THE TROOPS OF DOOM – A Mass to the Grotesque
Release Date: 31st May 2024
Label: Alma Mater Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Death Thrash.
FFO: Sepultura, Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, Schizophrenia.
Review By: Andy Spoon
Brazilian powerhouse The Troops of Doom follow their Covid-era release Antichrist Reborn (2022), which had received a STELLAR review from yours truly in the same year. I was excited to listen to the newest offering to see if it could match the same level of heaviness, deathy-thrashy-goodness, and insanity that Antichrist Reborn managed to convey. A Mass to the Grotesque is set to be released on May 31st, 2024 on Alma Mater Records.
Originally-started by founding guitarist of Sepultura Jairo Guedz (1985-1986), The Troops of Doom sought to re-examine some of the original 1990s thrash and death metal that pervaded the scene at the time, running alongside the big four, and combining the tone and insanity that followed the Florida Earache Records scene. There was no doubt that they had the right idea on 2022’s Antichrist Reborn, which was highly-lauded at the time, especially by Metal Epidemic’s staff reviewer. The Troops of Doom is seeking to follow that up with the post-pandemic release, A Mass To The Grotesque, an 11-track full length LP.
Prior to the release of the album, Jairo Guedz had stated that the concept for A Mass To The Grotesque was (in summary) an homage to the underdogs of society, the unwanted, the ugly and downtrodden, or the unwelcome, all unifying under the collective protection of the dark, something that I think encapsulates a lot of the extreme music genres’ sentiments, especially as they were beginning to take wing in the 1990s. The collective parade of the unholy, the leprous, and the abnormal gathered in a mass to the darkness to retreat to the underworld to which they hold some allegiance – leading to the inspiration for the album.
The entire album is just nothing but speed and heaviness. I absolutely couldn’t stop the onslaught for one moment after the initial opening track concluded. There’s not any particular thrash band that I directly relate as the “father” of The Troops of Doom (if you don’t count Sepultura, which shouldn’t count, as TTOD is really a continuation of the same members and philosophy that made up early Sepultura). The guitars are more akin to the death metal of the 1990s. The drums are generally something that sounds like they are inspired by the same scene, but pay more homage to the thrash music of the same era. The vocals and lyrical delivery could be similarly-compared to Tom Araya of Slayer, but with a much darker tone. It’s clear that mid-era thrash isn’t on the same wavelength as A Mass To The Grotesque, but merely a slice of the larger proverbial pie.
That being said, I also don’t perceive the same stylistic horror themes from the earlier death metal scene, making this a perfect chimera of the two, which is becoming one of my favorite subgenres of modern death metal. The guitars aren’t tuned stupidly-low with the intent of muddying-up the entire mix in a sludgy goop that we often heard in some earlier death metal acts. There is quite a bit of the OSDM influence which intends to incorporate whole notes, intelligible tuning, and howling pinch harmonic leads that absolutely get my blood going. I often found myself really enjoying the clever guitar work that absolutely stands up on its own. In my opinion, the guitars are the absolute star of the show, blending some type of Megadeth, Slayer, Death, and Sepultura goodness altogether. The absolute best guitar track on the album is The Grotesque, which is led by the same for the first 90 seconds of the track, making me want to start it over and experience it again.
Overall, I thought that The Troops of Doom have followed up Antichrist Reborn with an absolute banger of an album. There were no stupid interlude tracks with annoying sound effects, no ballad tracks (except a slower, doomy final track intro on Venomous Greed), or classical Spanish guitar solos to soften the overall experience. A Mass To The Grave was just a brutal onslaught from start to finish, which has the makings to be one of the better death/thrash albums of the entire year. While it was excellent in most ways, the album isn’t without some fault. Many of the songs have a repetitive tone to them that I found to be too-similar to remember much of the individual tracks, save for a few total bangers. The Troops of Doom have followed their debut album up with a totally-heavy and furiously-fast offering that is undoubtedly starting their career off with a foundation that will lead to them completely-owning this genre for the foreseeable future.
(4.5 / 5)
