ECHIDNA – Dawn of the Sociopath

Forming in 2001, Portuguese death/thrash act Echidna on their second album “Dawn Of The Sociopath” lob a flurry of heavyweight punches with their songs. New singer Bruno Capela (ex-Breed Destruction) vacillates between a thrash word barrage and a caustic death-core delivery on standout head twisters like “Violent Compulsion” and “Sentient Nightmare”. They even dip their toes into the Florida death scene with Obituary-like riffs during the closer “The Fallout”- where drummer Tiago Cardoso moves between conventional The Haunted-ish percussion maneuvers and slower, almost power groove madness.

Hatesphere and The Crown come to mind the most, the dual axe skills of David Doutel and Pedro Lima filling in the gallop charge and harmonizing brilliantly without over-emphasizing the shred factor. Echidna execute their songs with finesse, and you’ll be hard pressed to not headbang at every appropriate moment on this record.

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