ALBUM REVIEW: NERVOSA - JAILBREAK

BRAZILIAN THRASH NUTS SPLIT THEIR LUNGS WITH BLOOD AND THUNDER

When it comes to angry purist thrash, Brazil has a certain reputation. That country’s Nervosa have been plugging their blend of old and new clinical thrash for over a decade but their slew of releases have been competent yet not world-beating. Their profile has thus been understated in the global scene, but Jailbreak might just be a price boost.

The choice of album title might threaten this could be a knees-up party rock record. Nervosa are, however, thoroughbred thrash akin to ancient Sepultura or Kreator and those influences loom large. Also it seems like Nervosa have endured a comedy of errors with band member changes over the years with the current line-up having only been stapled together a few months ago. Yet despite that they sound, on record at least, cogent, tight and masterful in art of high-precision thrash. Furthermore, fair play to them as their spirited delivery exudes verve, confidence and palpable sincerity. This is, albeit, in lieu of originality but that matters little as top tier thrash acts would have paid good money to have some of these crunchy molten riffs as their own.

There is some very decent and simmering riff work and musicianship that has demonstrable quality. The speed metal title track takes you back to a bygone era when this style had only just been invented. Nervosa don’t muck about and pile through the crash barriers with Endless Ambition, Suffocare and Seed of Death. Plaudits are deserving to Prika Amaral who spills her guts into a bellicose vocal delivery; fuming, vein-popping style can out-snarl the big beasts of the scene.

The album is at risk of running over capacity with its run-time although the latter half of the record has some standouts like Behind the Wall, the buzzy Kill or Die and they have roped in none other than Gary Holt on When The Truth is a Lie, plus the very angry Lena Scissorhands of Infected Rain appears too. Time will tell whether this album elevates Nervosa to wider appreciation. It would be justified given their fiery pep, thrash vigour and decent tunes.

Check out Nervosa on bandcamp: https://nervosa-brazil.bandcamp.com/album/jailbreak