HARDWARES

Bay Area thrash via the boot, and one ass-kicking boot at that! If you haven't already guessed it, the aforementioned boot refers to Italy. The band? Subhuman. Out of the slew of discs to have recently found their way to my ipod, Profondo Rozzo is easily one of the most satisfying, not to mention downright vicious! Come to think of it, perhaps labeling Subhuman's sound as 'Bay Area' is slightly unfair. What these guys do is pure musical genius. By taking elements from the best acts of each sub-genre - be it thrash, death, black, tech, grind - Subhuman offers up a veritable smorgasbord of palatable extremity, culminating in a rebirth rather than a rehash of all these particular elements. This is a commendable feat, one which is rarely seen in a musical environment permeated with mediocrity. What strikes me most about the performances on display are the incredibly versatile vocals of frontman Fabrizio "Zula" Ferzola. Singing in his native tongue, the guy goes from your typical thrash enunciations, guttural grunts, and piercing screeches without missing a beat. Sure, I haven't a clue what he is going on about, but it really doesn't matter, as the brutality of the compositions alone paint a pretty clear picture of the grotesque themes emanating forth. All in all, an excellent release from the newly founded Maple Metal Records- the Toronto-based label founded by producer John Belrose, notable for his work on Exciter's Heavy Metal Maniac.