Have you ever been to a bachelor party, or a guys poker night with some skin flicks, or just your own random night of a porn marathon freakout? You don’t have to answer that, but hang with me a moment. Think back to when that first porn movie came on, hot girls, steamy balls-out (literally) action, you’d better believe it caught your attention. This was something new, something exciting. But after the fifteenth porn show in a row, it’s safe to say you just didn’t care anymore. You’d rather just play poker. Now imagine if at that moment, someone popped in yet another porn tape, the sixteenth, but this one was underproduced and all the girls, while kinda stacked, all had big hairy warts on their asses.

That’s GUIDA.

Dark and doomy thrash from Italy, GUIDA have certainly taken their lessons from the masters that came before them. Brandishing a dual guitar attack, this is eight tracks of tight riffing and pounding thrash beats, coming at you like a one-dimensional TESTAMENT or a shade of early EXODUS. Songs like “Avvoltoi Nel Silenzio,” and “ Senza Paura Senza Domani,” pummel with riffs classic enough to get the head bobbing. While “Finira In Vendetta,” blasts off with the best riff on the disc, a fierce attack of classic thrash, each track has it’s own moments of power and velocity. These guys got talent and passion for what they’re doing. The problem is, it’s been done.

With the lyrics all being in Italian, I was hoping for a dramatic vocal delivery, something quasi-magical to lift this disc above the ordinary, but alas, I’m still waiting. Rather than being a strength, the vocals are the albums downfall, a generic, deep-in-the-throat guttural growl that’s so far buried in the mix it becomes just a wall of noise. The whole disc suffers from a lack of production that diminishes the power and crispness of the music. And while the riffs are still pretty heart-charging at times, none of them are transforming and it’s hard to say that the guys really go anywhere with them. That by itself, isn’t enough to destroy the work GUIDA has done, but it doesn’t help to elevate it either. Hardcore fans of thrash may love this disc but even they’d be hard pressed to point out why. In the end, it’s just another random thrash CD, some good riffs, some good drums and some Italian lyrics you can’t hear or understand.

- Severin

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/giudaiscariota

RELATED ITEMS: No related articles at this time.