Yeah I know – what a silly band name. A name like that makes me want to skip right over an album, but as I’ve learned in the past, a name does not necessarily make the band. A perfect example of this is Rumpelstiltskin Grinder. Anyway, here we have the debut full length, Existenzminimum (an equally silly album name) from Italian band Nofuck. Unlike Rumpelstiltskin Grinder, good thrash this is not.
Nofuck isn’t really part of the “retro” thrash scene, opting for more of modern take on the genre. Tempos range from slower to a bit more brisk mid-pace and are mostly laced with plenty of groove. Often through the disk, they try aping that monster Pantera groove and sound, but come up short. The guitar work is bland on all fronts (except for one instance – more on that in a bit) and the kinda growly kinda shouty vocals don’t help much either. The guitars are extremely distorted and down tuned, then pushed way up front in the mix which makes them kind of grating. On a brighter note, their drummer seems to have a bit more going on in a couple of places which perked my attention a bit, but at others is just as generic and uninspired sounding as the rest. The other high point comes from the lead/solo work at the tail end of the title track, which stands head and shoulders above any of the rest here. Overall, they don’t really seem like a very tight unit – more on the sloppy side of things and not gelling as well as they should.

That’s about all I have to say about this one. They have a long way to go if they’re going to make a dent in the crowded thrash scene.

[Visit the band's website]

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