It's little gems like this that you might have missed the first time around that makes Metal Mind's reissue series' with Roadrunner and Nuclear Blast all the more important. Mind Explosion was the 2002 release from German death metal/thrash band Final Breath, their sophomore album and quite a good one at that. Seeing as Nuclear Blast are headquartered out of Germany, it's not surprising that they found these guys, and after getting a load of Mind Explosion, you'll instantly see why this band was signed, sealed, and delivered to the metal masses. Shame that this CD didn't wake up the extreme metal universe upon its release six years ago, as there's some brutal riffing and strong vocal growls on display here, the band firing at impressive speeds when need be and digging into some crushing grooves more often than not. The guitar riffs are front and center, often times the dual riffage really is the star attraction, as the two players shift gears regularly, going from manic speed bursts with plenty of complexity to slower, more grinding passages with plenty of power and conviction. The lead vocals of Jurgen Aumani are quite good-he doesn't have your standard death metal growl, but for the most part is easily understandable with his mix of screams and mid-range bellows. Highlight tracks here are "Break Down", "Nondescript", "Mind Explosion", and the excellent "When Love Turns To Hate", but you also can't miss all-out thrashers like "The Punisher" and "To Live And To Die", two manic pieces that show the band's knack for ripping into some furious Destruction-meets-Bay Area thrash. Also included on this reissue are the two songs from the band's 1997 self-released EP End of It All, which are good to have from a historical perspective, but really show how far the band matured by the time they released Mind Explosion five years later. Nice packaging here as always from Metal Mind, a colorful digipack filled with lyrics and photos.
Track Listing
01. Under Pressure
02. Mind Explosion
03. Killed By Lust
04. Break Down
05. Nondescript
06. White Prison
07. When Love Turns To Hate
08. The Punisher
09. To Live And To Die
10. Careless
11. Law Of Nature -bonus track taken from End of It All EP 1997
12. Bust-Art -bonus track taken from End of It All EP 1997
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