Born in Brazil around 1991, Scars have been able to release one full length album, entitled Ultimate Encore, and this six song EP called The Nether Hell. This is my first taste of this band but most definitely not my first brush with their take on traditional thrash metal. Scars make no attempt to hide their love for the beloved west coast scene that saw bands like Exodus, Vio-lence and Death Angel rise up to metal fame in the late 80’s and early 90’s with a plethora of statement making releases. And with a vocalist that sounds like a cross between Arise-era Max Cavalera and Phil Rind of the mighty and extremely underrated Sacred Reich, what we have on display here is a dish that’s been served upon the metal congregation time and time again.

There are no surprises here and what you’d expect out of a throwback to the Bay Area thrash metal act is precisely what you get. The majority of the riffs are speedy with some melodic twists added along the way to add flavor to the overall sound. With the mix on The Nether Hell being far from superior the band was able to capture their raw and ballsy sound quite well with plenty of separation between the guitars and drums, but where I get lost is fact the vocals are mixed so high. While Max Cavalera and Phil Rind were nowhere near the best singers on planet metal, they fit their bands well and their voices seemed to compliment the music they played perfectly. Our vocalist in Scars just seems a bit to “loud” if you will and does a whole lot of what I feel to be unnecessary yelling. Some standout tracks on this EP are “Creatures That Come Alive In The Night”, “Warfare” and “Return To The Killing Ground” that show the band at their best with some of the better and tighter riffs played over typical yet solid thrash beats that do well to keep the shit afloat. The other three tracks on this EP are filler at best and don't match up to the rest of the songs on this 29 minute ride.

In closing I’m just not sure how relevant this sound is anymore within today’s scene. It’s refreshing for me to know there are groups out there that still want to play this brand of thrash, but that just may not be enough at the end of the day. If you still get into any of the bands mentioned in this review it wouldn’t hurt to check these guys out, but please beware that they by no means match up to the sheer intensity and magic seen throughout the Bay Area in its hay day.