Razor
Custom Killing

Drumroll please, the deserving champions of Canadian Thrash are back, the indomitable paladins of genuine, deafening Speed-Thrash Metal with striking iconographies, with Dave Carlo akin to Captain Ahab in the treacherous ocean of the '80s, where fierce bands vie for their place in the sun.

The Razor are clay pots amid iron pots, especially after the change of record label, leading to a period of limited financial resources and reflection. Thus, the sound needs to be redefined: Terry Marostega returns as the producer of "Executioner's Song" and guitarist Dave Carlo writes some of his best pieces. Right from the opener "Survival Of The Fittest", the change of scenario is noticeable: clear thrashy sound and well-defined instruments, with an improvement in Embro as a drummer and a greater emotional breath. The piece lasts more than eleven minutes, contains numerous tempo changes, and finally offers varied and precise drumming; it’s adequate, but nothing sensational, accompanied by the edgy bass that resurfaces occasionally like a nautilus. However, there remains the feeling that the band struggles immensely to play so composedly, as if execution speed remains the balm for their precarious songwriting abilities: the four Canadians feel the urge to return home.

Stace McClaren himself sings with a sweeter, more controlled voice, earning respect from some in the industry, certainly a mature performance considering the screams of previous albums, while Dave Carlo proves to be a versatile songwriter, yet weak on solos, although the one on "Shootout" is decent; nothing groundbreaking, mind you. This album from 1987 holds historical value; it’s a small forgotten monument, precisely for being the anti-material of the Thrash genre that evolves only slowly, like a bear awakening from hibernation wandering through the forest stumbling. But fans don’t wait for ten albums and the scene at the time isn’t patient either. In "Shootout", the punk influence is more pronounced and materializes in a more elaborate pronunciation of words, which at the end of the track makes way for the high-pitched and ungainly screams of "Sheepdog", reaching unprecedented heights in the finale, but all this is accompanied by a more pulsating bass than in previous works. The same goes for "Snake Eye", a fast, no-frills hardcore piece, containing a strange interlude where a sort of old human presents the piece.

A song for a beating is "Forced Annihilation" with already heard, compressed, catchy riffs and the refrain "Force ooh" (probably a tribute to Onslaught) amidst the unleashed drumming, possessing a dry, not very powerful sound. The mood changes completely with another suite piece of the album, and also the most inspired, "Last Rites", which begins with a not-so-gloomy organ and, after a brief solstice of usual thrash guitar with various clichés, accelerates and reaches eleven minutes, marked by various tempo changes. After four albums in two years, one cannot ask for more: lots of quantity and little quality, a recipe that will be picked up by Tankard (with the exception of a few albums).

This platter, made under a spartan economic regime, presents all the defects of the previous ones, namely the primitive compositional method. In short, the world is tired of Razor, yet they continue relentlessly to release albums (the last, however, was in 1997), indifferent to the criticisms raining down on them, even today they have a well-maintained website where various tracks from each single album of their career are available, so any biped can listen to the songs and then decide not to purchase their works. I think I remain one of their last moderate fans, if not the last in old Europe, so this review is a testament to a stubborn but non-essential band, to be listened to occasionally as a curiosity in the Thrash world. But we also live on curiosity, especially nowadays.