Catalonia is currently a hotbed of social and political turmoil and the way things are looking, it doesn’t seem like it will calm down any time soon. With cultural identity, a sense of independence and pride all feeling wounded, the highly charged emotions at play do make for some inspiration when it comes to music. Exekution, a five piece from Tarragona, Catalonia are a thrash band who have utilised some of these emotions and the current climate there to help create their metal over the past 11 years and “The Worst Is yet to Come” could be looked at as a sign of things to come from the perspective of the band. Formed by musicians who have also featured in Anal Thrust, Decaying Flesh and Circle Of Death and bringing forward a lot of anti-religious themes in their songs which have some serious old school thrash influences, let’s see if their vision of the worst is a musical best.

With the obligatory instrumental time waster “An Eerie Down” opening things up with some ominous melodic sequences which ultimately fade out instead of following on into the subsequent track, “Over The Altar” is where things really begin. Fast as hell with that classic 80’s feel to it, the track has all what you want in a thrash attack – a biting tone, angry vocals which toe the line of death metal (Necroticism era Carcass) and a real Teutonic feel similar to that of Sodom, it sets the tone for the rest of the release. It’s not pretty sounding, nor is it tame, it’s simply a wild thrash beast which flails about with a lot of anger coursing through its veins. “Hegemony Of Hatred” continues on this path with the surging pace and thunderous delivery, adding some melodic aspects to the riffs where needed but ultimately putting it all on the rhythmic and riff based delivery, something the thrash bands of old were well known for and doing well and Exekution follow in their mighty footsteps with minimal issues.

“Escoria Humana” is the first of two tracks performed in the Catalan language and it roughly translates to ‘Scum of Humanity’. Sharing the same musical similarities as the previous tracks, it wastes little time in getting things on the move. The scathing vocal delivery matches the rapid paced intensity of the music and the energetic feel of the track as a whole is rather enjoyable. Add in the wild shred section towards the end and you manage to get some classic Toxic Holocaust style feel from how it all comes together. “On Your Mother’s Face” is worth mentioning purely for the humorous title, content wise it is a fast, groove driven thrash attack, and the title track which follows manages to blend the Bay Area thrash stylings of Exodus with Teutonic titans Destruction, making for an all-round beast of a track! “Sodomize A Priest” has a real dirty feel to the tone and the aggressive delivery works well once again and the follow up, “El Cepo De Mi Coche” (translates roughly to ‘In the Boot Of My Car’) brings the Nuclear Assault style, all out, fast as hell approach (delivered again in Catalan).

“Epic Hangover” is probably the best track of the release. A mixture of galloping riffs, fast paced riffing, melodic sequences shifting and meaty tones all combine to create a solid musical backdrop and the subtle shifts in the pacing of the track give some great headbanging moments and the three distinct guitar solos all manage to fit technique, style, flair and senseless thrash wankery in there with nothing seeming forced and out of place. Closing track “God Is A Shemale” is again worthy of a mention just on the name alone, but musically it works well. Bringing some Slayer styled atmospheric work in its intro before it descends into solid riffing, filled to the brim with aggression, it’s a raw thrash attack and the gang vocal shouts of “God Is A Shemale!!” in the chorus are timed to perfection and guaranteed to draw a few laughs!

Overall, “The Worst Is Yet To Come” is a solid thrash album. It has that character all good thrash albums have in how its aggression is delivered through the sound as well as the vocals. It also has the right blend of influences to uniqueness, meaning familiarity is there, but at the same time the individuality is also present. You can pick out the influences but you couldn’t 100% say ‘Oh it’s just another [band] clone’. In all, if you love thrash, this is an album worth checking out!

(8.5/10 Fraggle)

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