Insecurity - Intruder of Reality (2022)

Country: Chile
Style: Thrash Metal
Rating: 7/10
Release Date: 1 Jan 2022
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I had two thrash metal albums to choose between for a slot this week. Both were released on New Years Day and both sound good to me, but I chose this one over the other, not because it was the best per se but because it worked best at getting my blood pumping, which is something I'll never not look for in a thrash album. I do like midpace thrash that chugs along with technical proficiency, but I love fast paced thrash that cleans my clock and this is definitely the latter.

Insecurity hail from Santiago in Chile and it's their debut album, after a host of demos and a split live tapewith Suicide Club. They've been around since 2016 and they've obviously been listening to a lot of American thrash, because the influences are all over the map but all American too. That's a cover that looks like it could be from a Crumbsuckers album and there's a clear crossover feel on the opener, Deambulating Future, which rumbles along like New York hardcore punk, after a neat acoustic intro, something I still immediately still associate with early Metallica.

Where We Go... Over Again is the most crossover this album gets, but there's a little on the title track as well, where it's paired alongside some west coast chug. It's not the song that reminds me most of Testament, but it's where they came up for a lot of comparison. However, there are a lot of tempo changes, not just between mid and fast but with a very cool and almost folky slowdown late in the first half. It's an ambitious song, especially this early on a debut album, but I think they nail it. They're not revisiting Diamond Head just for a lesson in riffs, they're taking a look at their songwriting and really mixing things up. I love that.

And so we go. This is consistently built off west coast chug, with more ambitious technical chops on offer in the vein of maybe a Heathen, some New York crossover vibe for the attitude and even, on occasion, some good old fashioned speed metal. Vocalist Matias Reyes just has to be channelling a Skeptics Apocalypse-era John Cyriis scream on Stabbed by Treason. It's a fast song and it does the job of fast songs, which is that blood pumping energy. I'd love to see this band on stage!

Insecurity are a four piece band with two guitars, Reyes handling one of them alongside his duties behind the mike. He's a capable vocalist, especially for a thrash band who like their sound with an element of dirt in it, but I bet he thinks of himself as a guitarist first and foremost. Never mind if a song like The Worst of Days could have been lifted right off Testament's The Legacy; I had a blast simply following the interplay of Reyes and Kristofer Vega's guitars, especially late on in the song. Other songs just blister too, like T.F.Y., and, even if I start out impressed by Diego Carvajal's bass, like on H.S.H.T., I end up back with the guitars in the instrumental jam sections.

I realise here that I've mentioned everyone except Matias Oyarce and that's not fair because he's a thoroughly reliable demon behind the drumkit. He and Carvajal are the bedrock that Reyes and Vega can build on with their riffs and solos. Even if I found myself mostly listening for those guitar workouts, I know full well that they wouldn't be there without that rhythm section behind them to maintain an often furious pace. So kudos all around to a tight band indeed. This isn't even close to the most original thrash I've heard, even this year, but it's written well, it's played well and it's an energetic fifty minute blood pumping workout. That's a good thing.