Concrete Force
Mental Enforcers

January 2009
Released: 2008, Self-released
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Luxi Lahtinen

Greece has always been known for their magnificent scene for metal. The country has produced many great acts for the world of metal - Nightfall, Septic Flesh, Horrified, Necromantia, Rotting Christ, Thou Art Lord - and the list goes on further (much further to be more accurate). The Greek metal scene has also produced some ripping thrash acts of which probably Suicidal Angels are currently the hottest name out from that country.



Concrete Force, are the newest addition to the Greek´s metal scene, playing thrash metal. When the band thanks such bands on the inner sleeve of their album as Annihilator, Slayer, Kreator, Exodus, Whiplash, Vio-lence, etc. etc., you can pretty much know already what to expect from this two-man band, don´t you? Well, at least I did. Jim Stournaras, who handles all vocals and other instruments except lead guitar (Nick Huber) on the band´s 10-track debut album, MENTAL ENFORCERS, the first thing that needs to be said, it´s quite amazing to find out that Jim and Nick have managed to make Concrete Force sound like a full band effort.



Granted, Concrete Force doesn´t have any new cards up their sleeves for their aggressive thrash assault, but considering the fact it´s just two guys who are behind this band, one starts to respect these two Greek fellows´ hard efforts on this album even more, for giving it such a kick-ass value that undoubtedly makes most of thrash fans pretty darn satisfied.



The guitars´ sound reminds of the same crispness that you can find from certain Razor´s and Annihilator´s albums. Jiff is quite a master of producing huge riff fests all around this album - also to Nick´s credit, it must honestly be said that he´s quite a lead shredder. In fact, the whole album has this certain charm musically that tempts a listener to nail his/her ears to it and put neck muscles through some intense workouts.



Apart from the fact that they make this almost sound like a full band, I´d be curious to know how Concrete Force would sound like if they got 2-3 guys recruited to the line-up of the band. It´s rather obvious it would do some good things for them for sure. In the meantime, go and check Concrete Force out if old school thrash excites your hearing centre a bit (no doubts, sure it does).