Serbian crossover thrash. On a Chinese record label. Man, I love the Internet.

Drzavni neprijatelj broj kec is an explosion of vintage ’80s thrash – raw, dirty and frantic – though it tilts much more towards the jagged riffs and drumming of hardcore punk than the more cleanly-crafted melodies of Metallica, Kreator or even early Slayer. Every song here comes off as mean and dangerous, but there’s sense of fun as well, like a Molotov cocktail filled with beer. That energy’s definitely there in Danilo “Dača” Trbojević’s vocals too, a spastic, sneering shout that cranks to hoarse screams, deeper grunts and plenty in-between. (He also handles vocals for Serbian tech-death act DaggerSpawn; I’m curious to hear his performance there, given the elasticity on display here.) Also, the fact that it’s all done in Serbian makes it even more menacing. Something tells me these guys have a really fun live show.

My favorite tracks here are the lurching firestorm of “Sad Si Sam,” the rat-a-tat-tat vocal delivery on “Zmajeva Jajca,” “Hrani Babu Da Te Yjede” with its central, rollicking riff and lumbering bassline, and “Headshot U Glavu,” with its crazed soloing and slightly more melodic sections. However, it’s all good, start to finish, really consistent and precise despite its violent energy.

I’ll admit, I’m not really that knowledgeable or addicted to early ’80s hardcore punk (D.R.I. came up as a common reference point in the interview, but I have only the faintest familiarity with their stuff), so the freewheeling, spastic songwriting here doesn’t hold my focus as much as more melody-driven thrash. However, I also can’t deny the raw, garage authenticity and controlled chaos of NadimaČ‘s sound. They’re not trying to do anything dramatically new here; they’re just doing a damn fine job of just cranking out classic crossover thrash madness, so horns up to that.

And be sure to check out the interview that Scott Alisoglu did with Trbojević a few weeks ago – the guy certainly knows his thrash.

[Visit the band's website]

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