Album Review: Vorbid – Mind (Indie Recordings)

Vorbid are an energetic progressive thrash metal band from Arendal, Norway. A quartet made up of Michael Briggs, Daniel Emanuelsen, Marcus Gullovsen and Jonas Tellefsen, they were founded in 2013. The 13th April 2018 sees them release their debut album entitled ‘Mind’, through Indie Recordings.

“We’re really proud of this”, Vorbid expresses. “We’re evolving every day, and we’ve worked incredibly hard to reach the point we are at to this day, and we will not stop until we drop!”

Vorbid deliver a fascinating take on thrash metal. An album that has all the hallmarks of a classic thrash sound with hyper riffs, thumping bassy groove and extremely high-pitched vocals. However, there is more to it. Way more to it.

The structure of If There’s Evil (There’s People) is the first big clue as the rhythmic guitars showcases a huge amount of talent twisting & turning wonderfully. Then there is the incredibly smart machine gun fire pace of the drumming in Zombie, a track that will please purists as much as those looking for a modern take.

Its not as though Vorbid are making sweeping changes to the core thrash sound. Far from it, instead what they’re doing is providing a super fresh style. An thrilling effort that never feels like it’s overstaying its welcome even when tracks come in at over 7 minutes (Invention Intervention).

Then there is the title track…23 minutes long. A brave idea for any thrash metal band & one that Vorbid pull off comfortably. Light melody switches to roaming guitar soloing before the tempo increases & the vocals come in with a head of stream. Out of nowhere it develops into a more recognisable thrash track but with the same high levels of guitar wizardry on show.

Unwilling to just phone it in for the remainder, Vorbid show they have a few more tricks up their sleeve. It’s an absolutely stunning track & its runtime is completely forgotten, instead leaving you wanting much more.

Thrash is a hard sub-genre to do anything different with but Vorbid have shown that with enough talent and effort anything is possible.

Vorbid – Mind Full Track Listing:

1. If There’s Evil (There’s People)
2. Zombie
3. Invention Intervention
4. To Mega Therion
5. Mind

You can order the album and merchandise via Indie Recordings and find out more about Vorbid on Facebook.