Bloodride
Bloodridden Disease Demo II

October 2004
Released: 2004, Backbeat
Rating: 3.9/5
Reviewer: Luxi Lahtinen

Some of you may remember that I reviewed these rather new and pretty damn promising Finnish thrashers´ debut demo in April of last year. I advised you to keep your eyes on this band due and their relentless and intense old-school thrash metal skills. For those of you who checked out the demo, got excited about them and even remembered to save Bloodride´s name in your minds... please keep on reading.



BLOODRIDDEN DISEASE (BD) is a 7 song demo (6 new songs + 1 reworked song from the band’s debut demo) on this 2nd Thrash Metal assault. This time they spent more time rehearsing before rushing into the studio with a bunch of raw and half-made songs in their worn-out leather jackets. Bloodride has matured enough to offer another set of thrashing metal madness that they can be absolutely proud of. On BD the band has expanded their sound a bit by adding more tempo changes while balancing mid-tempo and faster Thrash Metal, but for the most part relying on faster tempos. Faster tempos is something I´d want them to churn out on their future recordings as well, simply because I´m mostly a fan of faster Thrash. The band´s sound hearkens back to the ´80s Thrash Metal sound.



“Reckoning Day” is the heaviest and most testosterone-filled song these fellows have ever come up with during their relatively short existence. Oddly, the song reminds me of Usurper’s “Metal Lust” song off that band’s brilliant TWILIGHT DOMINION album, due to some of it´s very masculine sounding men choirs. Some Slayer-esque vibe can be experienced in “The Arrival”, which represents Bloodride´s hardest and most sinfully ass-whipping side. “The Arrival” is probably my favorite song on BD because its sheer old school Thrash mayhem from start to finish. Another cool thrasher is “Forbid”, which is a more varied tune with a familiar, nicely wicked Kerry-King-like wicked solo outburst at the beginning. And if you´re a fan of King Fowley´s Deceased, then be sure to tune your ears into the last song called “King of Pain.” The song sounds like it could be ripped directly from any of Deceased´s last three albums with its somewhat addictive chorus and melodic guitar parts.



After this second demo Bloodride can be considered a true winner in the already fertile Finnish Thrash Metal soil. I believe this is only the beginning of Bloodride´s Thrash Metal invasion. Keep your eyes on them in the future.





FINAL NOTE: The final CD version of BLOODRIDDEN DISEASE will contain 6 songs (without a song called “Spawn”) and the songs will be in a different order. Also do note that the cover art seen above, is NOT the one that will be on the final, sellable version!).