NERVOSA

Perpetual Chaos

Napalm
rating icon 8 / 10

Track listing:

01. Venomous
02. Guided By Evil
03. People Of The Abyss
04. Perpetual Chaos
05. Until The Very End
06. Genocidal Command
07. Kings Of Domination
08. Time To Fight
09. Godless Prisoner
10. Blood Eagle
11. Rebel Soul
12. Pursued By Judgement
13. Under Ruins


As seemingly impossible as it is to recreate the feral, chaotic energy of the early thrash scene, there are still bands out there with the requisite swagger and unhinged intensity to come pretty damn close. NERVOSA have long been one such band, but even their most diehard fans must have feared the worst when guitarist and founder Prika Amaral became the last woman standing last year. Showcasing a brand-new lineup, "Perpetual Chaos" is clearly the most important record of the Brazilians' career to date, and it's an opportunity that Amaral has clearly grabbed with both dexterous hands. The band's fourth full-length, and first since 2018's "Downfall of Mankind", is less the sound of a band reborn than the destructive fruits of some wild, boss-level mutant upgrade. Already considerably more vicious than many of their thrash metal peers, NERVOSA sustain unprecedented levels of intensity throughout these 13 short, sharp bursts of old-school fervor. It's the kind of ugly, explosive metal record that will make you drive badly, so please take note and be safe out there.

The strength and originality of Amaral's musical vision is brought into sharp focus here, too, even though "Perpetual Chaos" rarely strays from a brutish blend of scabrous thrash and ragged death. The devil is in the fine detail, from the woozy doom riffs that emerge unexpectedly between heads-down rampages to the creepy atmosphere that permeates NERVOSA's mid-paced riffing. Significantly, this new lineup has insane chemistry and has struck an immediate and dizzying balance between loose-limbed swagger and jaw-shattering precision. Despite the obvious sonic advantages of being recorded in 2020, "Perpetual Chaos" swings, stabs and batters like an old-school gem, with new vocalist Diva Satanica delivering some of the most charismatic snarls this side of HOLY MOSES' Sabina Classen. But NERVOSA never sound derivative or stuck in the past: the likes of incensed opener "Venomous", the pitch-black "Genocidal Command" and final, frenzied neck-wrecker "Under Ruins" are thick with post-millennial crust and underpinned by firmly contemporary levels of bowel-rattling heft.

If one song sums the whole thing up, it's "Time To Fight"; 153 seconds of obnoxious, punked-up speed metal, it's gloriously snotty and unapologetic, brutal as hell and proudly steeped in the underground's grubby aesthetics. Ultimately, it's the kind of album that separates the diehards from the dabblers. Meanwhile, NERVOSA are newly equipped for the long haul. "Perpetual Chaos" is an absolute ripper. Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

Author: Dom Lawson
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).