CRITICAL DEFIANCE - No Life Forms LP (BLACK)

Hailing from the cult-metal hotbed of Chile, for nearly a decade now, CRITICAL DEFIANCE have been steadfast purveyors of authentically late ‘80s-style THRASH. Their 2019 debut album, Misconception, turned many a head, and now the time has come for CRITICAL DEFIANCE to turn heads completely around with their second album.

Ominously titled No Life Forms, CRITICAL DEFIANCE’s second full-length sees the quintet firing on all cylinders – and heading into hyperdrive. Insanely tight in their razor-sharp execution, the Chileans here dish out extreme aggression nearly every second of this breathless, 30-minute work, with riffs flowing fast and free, and then going faster, faster, FASTER! Through it all, CRITICAL DEFIANCE’s stop-on-a-dime chops prove jawdropping, and lest one misconstrue No Life Forms as a mere exercise in clinical precision, be aware that the band never forget thrash’s primary power: full-on thrashing and The Mosh, moving seamlessly between the two and with catchiness to spare. All that’s in full force here, and it cannot be overstated how insanely juiced-up their execution is. No speed limit!

Fans of vintage Vio-Lence, Atrophy, Whiplash, and Dark Angel, you’ve met your modern match with CRITICAL DEFIANCE’s No Life Forms!