| Written by Alex Stojanovic TRACK LISTING Mirror Death Addicted To Power Master Plan Together We Rise Day After Snarler Avatar Of Chaos One Nation Enslaved NEFARIOUS IS: Katon W. De Pena - Vocals RIck Hunolt - Guitars Doug Piercy - Guitars Tom Gears - Bass Will Carroll - Drums |  |
Release Date: July 18, 2025 / Label: Relentless "Metal" Records
Don't you just love it when current and former members of already established bands join forces in a new project? They've been a very common thing for the past 15 years or so now. Although I'm of two minds when it comes to supergroups, it's always cool when you hear new music from the new project, especially when it's members of bands that you're a fan of. Speaking of which, former and current members of some of the Bay Area's legendary thrash bands, those being Katon W. De Pena (Hirax), Rick Hunolt (ex-Exodus), Doug Piercy (Heathen), Tom Gears (Blind Illusion) and Will Carroll (Death Angel), all joined forces in the new thrash supergroup Nefarious and released their debut album Addicted To Power.
As I was going into this album, I kind of knew what to expect because these are guys that have remained loyal to their roots, so I wasn't expecting a reinventing of the wheel here, but some good straightforward no-frills Bay Area thrash. As we sit here now though, the band have already gone through a lineup change when Katon announced his departure from the band, citing commitment issues. Getting into the album though, the production has that raw quality that you would expect from a home recording setup, only with a slightly more punchier and cleaner quality. You can tell that there are no samples on the drums to give it that compressed and computerized sound that a lot of modern bands go for. For all the advantages that slicker and more polished production has to offer, it's always nice to hear a more stripped down production quality as it makes the albums stand out in a sea of overproduced albums.
As far as the songs themselves are concerned, I mentioned that it's a very straightforward thrash album, but songs like "Mirror Death", "Together We Rise", "Day After" and "One Nation Enslaved" bring the old-school Bay Area thrash energy we all love. The songs give off Exodus vibes but with more cleaner vocals. At this point, Nefarious is purely a side project, especially for Will Carroll while he's busy with Death Angel, but given that Mark Osegueda now has an equally busy schedule with Kerry King's band, I can see Nefarious being a bit more active during Death Angel's downtime. Addicted To Power is a solid first effort, even if there's nothing too exciting to be found. There's more to come from Nefarious, so we look forward to seeing where they go from here.
As I was going into this album, I kind of knew what to expect because these are guys that have remained loyal to their roots, so I wasn't expecting a reinventing of the wheel here, but some good straightforward no-frills Bay Area thrash. As we sit here now though, the band have already gone through a lineup change when Katon announced his departure from the band, citing commitment issues. Getting into the album though, the production has that raw quality that you would expect from a home recording setup, only with a slightly more punchier and cleaner quality. You can tell that there are no samples on the drums to give it that compressed and computerized sound that a lot of modern bands go for. For all the advantages that slicker and more polished production has to offer, it's always nice to hear a more stripped down production quality as it makes the albums stand out in a sea of overproduced albums.
As far as the songs themselves are concerned, I mentioned that it's a very straightforward thrash album, but songs like "Mirror Death", "Together We Rise", "Day After" and "One Nation Enslaved" bring the old-school Bay Area thrash energy we all love. The songs give off Exodus vibes but with more cleaner vocals. At this point, Nefarious is purely a side project, especially for Will Carroll while he's busy with Death Angel, but given that Mark Osegueda now has an equally busy schedule with Kerry King's band, I can see Nefarious being a bit more active during Death Angel's downtime. Addicted To Power is a solid first effort, even if there's nothing too exciting to be found. There's more to come from Nefarious, so we look forward to seeing where they go from here.
FINAL RATING
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