Review of the Album "Brain Rangers" by Finnish Thrash Metal Band Brainthrash

Brain Rangers is one of those albums that are so well written just like the album Summoning the Malicious by Holland’s Distillator that it deserves a review & analysis! Upon the first listen, I found this album to be a well-constructed album that you could listen to it in the morning with dedication.

Some of you may find the band’s name quite odd and you might be wondering if this band puts out some cheesy, overdone brand of thrash but it most certainly not a cheesy form of thrash metal.

The album cover for Brain Rangers has a surgeon on it that’s trying to perform a very difficult brain surgery on a patient. The cover aside, the music on the album Brain Rangers is pretty superb!

I have heard that there is a thrash metal revival in Finland and these guys are far superior compared to bands such as Airdash (a 1980’s Finnish thrash band). The band we are now talking about is Kuopio Finland’s Brainthrash. With the addition of thrash bands such as Maniac Abductor, the analysis that there is a revival of thrash metal in Finland certainly has sense to it. There have been hardcore thrash bands such as Hateframe, Mental Care Foundation, and of course Brainthrash the band that we are discussing now.

By the second song in this album called "Die Right," you might find yourself wanting to hit the back button and listen to this song. The album clocks in at just under 40 minutes so it is that fine line between short and long albums and it should be enough for the majority of heavy metal fans to handle. There is a grunt at the end of the song and some of us who would have done that in his career. While composing this review, I was listening to Metallica’s ...And Justice for All album but I am in no way even attempting to compare these Finnish guys to Metallica. Brainthrash represents a more modern thrash metal band with hardcore elements instead of the traditional thrash metal that Metallica provided to us. Thrash metal has been a big part of this writer’s life the last two months or so and it may be a part of your life as well so you can enjoy your own journey into a very diverse sub-genre of heavy metal.

However, for those of you that are familiar with another Finnish thrash metal band St. Hood, Brainthrash’s vocals are not as harsh and their music is not as heavy but this is still quality thrash metal made in the decade of the 2010’s.

How does Brain Rangers actually start? Well, it’s got that exotic riffing kind of start to it with the first song called Vomit Protector. The song lyrically is trying to tell us that we have to make it through the night otherwise everything will go to hell. It is not the most positive message but the riffing and vocals more than make up for it!

"Major Mayhem" sees the vocalist utter the word trash as the thrash metal assault on the ears continues but the riffing is exotic enough to keep me interested. Pantera may have started this exotic feel back in the 1990’s but Brainthrash takes thrash metal to a more modern and in some cases more melodic approach to thrash metal which should cause them to attract more fans in the future! However, for those of you that are familiar with another Finnish thrash metal band St. Hood, Brainthrash’s vocals are not as harsh and their music is not as heavy but this is still quality thrash metal made in the decade of the 2010’s. “Kannibal Clock” tries to bring across the message that it is a do or die kind of moment for what we want to do. “Thanatomania” starts out slow before speeding up into a better version of the song called Cut Rate by Prong. The lead guitar complements the riffing. “All the Chambers” starts with some dialogue and a man asking another person where he learned the art of Kung Fu.

Final Thoughts About the Album "Brain Rangers"

Overall, Brain Rangers may not be the most varied kind of thrash metal to please some fans but it gets high marks for the good riffing, hardcore feel, and decent screaming vocals without annoying the ears. The strongest songs in this album include Vomit Protector, Die Right, Major Mayhem, Tanatomania, and All the Chambers. The song "Die Right" in particular has the feel of a modern day Testament when the solo is played.