UMUR
"Sensorial Treatment" is the debut full-length studio album by French death/thrash metal act Loudblast. The album was released through Jungle Hop Records in 1989. Loudblast were formed in 1985 and were pioneers on the French death/thrash metal scene along with artists like Massacra, Mercyless, and Agressor. It was not a scene that you heard much about back then, but especially Loudblast and Massacra did receive some attention and experienced some success. Before getting signed and releasing "Sensorial Treatment", Loudblast were pretty active on the French underground scene and they released no less than six demo tapes in the 80s and appeared on the 1987 "Licenced to Thrash" split. So this is a band who worked for their success and honed their songwriting craft and playing skills in the process.
Stylistically the material on "Sensorial Treatment" are on the boarder between thrash metal and death metal, and if I´d have to chose I´d call this brutal thrash metal rather than death metal with thrash metal traits. The most valid and obvious reference would be late 80s/early 90s Sepultura. We´re treated to fast-paced thrash metal riffing (and heavier death metal influenced riffs too) and screaming chromatic solos, a solid and energetic rhythm section, and a raw barking lead vocalist. Even for the time it´s not particularly original and the material aren´t fully on par with the best contemporary releases (at least in terms of catchiness and memorability). When that is said "Sensorial Treatment" is still a quality release and it´s certainly enjoyable while it plays.
The album features a relatively well sounding and powerful sound production, but nothing out of the ordinary for the time. So this all leads up to my evaluation of the album, which is that it´s a quality death/thrash release, but it´s not what I´d characterize as a seminal release in the genre. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved though, and fans of brutal thrash or death/thrash (or whatever you want to call it), are recommended to check it out.