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Watch out Thrashers, because there is a new powerful force in Thrash town and they are aiming for the kill. Armed with influences of Testament , Megadeth, Metallica , early Pantera and Slayer , Final Curse are the future and the new best thing in American Thrash Metal – and that is guaranteed in their debut album, Constructing The Destructive and that’s 100% Thrash Metal – No Bullshit. Formed in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2006, the band’s obvious plan is to take the Thrash Metal genre back to its golden days of the 80’s and early 90’s – their plan succeeded by mixing various Thrash elements like NWOBHM , Heavy Metal a'la Black Sabbath and portions of classic Death Metal. In 2007 they made their first statement with an EP called, Cursing The Deceivers. In 2008, with the direction of Rob Tavaglione at Catalyst Recording, they made their debut release, Constructing The Destructive, that gave them the option, which they took, to sign with Dark Harvest Records. Under Tavaglione’s production skill, the production turned out to be an amazing one, which gave this release a really “old time” feeling to it. The sound is brutal and dark that very much resembles Slayer’s era between South Of Heaven and Divine Intervention, however here Final Curse stepped on the gas paddle. In that period, which the band chose to focus on their music, was where the Thrash Metal band had made some major classics recordings. Moreover, the guitars sound exactly like Slayer’s glory days , drums included which sound just like in Divine Intervention. You can say that the aura around this release is more Slayer-ish than any other Classic Thrash Metal band. Final Curse’s material is charging, brutal and especially angry with everyone. Mike Plowman, vocalist and guitarist and Madison Stegall , backing vocals and guitarist, as the music / lyrics writers, made sure that this release would be as angry and aggressive as hell. The music crafted by these guys is well constructed and shows a great achievement on making it complex and interesting. Although the songs are not major hits, and certainly are not that catchy, the musical complexity make them a great listen. Just like the gods of Thrash Metal , Final curse took exactly those as examples to make their music as good as it turned out to be. There are many tracks here that sound like Slayer, mostly because of their linkage to Black Sabbath that with the addition of aggressive riffs and maniacal solos make them brutal and bestial. Awesome tracks like “Alone In Death” , “Hottest Seat In Hell” and “Unveil The Eyes” are the second best thing close to Slayer. Also the latter has that Sabbath tri-tone rhythm which even more so makes it a classic and near its end has the Slayer-ish riff that resembles the “Behind A Crooked Cross” mind-blower. Other tracks in this cracker are more a mixture of Testament , Pantera , Metallica and Megadeth, most of them are as great as the Slayer-ish ones. “Who Am I?” and “Never Gone” are great Metallica influenced songs that gives the feeling of “And Justice For All” but much more complex with Testament riffs and solos a'la Alex Skolnick. “Slie” and “Secret Confession” are two aggressive Pantera meets Testament attackers that shows the true form of early Thrash. Now let’s give a small closure to the boys that made this album as true as it should be for a Thrash group. Mike “Plowmania” Plowman is a great Thrash singer who lets out his anger with great vocalist skill that resembles a combination of many Thrash figures around the late 80’s. Madison Stegall along with Plowman shows great musicianship regarding the guitar work. These two produce some crashing riffs , melodic lead riffs and amazing solo parts. “Stevo” Moore, the bass player, gives the formers great back up with good bass skill and Brendon Blackwelder, sadly the ex-drummer, made himself a good Lombardo / Bostaph Final Curse are what all Thrash Metal bands should aim for. The young new Thrashers of today should recognize the ingredients to make good pure Thrash that will be praised with blood in the mosh pits zones. The Metal world should take care of these guys cause their efforts are gold.

