8th February 2021

Review: “T.U.R.I.N.” by This Is Turin

“The fires are dancing to the song of a thousand screams, Let the fallen angel devour me… Excommunicate“

Blackened Death Metal is the genre in which vocalist Darryl Jones, bassist James Kinnear, drummer Ben Adcroft and guitarists Anthony Hayden and Davey Langford do their work in Cheshire based This Is Turin. The outfit have also strayed from that path with moments of Technical Death Metal and even Deathcore since starting out in 2015 with debut full length “Cercis“. Since then a collection of singles has paved our cobblestone streets with gold and when we witnessed the quintet live for the first time at Tech-Fest in 2017, we were completely blown away by their sound and an intense and visceral performance that landed the upon us like the meteorite in Deep Impact.

If you’re looking for a push to perhaps take you to that next level them getting a guest musician of statute to appear on one of your tracks is a pretty decent way to just that and let’s face it, there aren’t many of greater stature than CJ McMahon of Thy Art Is Murder. Undoubtedly a hero to This Is Turin and a regular guest in such circles, we learned from his appearance on “Elite” from Londoners Vexed in 2019 that not only does his presence have the power to elevate you to a wide audience, but it also gives you a seal of approval as the man only lends his throat to material he likes. So what do we get from This Is Turin? A trio of hard hitting cuts that leave no flesh on the bone when sandblasting our skin.

The skull crushing soundtrack to complete spiritual discontent “Misery” is a blistering Deathcore cut, front loaded with technical drum fills, brutal breakdowns and groove for days. Even ignoring the presence of CJ McMahon on the track, This Is Turin have upped their game sonically, increasing their sheer intensity as they summon the will to survive from the depths of their blackened hearts. Jones matches McMahon stride for strife vocally as well with the pair almost going toe to toe like a couple of prize fighters in a heavyweight boxing match. McMahon’s presence isn’t the wow factor here, it’s the stardust sprinkled on top of an already exceptional cut. Another thunderous rhythmic pounding that brings Technical Death Metal leads and symphonic touches, “Absolution” has equally demonically possessed vocals from Jones and is no less brutal than the opening cut. The quality here is just jaw dropping and “T.U.R.I.N.” is supreme quality over quantity because when “Excommunicate” hits, the EP comes full circle through bludgeoning breakdowns piled high. Add to that the little Black Metal nuances with short bursts of machine gun line blast beats and the journey through losing faith lyrically is completed with something that sounds like it could be the latest work from Fit For An Autopsy. We need more from This Is Turin. They need to be picked up by a major label like Nuclear Blast. No longer should they be Skull Island’s best kept secret. They should be touring globally and leading the New Wave Of British Death Metal [9/10]

Track listing