Band: VEXOVOID
Country: Italy
Title: Call of the Starforger
Label: Black Tears
Year: 2021 (re-release)
Style: Technical Thrash Metal

Review:
With a band name that's clearly inspired by Australian Portal's fourth album Vexovoid (the Italian band was founded in the same year), and a music, maybe even logo, heavily influenced by US Thrash Metal masters Vekor, the Tuscany based trio (at the time) released their debut album in 2017 under local label Earthquake Terror Noise which folded in the meantime, and maybe that's one of the reasons why they decided to re-release it this year in collaboration with Black Tears as a classy-looking 4 panel Digipak CD fronted by a fantastic looking cover art. The music, as one can easily imagine, is a fast-paced technical sci-fi Thrash Metal, a complete and utter wall sound made of intricate and precise guitar riffs, catchy leads, (a few) ecstatic solos, energetic rhythms section and a rough, razor-sharp, wicked vocal. Definitely a hard-banger, but reminding too much of Vektor all the way throughout the almost 50 minutes it spans on, and maybe that's this album's only fault; the rest is absolutely mouth-watering if you're into Technical Thrash Metal, these guys' abilities make them prime contenders to the top of the genre in Europe at least, they just need to find their own path, and hopefully a new, already overdue, album will show us such a new face. As another proof of the band's ability to improve, they've added their 2014 EP Heralds of the Stars on this new version released by Black Tears, and the difference is notable, if they continue the same way the new album will be an absolute masterpiece; they've become a quartet in the meantime and that should definitely bring in some more substance and why not, originality.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8.5/10

Contact:
vexovoid.bandcamp.com
blacktears.it