Final Curse – Up first that night and hailing from our hometown of Charlotte NC, Final Curse are among the most impressive metal bands anywhere right now! Although they are steeped in the traditions of the great thrash bands of the eighties, they are by no means a copy band. They are the new up and comers who are clearly gaining the respect of their influences, as founding Exodus guitarist Gary Holt donned a Final Curse shirt at the show! Final Curse’s performance was masterful, and the crowd didn’t have to be told to do shit. They knew it was mosh time! Of course heavy metal music is guitar music more than anything, and the twin lead guitar attack of lead vocalist Mike Plowman and Madison Stegall is enough to scare just about any guitar slinger to run back to the woodshed! If you are a guitar player, you need to check these guys out! Stegall is downright “Skolnicky” when he wants to be and Plowman could give Mustaine himself a run for the money! But although Final Curse are great guitar players, this is not just “shredder music”. It is apparent when watching Final Curse perform that songwriting is a craft that they take very seriously. The songs have a dynamic range from clean, almost “acoustic” arpeggiated intros and “Master of Puppets” style-bridge sections that come down a notch, making the impact of their headbanging breakdowns and rip-your-face-off thrash metal riffs that much more dramatic when you are walloped in the gut with the shift from one movement to the next. The songs “go places”. I love that. That’s the goose bump shit. Final Curse are nothing short of a cause for celebration for the Charlotte music scene. Poised with a debut album out on Dark Harvest Records, with a upcoming US tour this summer and a solid line-up finally settled on with the bass player of “Stevo” Moore and new drummer David Holquin, these guys are gonna make good. Warbringer – This was some badass shit! Although they are a newer “thrash-revival” band, these guys from Orange County are the real deal! Their style of thrash was more “Slayer” than say “Metallica” as it was an unrelenting, tear-your-head-off-shit-down-your-neck attack! No fucking around with acoustic ballads here! This was “War Ensemble”, not “Fade to Black” type thrash from beginning to end! Their sophomore album (produced by Exodus’ Gary Holt) was coincidentally released the day of this show. Warbringer’s musicianship was excellent of course! The dueling flying V’s of John Laux and Adam Carroll was tremendous! John Laux in particular played that V with the kind of reckless abandon that was a very refreshing “rock’n’roll” style of shred, free of pretension but highly technical at the same time. These guys can fucking play! The singer John Kevill has a great voice and charisma. The rhythm section is comprised of newcomers Ben Bennett on bass and Nic Ritter on drums. Both were superb, but as a bit of a bass player myself I was particularly impressed with Bennett as he was a monster “lead bassist” type of player, obviously influenced by Steve Harris as he even sound checked with an improvised, embellished version of “Running Free”. Exodus- Absolutely barnstormed through their 70 minute set kicking it off with the title cut to their classic first album “Bonded by Blood”. Present were founding guitarist Gary Holt and original drummer Tom Hunting, joined by longtime bassist Jack Gibson and relative newcomers Rob Dukes on vocals and Lee Altus on guitar. The set list included such thrash classics as “And Then There Were None” and what can only be assumed to be a tribute of sorts to former member Kirk Hammett with a cover of “Seek and Destroy” by Metallica. Singer Rob Dukes is probably used to the comparisons to former vocalists Steve Souza and Paul Baloff, but despite the fact that he had the flu, he fucking rocked as good as either! Dukes’ vocal style is a little more “hardcore” as compared to 80’s style metal wailers Baloff or Souza. I thought he fit well though and Dukes has the chops to pull off the re-recording of Baloff’s parts on the new Exodus CD called “Let There Be Blood” which is an updated version of their debut album. But back to the show, Dukes was sporting a matching jacket and t-shirt letting you know exactly what he thinks of the current Secretary of State. I thought it was hilarious. Dukes is cool in my book. But the main attraction for Exodus has always been and will always be the guitar playing. Core-member Gary Holt is simply an amazing shredder and was rocking a red flying V guitar, probably a BC Rich. Matching Holt’s virtuosity was guitarist Lee Altus, formerly of Heathen and Die Krupps. Altus’ guitar style is “neo-classical”, reminiscent of players like Yngwie Malmsteen. Altus rocked a black Jackson flying V-style guitar. This show was a shredder’s delight!