Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Classified
Label: Self-released
Release: 2012
Duration: 22:12
Rating: 4/5
Medvode has gone off again! Classified! Bay Area Thrash Metal revivalists! Over the last decade, Slovenia has become something of a proverbial hotbed, one of Europe’s strongest breeding grounds for bands that imitate, with real flair, the achievements of the thrash metal pioneers who flourished in the Bay Area near San Francisco in the eighties and early nineties. »Demo«, released in 2012, carries four tracks, and with it Classified are catching the last train onto this fascinating »revival« movement, which a veritable small army of excellent thrash metal bands in Slovenia has built. Negligence were the first to break ground in this direction at the start of the new millennium, and today they count as the most prominent representatives of this vein. Though with Negligence creatively asleep, that title most likely now belongs to their followers Eruption.
Open the dossier on the Bay Area thrash metal pioneers, with the likes of Heathen, Forbidden, Exodus and Testament up front, and you’ll quickly find common ground with what »Demo« offers and the musical vision of Classified. A good 22 minutes of destructive storm that shows the quartet’s remarkable shared focus in combining ultrasonic speed, noisy blasphemy and technical perfection. The heart is there, and so is every part of the band’s sound being on the same wavelength, clear as day! The music captured on »Demo« took a ton of bloody grind, calluses and sweat in the past, plus a ton of love, dedication and, of course, a ton of sacrifice. And it paid off. Across all four tracks, Classified show how well technical complexity and bestial aggression go together in a primordial thrash metal stance that trades in the best times of the old Bay Area thrash metal school.
After what the previous paragraph threw at you, it’s no surprise the songs boast top-notch coordination in the guitar playing: in the fast-spinning mixing of guitar phrases (the riffs are mostly picked in typical palm-muted fashion with the hand), in the exemplary handling of arrangements with connecting guitar harmonies in the transitions, played hellishly fast, and in the middle instrumental sections, which are thoroughly spiced up with juicy guitar solos that show a polished command of six-string theory. The tempo changes through technically demanding passages string together welcome shifts in mood across this otherwise decidedly dark release, which only testifies to the extraordinary virtuosity of all four building blocks of the sound
Kristjan Škofljanec’s vocals strikingly resemble Alex Škofljanec’s (Negligence). On that front, you could see Classified as the little brother of Negligence, who’s just started walking. Hand on heart, Classified have only one lead guitarist, so when it comes to solos they’re less interesting than what Eurption or Negligence have spoiled us with, but one »lead« guitar covers the available improvisation space with real distinction, and Classified honestly don’t need more than one »lead« guitar. Back to Kristjan’s vocal characteristics: the similarity to Alex is no wonder, they’re brothers! So »squealing« in the high registers across the four tracks is out. The vocals are mid-pitched throughout, strong, commanding, mildly raspy, dark, slightly sinister and dirty. Exactly what the white-hot aggression of Classified’s thrash metal recipe needs. It crushes your skull like crazy and leaves no survivors. Fans of the perfection and aesthetics of Eruption and Negligence, welcome home! You can add Classified to that bundle too. The cornerstone has been laid with great distinction, and an excellent studio debut is surely on the horizon!
Lineup
Kristjan Škofljanec – vocals, drums
Domen Jamnik – guitar
Blaž Orehek – guitar
Tilen Sušnik – bass guitar
Production
Classified
Track List
1. Nation in Flames
2. Out of Control
3. Idiocracy
4. Twisted Mind
