It may not be what the label is best known for, but Candlelight’s ear for thrash has proved highly reliable recently, with class acts like Havok and Shrapnel past and present members of their roster. Italians Ultra-Violence aren’t doing any damage to Candlelight’s batting average.
A mix of crunching riffage to generate momentum and clever little lead parts adding intricacy, the obvious comparison is to the Testament records Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick collaborated on, but there’s a whiff of gleeful, good-humoured destruction that Onslaught and Exodus fans will enjoy.
There’s enough individual flair to both the skilful guitar parts, and the rasping vocals of Loris Castiglia, to make this memorable, and given how much thrash there has been over the last decade of the subgenre’s renaissance, that’s impressive. Fun but not musically superficial, accomplished but not showing off, and with proper songs, Deflect The Flow stands up to repeat spins.
Thrash should be this good more often – frightening, given the band were all born in 1994 and probably have their best records to come./o:p
