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With a strong repertoire under their belt and a win in 2007 on Wacken's Metal Battle stage, Torture Squad has not stopped developing their extreme metal output. At first blush, they sound a lot like Sepultura, Krisiun and Slayer, but these Brazilian thrashers aren't afraid to think outside the box. Death/Thrash has never sounded better.

Almost any band can crank out old-school Thrash Metal. However, taking old school Thrash and mixing it with not too overly complex, yet still interesting, riffs is harder to come by. Don't get me wrong; this is not Cynic, Atheist or Sadus.

I don't think Torture Squad intended their new album, Æquilibrium, to be this catchy. Their technical abilities pop up in strange places throughout the album. Old school is not their only commodity and other elements can be plainly heard. I am a fan of good, powerful choruses yet something else here made me bang my head and I am impressed by the immense diversity of the album.

If extreme Thrash is part of your Metal spectrum, take this album and get out of the box along with Torture Squad. As with their previous releases, Hellbound and Pandemonium, Torture Squad step outside the lines and make good Thrash Metal that's deathly and evil, not banal.