Tonic Breed - Install Memory

Tonic Breed

Install Memory

by Kyle Scott at 14 November 2018, 4:32 PM

TONIC BREED cuts right to the heart and rips it out as they ride through Hell on a motorcycle of bones and scrap metal. Install Memory is the band's first EP, an audio sucker punch to the gut that proves TONIC BREED is still hitting as hard as they did back in 2006 when they first formed. Recently signed to a fairly nascent record label in Norway Rob Mules, TONIC BREED released five music videos for their songs and are getting noticed more for their unapologetic display of Thrash Metal. "Install Memory" is their latest weapon in aural annihilation.

"Crypto Knight" smashes through its cage and charges headlong into the night, leaving a flaming trail. Patric Svendsen's screaming guitar solos fly to death defying heights. TONIC BREED defines their noise with trampling chords and mechanical, pounding drumlines. Install Memory showcases the devastation they wreak, newest member Ole Danielson leading the war raid by pummeling the hell out of his drumset. Fans of MOTORHEAD, TONIC BREED covers "Overkill" and delivers a much cleaner version than Lemmy's original. Whether or not that's a good thing is up to the listener.

Their other cover of GHOST's "Mummy Dust" is also featured. Svendsen plays riffs off the song that would impress any Nameless Ghoul, and reinvents Papa Emeritus III's vocals into his own killer Thrash style. But what about what they sound like live? Two tracks, "Bad Company" and "Blackened Mind", both recorded live in Norway show off their skills when performing a live show. "Blackened Mind" in particular is a forlorn piece that periodically explodes into fits of rage before calming down and then works itself up again. With traces of early Goth/New wave style vocals, the song is both bleak and furious.

"Install Memory" is an ever-whirling hurricane of an album, picking up speed and weaving a blind path of destruction.

Songwriting: 10
Originality: 7
Memorability: 8
Production: 9
Overall: 8