Review: Schizophrenia ‘Recollections Of The Insane’
The amalgamation of genres can be a tricky place, we’ve all been suckered in by the lure of a black metal/Ibiza classic twist… or is that just me? Damn! Well, sometimes it’s best to keep it simple, take some death metal, take some thrash metal, and put it together…Boom! Death thrash and that, my wonderful readers, is what I have to bring to you today in the form of the debut record from Belgian maniacs Schizophrenia. It’s titled Recollections Of The Insane, it was released earlier this month and it’s been birthed to the masses independently.
Schizophrenia set out to annihilate their listeners with an absolute assault of crunching death metal crossed with high octane and pacey thrash metal. Right from the first notes of opener Divine Immolation you’re at Schizophrenia’s mercy. Channelling early Sepultura, Demolition Hammer, and Solstice, the four-piece keep up the hellish pace throughout the records forty-three minute run-time, so bring an extra pair of kecks to this one folks, you’ll need em!
Divine Immolation is followed by the without a doubt stand out track of the record in Cranial Disintegration which, like the cover of Autopsy’s classic Severed Survival, sinks it’s hooks in and pulls the listener in every direction. With crushing riffs and melodic instances that add plenty of texture to the already monstrous sound but keeping the melodious attributes synonymous with the thrash metal genre. The record continues with a solid quality, not quite matching the opening two tracks, but still infectious, enjoyable, and just as intense.
Schizophrenia set out to annihilate their listeners with an absolute assault of crunching death metal crossed with high octane and pacey thrash metal…
Each member of the quartet brings something to Recollections Of The Insane, but the star of the show is the sonic abuse that’s spewed out by the duelling guitars from Romeo Promopoulos and Marty Van Kerckhoven. They just lead the way in terms of quality, an absolute barn burner of a performance. The drums from Lorenzo Vissol are also excellent delivering a relentless pummelling assault which perfectly match the deranged vocal performance from bassist and vocalist Ricky Mandozzi whose absolutely venomous here.
As far as debut records go this is pretty impressive but is it going to make my end of year list? Probably not. Is it massively unique? No, but is it an absolute ripper and a whole bunch of fun? Fuck yeah! Go pick up Recollections Of The Insane and exercise those neck muscles!
Label: Independent
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
Scribed by: Matt Alexander
