After roping Winds Of Genocide's Kat Gillham to blog for us last week she's been on a mission to unearth the best unsigned and underground bands around the globe. But for band of the week blog #2 she didn't need to look far in offering up a thrash treat from her very, own North-Eastern stomping ground.

KAT'S BAND OF THE WEEK: VORTEX

If I have to be bluntly honest the local metal scene in County Durham isn't exactly thriving with bands playing thrash or death metal music, it never has been a hotbed for bands playing such music, probably due to it's relative rural isolation compared to the rest of the country and it's bigger more urbanised metal scenes such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, and the sprawling metropolis of Leeds/Bradford etc. I guess the biggest band that ever came out of the backwoods of County Durham playing any style of extreme music is metal/punk/crossover legends Warfare who were formed in the sleepy railway town of Shildon. It has usually always been Newcastle that has produced the majority of local "name" metal bands in the North East of England such as Venom, Raven, Skyclad, Hellbastard and Tank.

So imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when a band of young teenagers calling themselves Vortex who had such bands as Sabbat, Kreator, Onslaught, Xentrix, Exodus, Sacred Reich, Annihilator etc listed as influences sent a comment to my band's myspace page earlier this year telling us to check them out, which I promptly did and oh boy, am I glad I did!!

My ears were met with a veritable treat of old school style thrash metal with playing/songwriting that is razor sharp in precision, amazing especially when considering the tender average age of the band members which is currently still just 16 years old, the drummer powerhouse Michael being the even more tender age of 13 years old but if you didn't know how old these boys were then you would definitetly think the songs had been crafted and played by people of an older age such is the maturity of their songwriting, even at such a very early stage, they have undeniable raw talent.

The first recorded output by the band that I heard consisted of  3 songs which overall are very reminiscent of the old '80s Bay Area thrash bands, there is definetly more than a nod to Metallica in their early-mid '80s prime, combining the type of melodic guitar harmonies and melodies that Metallica were famed for on 'Master Of Puppets' with the thrashing intensity of said album. There is of course a certain "britishness" to their sound aswell which musically on the first demo also reminded me a lot of Xentrix. The band also have injected some death metal influences into their thrash based substance aswell and that is especially evident in Luke's vocal style which is gruffer and deeper than most of the Bay Area or British bands of the '80s/early '90s and are more deaththrash sounding but they fit the music perfectly, giving it a more caustic aggressive vibe.

A few weeks ago the band entered the studio again to record a 2nd demo offering, less than half a year after they recorded their debut demo which features 3 more songs plus an intro. The songs on this demo 'Rancid Manifestation', 'In the Wake of Fire' and 'Spiritual Waste' show the band clearly honing their music and songwriting skills and see them rapidly progressing and starting to find more of their own identity, and the material showcased on this new demo recording is a marked progression on the songs that they wrote for the first demo.

Again this demo has plenty of nods to the 80's glory days of thrash (especially of the Bay Area variety and '80s Slayer), from the classic Annihilator 'Alison Hell' style intro via the thrashing intense duel guitar riff tornado whipped up by guitarists Luke Elton and Daniel Jordan to the relentless Vio-Lence style drumming of Michael Jordan ( a young Perry Strickland comes to mind!) who also throws in some subtle but noticeable blastbeats on the 2nd song 'Spiritual Waste' which remind me of those used by Dimension Zero on their 'Silent Night Fever' album. The new demo definetly veers off into more aggressive deathrash territory in places. There is also noticeable nods and similarities to modern day thrash heroes such as Warbringer and Bonded By Blood but the bands sound overall is firmly rooted in the old school.

There are plenty of classy lead guitar breaks and duel guitar shredding throughout this recording not unlike that of Slayer, classic Forbidden, classic Metallica, Vio-Lence or one of their bay area neighbours and Lukes vocals have taken on a much darker and more brutal edge as have the content of the lyrics. A mention must also go to Jonah Lambton the bass player aswell who tightly anchors everything down on the lower end whilst his young bandmates whip up a thrashing rage of lightning fast guitar gymnastics and double kick powered drums around the solid bass playing. The band seemingly have the ability to mix in the retro style/sound of the '80s classic thrash heyday whilst also keeping things fresh sounding with a sharp crisp modern day energetic punch with formidable ease.

I have had the pleasure of witnessing this band live twice so far, first time was in August at one of the Grindhouse nights I put on and the second time was a couple of days ago and both times they literally SLAYED, they were exceptionally well rehearsed and tight and gave the older bands on the bills a lesson in thrash vio-lence! And they made a huge impression on all those who witnessed their sets - mindblowing!

This bunch of very talented youngsters have the potential to go on to much greater things given the right backing and support and I would expect some label out there to have the sense to pick these guys up before they become sought after hot property. Definitely a band worthy of a record deal if ever I heard one and who could definetly evolve into a formidable thrash/metal force to be reckoned with. Yes the band still have a lot of room for development but it is an exciting thought to think where they could be at in just a years time, which at that age is a lifetime! Now let's just hope they keep things together as band unit and don't let any teenage naivety and growing pains get in the way of them writing more great music and jumping up to the next level.

So what ya waiting for, do yourself a favour and go and check out Vortex's thrash metal onslaught power from Durham for yourself  at:- http://www.myspace.com/vortexthrashbanduk