REVTEND(THRASH) Capa e novidades do novo album pag2

Revtend is a speed/thrash metal band from Portugal. They play in an old school ripping thrash metal way, which is always a very good feeling whilst listening to this album. "Welcome to Hell" offers everything for a thrash metal fan. There are a lot of shouted gang vocals ala Anthrax, Testament, and many old school 80's thrash bands coming from the San Francisco Bay Area. I really like the crunching guitar sound that they have going on. The album as a whole has kind of a modern touch to it, but it shouldn't come off to you as "overwhelming," it's just clear and crunchy sounding. There's plenty of great headbanging moments. For this being their debut full length, I must say the band has indeed succeeded and pleased me. Wait until you all hear the intro track followed be an absolute perfect thrasher. I can't wait already to see what they will release next! Enjoy guys...

P.S. - The band was nice enough to stream the entire album over at the Bandcamp page, so be sure to check that out if you are hazy about downloading it...

With the whole 'Big 4' thing that is currently going on and the plans of some well-known bands to record a new album, thrash metal seems to be on the height of its popularity. Again, that is to say, because as you might know: it all started in the early eighties. It is also from this period where the bands of today still get their inspiration from. Revtend is a good example of such a band. This Portuguese based metal collective was formed in 2005 and released their first E.P. 'Spread the Word' in 2009. A year later the recording started for what would be their debut album, which is reviewed right here. When an album is called 'Welcome to Hell' and some of the songs are named 'New Order' and Blood by Blood,' the chances of having a thrash metal album on your hands are pretty high. There is also a chance of listening to fifty minutes of cliché metal with nothing but the same old riffs played over and over again. Luckily Revtend doesn't belong to that category. On 'Welcome to Hell' the band plays (you've guessed it) thrash metal that is rooted in the Bay Area style, with bands like Exodus and Testament as a reference. Songs like 'Raging skies' and the title track show everything that the genre is known for: furious riffs, melodic soloing and traditional but exciting drum patterns. The production is very clear and, unlike some retro bands, actually sounds like it was recorded recently instead of in the eighties. After a few songs of typical thrash, the band expands their music with interesting and melodic mid-tempo heavy songs like 'Shadows' and 'Death Should Pay for its Sins.' While listening to this, a band like Flotsam & Jetsam during their later albums comes to mind. The album closes with its very own 'Metal Militia' entitled 'War.'
Revtend shows that they know where their music is coming from. And despite the fact that some of the riffs sound VERY familiar, the band managed to keep it fresh and therefore original. A true recommendation for the enthusiast of old school thrash metal.

A banda Revtend foi criada em 2005, em Portugal, pelos seus dois guitarristas (Bruno Henriques e Rui Monteiro). Originalmente, tinham a intencao de tocar thrash metal dos herois do inicio dos anos 80. Apos completarem a formacao da banda, no inicio de 2006, e de fazerem as suas primeiras actuacoes, estava claro que a banda necessitava do seu proprio repertorio. Nesta fase a banda perde um elemento, passa de cinco a quatro elementos. O baixista Ricardo Neves abandona a banda e o vocalista Pedro Henriques toma o seu lugar, acumulando ambas as funcoes. Em 2007 e 2008, tocaram ao vivo, tanto quanto possivel, uma experiencia que naturalmente lhes serviu bem. Em 2009 o seu primeiro EP é lancado, "Spread The Word", que coloca a banda ainda mais no mapa do metal. No entanto, o sucesso do disco é moderado, a banda permanece conhecida a nivel local. Em Junho de 2011 é lancado o primeiro album completo, chamado "Welcome to Hell".

Tanto o titulo como a musica do album no sao muito originais. Os elementos dos Revtend nunca se despegaram dos thrash riffs dos seu idolos originais. Isto significa que o CD esta repleto de thrash riffs, guitar leads, solos e vocais comparaveis aos do primeiro album dos Metallica. Notam-se tambem ligacoes com os Exodus, Testament (especialmente os riffs) e um pouco de Slayer (em alguns solos). Isto é particularmente verdade nas pistas de mid-tempo, as musicas e passagens mais rapidas sao um optimo exemplo do que se veio a chamar de speed metal. Em termos de originalidade a banda nao mostra muito, o album parece um playback de classicos de thrash metal. Embora o album esteja bem cantado, é tambem cantado de forma tao old school quanto possivel. Completo tambem com o tipico tom alto do heavy/speed metal, basta ouvir a pista que da o nome ao album. Isto podera ser o ponto mais positivo do album, o Pedro Henriques canta melhor do que o James Hetfield no inicio dos anos 80. Em termos de perfomance tambem nao ha nada de errado com o album. Apesar da atmosfera de autenticidade do album a producao é contemporanea e em boa ordem.