Top 10 Thrash Metal Albums of 2024 #10 Amnessia Eterna - Penumbra
Xmas is upon us ya filthy animals! Time to do a Top 10 Thrash Metal Albums of 2024 and see how the year has treated us. I'll pick sh!t that I've listened to... a lot! Might not be perfect in all aspects but I'll always, always go for that messy spark over disciplined tasteless polish. Let's go!
Latin America is undoubtedly the most prolific producer of Thrash Metal in the world - and Chilean Amnessia Eterna is one of the regional greats. Penumbra is an ambitious and coherent effort, a proper album if you will, a ride that feels you actually were going places.
Arguably what sets this apart from a lot of the Latino Thrash is its considerate approach beyond mere thrashing. Lacking the pure crazies and going borderline melodic Heavy Metal, the album yet keeps from taking the Kryptos route and remains true to the source. Caos opens up the album at fiercest the band can be. A Speed Metal welcome indeed!
Songs like Decepción and Sin Dolor, No Hay Perdòn are prime examples of an in-your-face stomps that makes you wanna properly thrash sh!t up. Interestingly, there is a clear Göteborgean half step here and there on the album to remind you of In Flames of the good old days.
Amnessia Eterna is ready to hit international venues
The Latino heritage pushes on top ever so occasionally and precisely just the right amount. Beautiful acoustic segments invoke the spirit of Thrash à la Ansiedad. Now that I wrote that I would've liked even more ethnic awesome on the album!
Penumbra is a proper record that does feel like an album - even if I don't have an inkling what they're singing about on the account of the language being Spanish. 11 songs and something like 50 minutes. There is some fat on the ol' corpse as some songs are a bit too samey and pieces like Eternamente and 18:54 Hrs. simply don't quite find their places without translation. The album is relentless in its gallop and can feel a bit too serious for its own good.
While Thrash Metal certainly is generally intense the best kind of punch is the kind they don't see coming. So, in the future maybe loosen those shoulders a bit and lull 'em before you knock 'em out.
It will be interesting to see what comes next for these fellas. Penumbra is several notches above their previous album Malditos on all fronts from songwriting to production. Maybe switching to English language could prove the next step, or the bullet that proves fatal - it is however obvious that they're shaping their sh!t into more professional habitus.
Come what may, I'll be there!
THRASH-O-METER
★★★☆☆ SONGWRITING
★★★★★ THEMES (not really counted for obvious language barrier reasons)
★★☆☆☆ LONGEVITY
★★★☆☆ PRODUCTION
★★★☆☆ THRASHABILITY
SCORE:
★★★☆☆ GOOD SH!T
(decimals are for weaklings)