Space Eater are a thrash metal band from Serbia (Beldgrade). Their unusual band name is taken from a Gamma Ray
song from the “Heading For Tomorrow” album.
Space Eater - Aftershock (Stormspell) 2010
1. Say Your Prayers (3:17)
2. Abort (2:44)
3. Divide & Conquer (3:59)
4. Up On These Shores (4:49)
5. FAA (7:19)
6. Quantum Leap (4:19)
7. No Retreat (3:33)
8. Crush, Kill, Destroy (4:02)
9. Anti-Psychiatry (3:25)
10. Relationshit (4:50)
Before listening to a note of this CD, I pondered the name of the band and wondered why they would call themselves, Space After. On second look I realized it was Space Eater, which is an even more bizarre name. I can only assume the band must have an odd sense of humor for naming themselves something so nonsensical. I did read somewhere that the name was actually inspired by a song from the classic Gamma Ray album "Heading For Tomorrow". Regardless of it's origin, it's a bizarre name. However, who cares about the band name. It's the music that counts and Space Eater deliver in spades!
On this their sophomore release, the Serbian thrash metal fanatics wear their influences on their sleeves, though they sound like no one particular band. However, the Bay Area thrash metal sound, along with bands like Toxik, Realm and Anthrax are obviously their biggest influences. The band tends to play at full speed for most of the time but they offer enough selection in varied riffs that the whole album doesn't blend into one big thrash metal blur like a lot of neo-thrashers. From the opening moments of "Say Your Prayers" the listener is pounded with a speedy, audio assault. They only slow things down for short periods, such as the slight groove in the middle of songs like "FAA" before the musical bridge. Nothing on here is truly original sounding, but then again that is not the point. What Space Eater are out to do is created good, solid thrash metal. A good jazz band doesn't necessarily try to bring in a lot of other influences, they will just play good jazz. The same is true of Space Eater who deliver manic riff, frenzied drums beat and those high-pitches vocals that made bands like Agent Steel and Anthrax so appealing in the 80's.
Oddly enough, the vocals were recorded by the late Boško Radišiæ, who died in a fire in 2009. His vocals were carefully preserved from the 2009 demo recordings for this album. The album ends with two tracks featuring vocals by guitarist Luka Matkoviæ. "Anti-Psychiatry" has a hooky gang shout chorus, while "Relationshit" is your standard thrash metal tongue-in-cheek, joke track. Luka's vocals are quite different from Boško. He has more of a traditional growly thrash metal shout vocal that is far more popular among the retro-thrashers. I assume that these two tracks are an indication of the future of the band. Here's to hearing more from the Serbian thrashers. "Aftershock" will most likely make my top list for 2010.