Biolence - Enslave, Deplete, Destroy

Having formed in 1998, it makes sense that Portugal's Biolence are still obsessed with the old-school death metal crossover thrash sound, as presented in their 2021 EP release of "Enslave, Deplete, Destroy". If you're a genuine death metal fan, there's literally nothing disappointing on this twenty-four minute long release other than it may be too short.

The EP is complete of six tracks including a brief introduction of war sirens and telecoms before erupting into 'Global Domination' - presenting death metal grunts and snarls over the band's thick-crusty riff and repeat formula. The bass guitar is heavily present in the mix and fused with the guitars almost doom riffs create a fitting atmosphere for the song's title. Thrash metal segments ignite throughout the remaining songs - and it's clear the band are heavily influenced by the likes of Jungle Rot and Six Feet Under. 'Venomous Speech' boasts with a starting sample from the one and only Sir David Attenborough but it's 'Nuclear Winter' that hails the most powerful riffs to truly snap your neck to.

Backed with a modern production that packs a punch, this EP is able to stand-out and appear revitalising in the metal world, despite using such a basic blueprint that could of easily been noticeable in the 90's. When Biolence need to be melodic, they provide melody - so it's not all thrash and dash here. Ticking all the boxes for a short, sharp shocker of an EP that couldn't be faulted on performance or diversity at all within it's healthy length that keeps your attention during the full duration of the EP.

4 / 5 STARS


1. Intro
2. Global Domination
3. Merchants Of Inhumanity
4. Venomous Speech
5. Nuclear Winter
6. Cyclic Redundancy Error