MUTILATOR - Into The Strange CD

Jewel case with Slipcase & poster

Given their time of activity and country of origin, there’s little surprise about what to be found in this release as it’s quite familiar in its approach. This offers up plenty of rabid thrashing rhythms in chaotic, frenetic patterns which offer barely-contained rhythms that explode in energetic outbursts after sections of quiet sprawling between these sections. This set-up, familiar to a large variety of bands from this scene, makes for quite a schizophrenic act with the rather ferocious, raw riff-work throughout here leaving the album full of fast-paced work with wild soloing and plenty of blistering drumming to accompany the frantic work within. Given all this frantic and wild material, there’s a lot of utterly vicious thrashing on display which is surely given a phenomenal boost by the atypical production work. This features that wild and raw sounding production which comes off making the material sound just that extra bit of sloppiness to appear unrehearsed and off-the-cuff like a typical jam session caught on tape, and yet for this album it works perfectly in letting the razor-wire riffing attain that style of speed and urgency which makes for a wholly defined sense of chaos within the music. This is one of the album’s strengths and helps to strengthen the connection between these acts and the more extreme works to come later on, giving this the feel of an important stepping stone in history while enhancing the enjoyment of the work isolated from its legacy. Some might not take that to mean much as it can come off sloppy and disorganized, but it makes for a great time here.

Being quite the impressive and truly vicious thrash release, this is one of the more important releases in the crowded scene from that time-period and works more often than not, making this one a rather influential release and this version of the album essential for all fans of raw, rabid early death/thrash metal.