Cremate – Enchanting Black Recess

Cremate was a thrash metal band from Greece that released only a demo, this EP, then split up. Again I must ask, why must all the good band die young?

Since there are only two songs on this EP, it would be best if I did a track-by-track. The first song begins with these ominous clean guitar riffs. Those seemed to be a common thing back in thrash metal's heyday. It doesn't take long for the chugging riffs to make their appearance. The vocals sort of sound like Mille Petrozza of Kreator. It then picks up the pace and starts to play riffs that remind me of Overkill. The production is a bit lo-fi, so the drums are a bit hard to hear, but they do their job quite well. Shortly after the halfway point, the drums break into this jazzy session as the guitar twirl and screech behind them. Near the end, they play the same clean guitar riffs that began the song before the swirling lead guitar plays us out.

The production on the second song is a bit quieter than the first, but you can still hear the music quite fine. Rhythmic riffs are accompanied by dissonant clean guitar chords. The pace on this song is a bit faster and is much more reminiscent of German thrash metal. The guitar solos are also much more wild. I neglected to mention that the bass is quite prominent on this album and is played quite well. The song climaxes with vibrant lead guitars as they play us to a satisfying end.

Overall, this is a pretty sweet EP. Perfect for collectors of obscure metal.