DRAIN DOWN
“Toxic Society”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Drain Down are a thrash metal band from Germany formed in 2018 releasing their debut album ‘Defiance’ in 2021, and sophomore album ‘Toxic Society’ in 2024…

…featuring ten songs across a blistering thirty nine minutes! That’s thirty nine minutes of red hot thrash with a heavy nod in the direction of punk and hardcore – the Freiburg three piece blazing a fiery trail of devastation throughout the land, launching their new album with the fierce ‘Fake Leaders’. The band are ferocious here, scorching the earth with pace and power, smashing through walls and destroying buildings with a barrage of raw savagery! The gruff, growling raspy vocals lacerate the sky as ‘Fake Leaders’ viciously smacks every listener round the head!

What a roaring start – a start that roars even louder with the faster paced ‘Nothing Is Real’, Drain Down hammering the ground with an incredible amount of force! The fiery nature of the (albums) opening double has been electrifying, sending massive shockwaves all around the world – every listener, fan and follower on the planet turning their heads in the direction of the German thrash trio – the title song ‘Toxic Society’ maintaining the albums explosive nature! Albeit at a slightly slower tempo and speed, for all of about thirty seconds – and then blistering pace rises to the fore once more, ‘Toxic Society’ (the song) a gear changing tempo changing romp of raucous energy. Increasing the speed tenfold, ‘Scams’ is the fastest song heard so far, blazing a fiery trail through the airways to leave only smoke in its wake! Drain Down are a savage force of nature, unleashing a thrash metal tsunami that’s gonna overcome everyone, the bands brand of thrash fierce and ferocious – just the way I fucking like it!

And as ‘Toxic Society’ (the album) marches on, the levels of fierceness and ferocity rise even higher and higher, ‘Zero Tolerance’ a terrifying onslaught of faster than the speed of light thrash! I tell ya readers, every mosh pit in the world is gonna go fucking mental to this one, neck muscles stretched to breaking point as moshers violently rock their heads back and forth in a vain attempt to keep pace with the band! And I’ll tell ya something else for nothing, unless your head rocks around on a gyroscope, you ain’t ever gonna have the flexibility to rock your head in any direction this kinda thrash metal deserves! ‘Political Animal’ maintains the incredible head bang ability, the band hardening the attitude to deliver a slight punk edge alongside the albums out and out thrash metal onslaught! And an onslaught is exactly what ‘Toxic Society’ (the album) is – an unforgiving rampage of high octane thrash fuelled by an immense amount of energy. Energy which seems limitless, Drain Down roaring on with ‘Stultus Populus’, the German three piece firing on all cylinders, burning red fucking hot as villages, towns and cities crumble under the weight of the bands brand of all conquering thrash. The speed of ‘Stultus Populus’ is unrelenting, speeding by faster than a bullet…

…terrifying scream enraged and full of anger, Drain Down power on with the blistering ‘Sadistic Bloodsucker’, the band delivering a savage barrage of brutal thrash to devour even the strongest of metalheads! The raucous, rampant nature of ‘Sadistic Bloodsucker’ is unforgiving, stopping for nothing and no-one in its quest to rock the head of every single head banger in the world. And in my opinion – quest completed. And then some! There’s just no stopping the band – I ain’t even gonna try, for the thrash on offer is so fucking good, ‘No Regrets’ viciously slamming listeners to the floor, through the floor right to the fucking basement! Breathless – is exactly what everyone will be after listening to ‘Toxic Society’ (the album), the feelings of exhilaration and excitement rising higher than the Schauinsland mountain (and for all you non residents of the bands hometown of Freiburg, Schauinsland mountain is the highest mountain in Freiburg). The final song ‘Claiming Consequences’, is the longest song on offer clocking in at over eight minutes in length – and is more mid paced than everything heard so far! Yet what it lacks in pace, it sure as hell makes up for with additional groove, menace and fear – Drain Down displaying more aggression and pent up anger than Megadeth and Slayer combined! And that’s a lot!

Overall, a savage barrage of aggressive thrash metal, ‘Toxic Society’ is ferociously fast and head bang-able to the max.

TRACKLIST

Fake Leaders
Nothing Is Real
Toxic Society
Scams
Zero Tolerance
Political Animal
Stultus Populus
Sadistic Bloodsucker
No Regrets
Claiming Consequences

http://www.draindown.de/
https://www.facebook.com/draindown

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