Mexican extreme bands have a nasty habit of throwing out surprises that have you reeling such is their rawness and downright viciousness, and Ticket To Hell follow this ‘trend’ perfectly. Thrash comes to mind the moment “The Hidden Illness” starts up with its brutal riffing accompanied by death metal blasts. Mixing death and thrash has certainly increased in the last year as bands realise that the thrash and death scenes are particularly healthy. There is definitely room for one more as Ticket To Hell has a ferocity that has all the tenets of Deathchain coupled to the groove of a band like Legion Of The Damned.
However these crafty Mexican nutters have a knack of blending speed, straight metal, thrash and death riffs seamlessly with “Metallic Overdose” being a great example of high velocity metal taking on all genres with ease. “The Sickest Lie” is a gruesome heavy mix of thrash and death in equally lethal doses as the blast proves. The band even jabs at the blackened end of extreme metal on “Bluescreen Circus” which begins with a great riff as the song veers momentarily into black territory very subtly. The lengthier title track is a no nonsense juggernaut of a song that beats the crap out of you with its blasting mayhem before breaking into an unadulterated thrash riff but with death metal melody. As with many Mexican outfits why settle for one or two riffs when you can have five corkers as the title track swerves between one cracking riff after another.
As albums go this is up there with the best of them this year and it would be such a shame if you lot out there passed by this bunch of Central American manic metalheads. Be prepared to have your metal ticket well and truly stamped. Next stop is hell.
http://www.myspace.com/tickettohellband
