Violator – Unholy Retribution

Artist: Violator
Country: Brazil
Label: High Roller Records / Kill Again Records
Formats: LP / CD
Year: 2025

Although Thrash Metal is not something that pops up on our pages on a daily basis, it is definitely a genre that is dear to both of us. In fact, speaking for myself, it is one of my favourite styles and is literally finding its way to my turntable every day. But, I am a little picky when it comes to Thrash Metal, I am not finding much in today’s Thrash Metal scene that tickled my fancy. To my ears, most of the current thrashy bands are too clean, too much party-like or simply too amateurish with godawful vocals – in the worst case a combination of all that.

Violator is a band that I have liked since their inception in the early 00’s, but that always found itself walking the thin line of what I personally think is acceptable in terms of non-party-Thrash or semi-amateurishness. Just take a few seconds to browse along the band’s cover images and you’ll get the point.

On a musical level, though, these guys definitely know their craft and, although they have been around for about a quarter century, they do show that they are capable of progressing as a band with each consecutive release. ‘Unholy Retribution’ is only the band’s third full-length, amongst a considerable amount of short players and splits, but it definitely reflects Violator at its most mature and effective.

Musically the band still is very much sounding like a crossbreed between Nuclear Assault and Vio-Lence, but with their ever-increasing serious approach the music gains effectivity. With the sharp-edged riffs, chopping rhythms, lethal grooves and powerful vocals of ‘Unholy Retribution’ Violator shakes off every bit of the remaining doubt. Perhaps 40 minutes is a tad long for an album in this style, but there are no real fillers here.

Twelve years have passed this the release of the previous album, ‘Scenarios Of Brutality’ (2013), and they have disbanded and reunited twice in that period of time, it is also clear that this rather long gap in between albums have been good for the band. Over the years Violator has grown into one of the major forces in Brazilian Thrash Metal and with this newest piece of work, that is quite clearly their best, that status will only expand further.