Review by Michael on June 9, 2024.

Filthgrinder is the debut of the Italian-based band Xenos which was released back in 2020. And that debut is quite a good start for the guys. Although the sound is a little bit tinny and unbalanced it is quite interesting to see the way they offer their music and you can clearly see in which direction the guys want to go. On the other hand the raw sound matches quite well to this music because it gives it some kind of 80s flair.

Here and there you'll find some more straight-in-the-face thrash metal and sometimes the whole thing is more technical. Summed up came out a highly interesting mixture that still left some space to evolve for the band but for sure shows up that this band is kind of a hidden gem in the scene. The intro 'Soldados' pretends some balladesque, slight mediterranean tendencies in the music but with the title track you soon find out that there is more thrash than anything else to find here. This one is offering some really solid thrash stuff in the vein of old Megadeth with some more groovy elements. The drums and Ignazios vocals especially sound very powerful and the technical guitar riffs are nice to hear. 'Birth Of A Tyrant' goes more into the Slayer direction back when they did “Seasons In The Abyss”. The pace reminds much of “Mandatory Suicide” (also the lyrics). But again, in the Xenos´ music there are much more groovy parts to find. What I personally really like are the tempo changes in the song and the short guitar riffs after each verse. This one turned out to be a cool banger and one of my favorite ones on the album. 'Iconoclast' shows a more melodic side of the band where they almost start like a very well-known NWoBHM band that unfortunately released two very long and mediocre albums the last few years (although Per from Hellbutcher has a totally different opinion about that). In that song you can hear again that old Megadeth had a huge influence on the guys (try to find out which riff I mean). So it is kind of self-explaining that they covered their heroes. “Peace Sells…But Who´s Buying” has become a very close version to the original. I personally am totally fine with that because when I think about some cover versions where it's enough to roll my toes curl, I really prefer no experiments.
And finally they increase speed for the grand finale 'Of Magma And War'. Ignazio is screaming out his lungs here like Tom Araya did and this one turned out to be a real thrash inferno. Hypnotic and repetitive riffs in the song make this one to another really good one to bang to and once again, talking about the guitar riffs, you can see the skills of Guiseppe very clearly and with that the opportunity the band has in the future.

The only small point of criticism is that, apart from all the aggressiveness in Ignazios voice, his range is a little bit limited because he is singing mostly in the same pitch. Some more higher or lower tunes would maybe stress out his words a little bit more. If you know the Swedes from My Regime you probably know what I mean.

But all in all came out a really good debut and with The Dawn Of Ares which was released just one year later they went on a step further. Check them out, you won't do anything wrong with that.

Rating: 8.2 out of 10

Review by Felix on July 24, 2019.

After their angry debut, The Haunted returned quickly with their second full-length. The band was obviously in a creative flow and therefore Made Me Do It stands pretty close to their output from 1998. The first 90 seconds of the material, the intro "Dark Intentions", makes two things immediately clear. The Haunted still have an affinity for Slayer-esque riffing and the production opens the door to anger, hate and fury once again. It is no surprise that the first regular song, "Bury the Dead", possesses this straightforward approach of typical thrash openers. It provides the listener with a short infusion of high velocity, no more, no less. Even though the next track brings with it the first tempo breakdown, it is out of question that The Haunted like to score with harshness, violence and negativity. This does not exclude less vehement tracks like "Leech". But the basic atmosphere is full of darkness, depression and discomfort, no matter how massive and fast the songs are.

"Bury the Dead" opens the full-length for good reasons, because it is brilliantly designed, and it met the expectations of those who had bought the debut very well. It is definitely great that more songs point in the direction of the first regular tune. The speedy closer completes the circle and further eruptions lie between these poles. "Revelation", almost as brief as the intro, celebrates a musical orgy of blood and stands shoulder to shoulder with the opener, but songs like "Human Debris" with its driving main riff also do not have to hide away. Not to mention the precise sharpness of the rapid "Silencer". The restlessly fighting guitars give the material a very lively element and the hateful vocals of the then new lead vocalist add the brutal touch. Freaks with a penchant for punk will probably also like this kind of songs, because they are more or less reduced to the essentials and avoid unnecessary complexity without being predictable or boring. Nevertheless, metal prevails. 

Despite all its strengths, the output is not completely free from defects. "Hollow Ground" fails to deliver exciting guitars and the robotic vocals during the comparatively soft chorus appear strange. Was this their first kowtow to the greedy industry? I would not go that far, but it is a weak number, with or without commercial motivation. The band also tries to break the chains of its genre with the melodic chorus of "Under the Surface", and this experiment does not fully convince. Two little compositional flops, but the technical skills of the dudes are beyond doubt. Their accurate thrashing shows the dexterity and agility of the musicians. Okay, nobody expected anything else in view of their origin (Sweden) and their creative past (inter alia At the Gates). Nevertheless, it should be mentioned, because precision is a key success factor for a great thrash album. And Made Me Do It, no doubt about it, is such an album. In my humble opinion, it is even slightly better than their debut.

Rating: 8.2 out of 10