, but the song-writing is well-balanced, carefully avoiding both chaos and repetition, which should bring to mind (particularly on the accessibly brutal “Too Late for Tears”) US proponents such as Slayer. Although evolving into a thrashy rollick, “Wedding Ring” opens with more complexity, giving me a little aftertaste of Morbid Angel for a second.
Indeed, the oft-repeated quote that this is a band seeking to “thrash like the 90s never happened” is actually very apt, and they’re all the better for it – pulling off this punchy, confrontational style and sounding respectful rather than replicatory is something to be proud of. Although the immediate appeal of “Curing the Plague” is to track down Winterburn live, I’m pretty sure they’ll earn their chops on disc as well over the next few years – a very solid beginning.
77/100
ELLEN SIMPSON
