Switzerland’s Algebra’s debut album, Polymorph was released in 2012 and from that moment on I became a fan and interviewed drummer, Tony Sharp.  In 2014 they followed up their debut with Feed the Ego-yet another raging slab of well played thrash metal that harkens back to the Bay Area scene of the 80’s, a little bit of death/thrash, but infusing the music with some tech parts as well as a few well placed brutal blast beats.

So 5 long years later we are greeted with the third opus from Algebra–Pulse? and this is beyond crushing.  After the 45 second “Ego Destroyed” instrumental “Inner Constraints” starts with an epic build-up with the riffing and drums before the thrash takes over and the crunch of the guitars is thing of perfect beauty as the song thrashes all along with the Edy’s awesome vocals which are harsh, yet very understandable. There is even some nice Sepultura parts at the 1.50 mark.  Yes, lots of vintage Sepultura rears its head on this release, think Beneath the Remains/Arise era-it’s intense.  This has to do with the extraordinary rhythm section which is also provided by with Mathy on the bass guitar and Phil, as well as Edy on guitar.   The strumming bass lines on this song are really awesome.

“Addicted to Authority” is one of the highlights, for me, on this release.  Excellent riffing to open the song before the bass guitar strumming starts in and then the mid paced drums roll in as the singing starts to remind me of a little on the melodic Phil Anselmo side and then around the mid section part a nice little growl erupts before the song goes right back into the groove.  Excellent double bass patterns erupt and the guitar riffing has more Sepultura inspired moments which are just killer.  The isolated vocals with the song title being yelled out with the guitar riffing coming in is the Holy Shit moment as the song gallops into a monster thrash beat which will have you smiling ear to ear.  The song whips right into more mid-pacing before the thrash pace closes out this awesome song.

“Manipulated Soul” has nice melodic edge to the beginning-but don’t let that fool you.  The 35 second part gets into the thrash part then right into a few quick blast beats to swipe your head clean off that useless trunk of a body now.  Monstrous double bass on this song as well.  Killer and I mean killer guitar riffing about 2/3 into the song and the thrash beat then slows to a monster groove with chest collapsing double bass drums.  If this moment with the ethereal guitar solos is not opening up sinkholes by now then something is wrong in the universe.  Great stop n start riffing and then the song picks up pace with some more blast beats. Excellent vocals, choruses, drums and this is one of the best songs Algebra has ever written-a must have in their live performance.

The rest of the album goes along the same route with thrashing and some melodic moments.  You will hear some vintage Metallica on the title track.  Super awesome.  The band treats us to a great cover of Sepultura’s classic song “Dead Embryonic Cells”.  The song stays true and brutal to the original.

At 12 songs at close to an hour, Algebra brought the quantity as well as the quality as Pulse? is their finest album to date.  Algebra are easily one of the best thrash metal bands out there and I have said this time and time again when reviewing their prior albums I think they put the majority of the big league thrash metal bands to shame.  It’s really no comparison.

Pulse? sports their finest production to date.  The music punches you in the gut and everything is heard wonderfully.  The lyrics are well thought out and the cd is slayed out great with a nice booklet.  If you have missed out on Algebra’s music please buy all their releases-they truly are one of the best thrash bands in existence.  Buy or Die!

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments