Formed in 1991, Tenebra was a thrash metal band from Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

TENEBRA (1994) D&S RECORDS

Thrash metal went from an underground movement to a money making machine in no time during the late 80's. But when grunge and alternative flooded the music market, thrash metal was forced back into the underground again. There the scene lived and thrived almost as good as ever. But before the time of the internet, file sharing and "public" enlightenment, most of the newer bands were unheard of. Germany's Tenebra was such a band. They released their one and only self-titled album in 1994, and quickly disappeared again. So albeit never leaving a historical musical mark, they are now one of many obscure unknown bands the thrash metal purists are finding out about over 10 years later. There is a vast market for small little gems like these online.

Musically Tenebra (meaning dark or moody) sounds more like an American band then what you'd expect from a German unit. They lean a little bit towards the technical aspects of thing, but without ever becoming an obvious progressive band. The guitars deliver the usual hammering chugga-chugga riffs, but they change it up all of the time within each song. The drumming is steady, albeit a bit uninventive. The pace of the music not full blasting speed, but it would be wrong to call it mid-tempo. This is, after all, thrash metal. But Tenebra certainly sports a massive groove. The bass follows the riffs, and that has got to be one heck of a job! The vocals are quite monotonous, both in tone, and in phrasing. But somehow the abrasive shouting works for this kind of galloping thrash metal. It reminds me a little of the vocals on Sacrament's 'Testimony Of Apocalypse' album. So if you have them in mind, and add touches of Believer and Anacrusis light, you might get a feeling of what Tenebra is all about. The album as a whole gets a little bit on the samey side. But there is still some great thrash metal to be heard here. And the album actually gets better and better as it throttles along. Thanks to Ben for hooking me up with this CD.

Killer tracks: Urges, Innocent Culprit, Exposed Senses, Re-Reborn