Genre: Death/thrash metal
Origin: The Netherlands
Released: 2009
Website: Persistense
Label: Deity Down Records
Uploaded: 17.01.10

It’s no secret that I’m not that into thrash metal, I mean I’ve stated it in pretty much every review I’ve ever written of a thrash influenced record. So here we go again; I’m not a big fan of the genre. Generally speaking I’d say most of it suck, in my book. It’s sloppy, too melodic and the vocals are almost exclusively annoying. But over the years a couple of bands have proven me wrong, and opened up my eyes to the fact that thrash metal shouldn’t just be spelled trash metal (it’s a cheap pun, I know, but I had to do it). However, when I receive an album by an unknown band, who themselves have dubbed their music swingthrash, I’m not exactly overwhelmed with eagerness and high hopes.
In blood and heart is Persistense’s debut fullength, and it contains a buttload of elements to distinguish itself from the crowd. This is far from pure thrash metal, and as far as swing goes I’m not sure, but there’s a ton of groove. One of the first things that popped into my mind was the big death metal element, making this more of a death/thrash album. But a continuous listen will reveal some hardcore vibes as well. There are so many bands going through my mind it’s almost ridiculous. At times I’m thinking Sepultura, Pantera and Hatebreed, and both Arch Enemy and Slayer shine through their sound. But the fact remains that Persistense have a much more brutal sound than any of these acts, and dissecting it enough would probably just makes the influential list too long for anyone to bear reading it.
The vocals are mid-range growls, lying somewhere in between classic Swedish old school death metal and hardcore shouting. I’ve read some complaints about the vocal department, that’s it’s too static and rigid, but I definitely like it. If they went for more classic thrash screaming instead the music would lose tons of brutality. The riffing is definitely a key part of the music (as it should for all acts, but it gets lost in the hazy blur of blastbeats and technicality). As I said earlier it’s groovy-as-hell, and some moments actually get me thinking of Six Feet Under for the persistent emphasis on groove in the tempo. The slick guitar leads adds a lot of melody to their sound, but the riffing can go from everything to modern day death metal to classic thrash metal, and the interaction between the two styles makes it quite versatile. Persistense isn’t just another At the Gates clone in the death/thrash crowd, but seem to actually have gone all-out to diversify themselves from an overflowing sea of copy cats. The strong melody, energetic groove and tempo changes get me thinking of the Swedish act Decadence; one of the few thrash acts that I actually really enjoy. A very promising debut, and it’ll be interesting to see where they’ll take things next.

Tracklist:
01. Intro
02. Further
03. The reality
04. Infinite madness
05. Overcome
06. Progress
07. Doomsday
08. In blood and heart
09. Sick world