REVIEW: Biolence - Violent Obliteration

Since 1998, the Portuguese death and thrash metal veterans Biolence have served their uncompromising music to the masses worldwide, evolving their sound into heavier and gnarlier with each release. Thriving on stages where they can show their fullest potential, the band is not scared of controversy or criticism, and always looks for a way to push the boundaries even further. Now, with Violent Obliteration, their latest release, the band are on a massive rampage to push the envelope that bit more.

The album brings in violent riffs, breakdowns and solos throughout the whole album, where some of the heaviest moments are ‘Heavy Artillery’, ‘Extermination Through Mutilation’ and title track ‘Violent Obliteration’. From gnarly screams to stand-out drums, the songs are energetic, chaotic and make the listeners unknowingly start moshpits in their rooms. While ‘Heavy Artillery’ and ‘Violent Obliteration’ go straight into the guitar action, ‘Extermination Through Mutilation’ has a little recording playing, in what is quite a standard hardcore trope, before hitting those fry screams.

Interestingly enough, ‘Extermination Through Mutilation’ is not the only song on Violent Obliteration that has an intro playing before the actual song. The other ones are ‘World Plague’ and ‘F. U. B. A. R.’, songs, that are equally as heavy as the aforementioned. ‘World Plague’ is very energetic, showcasing the instrumental abilities of the members, although vocally the song is not doing poorly at all, as there is a variety of different sounds and techniques going on. ‘F. U. B. A. R.’, on the other hand, is more aggressive, using high-pitched guitar tones. The song starts off a bit slower, before exploding into a big bang of sounds, creating a melody, that is reoccurring throughout the song, giving it a distinctive tone.

As the album progresses, it is evident the band is ready to talk about the current situation worldwide. As they stated in their official statement about the album, “This upcoming album is possibly our most cohesive, direct, and violent to date, a nuclear bomb of death/thrash metal, with our signature lyrical themes such as the horrors of war, biological and mass destruction weapons, greed, human corruption, and its destructive impact on the planet,”, and this can be noticed not only in the song titles such as ‘Humanity Executioner’ and ’50 Caliber Freedom’, as well as other songs that were previously mentioned, but also in the lyrics of the songs that correspond to each title respectively. Each track proves that the band is not scared to publicly talk about the ongoing problems and struggles and that it stays true to its word, now more than ever. The urgency of the messages is also highlighted with the band’s focus on death and thrash metal, bringing even more attention to the cause.

Last, but not least, the narrative of Violent Obliteration is further elevated with the addition of ‘Intro’ and ‘Outro’ at the beginning and end of the album. Although they are instrumental tracks, both contain sound effects of war sirens, bombing and muffled announcements in the background, with no vocals, that are followed by marching instruments in ‘Intro’ and an eery sounding guitar in ‘Outro’.

Although many of the songs sounded very similar, the mission to not stay silent about the crimes of the present was full filled, and it has been done in a way that is urgent, uncompromising and straightforward. The riffs were haunting the whole time, vocals were gnarly, and drums and bass did not have a second to stop and breathe. Even after more than twenty-five years, Biolence once again prove to be an important part of the metal scene, that is always ready to come back with even heavier and more powerful music.

Score: 8/10

Violent Obliteration was released on September 1st 2025 via Doomed Records, Raging Planet and Selvajaria Records.

Words: Katerina Stepanikova

Photos: Biolence