It’s a tale of two Italian brothers who band together to go off on tours and put their skills to the test. Oh, sorry, not the Super Mario Brothers, but the Cardi brothers, Marco (Dado) and Jacopo. When Dado’s previous band, H.o.S., called it quits in 2015, he and his brother formed this Italian four-piece, Adversor, which has proved a much more productive project, as This Mortal Coil marks their fourth in eleven years. Adversor has sought to turn their punky, angry thrash into diatribes against “increasingly impossible living conditions,” “authoritarianism, genocide, and violence against women,” with one song (“Burn”) dedicated to a university student, Giulia Cecchettin, whose horrific murder sparked outrage across Italy. Their heart is in the right place, so now let’s find out if the music hits the right notes.

This Mortal Coil contains some old school Kreator leanings with doses of melodicism and power metal noodling mixed in. “Shattered Visions” gets things going nice and fast with its punky energy, simple yet effective drumming from the younger Cardi brother, and a surprising amount of bass stanking up the joint. Dado snarls with ferocity and bite, delivering the band’s message with venomous anger and doing his best Mille Petrozza impression. Filipo Parrise, on guitars, channels plenty of energy and plays some rip-roaring melodies, bringing to mind Bloodletter on the likes of “This Mortal Coil” and “Totem of Doom.” Speaking of which, “Totem of Doom” ironically proves the thrash standout on the record. As the album’s shortest song proper, it proves the power of efficiency, though the sweet riffs and Ale’s impressive bass presence also help.

With Vektor as a source of inspiration, Adversor take This Mortal Coil in often progressive and noodly directions. Following a couple of pure thrash cuts, “Burn” mixes the tempo up, opening with some good thrash before slowing things down for mid-paced bruising riffs and a solo that borrows heavily from classic heavy metal. The song concludes with a rousing chorus of “Burn burn burn” that has the feel of the classic Kvaen line, “Fire fucking fire.” Similarly, “Gargantua” goes in more progressive directions, beginning like another thrash tune before diving into a very lengthy instrumental portion that includes some light jazz bass, a solo, and tempo rises and falls before falling into a pretty unusual bit of distortion at the song’s conclusion. While I can see what they were aiming for, the material isn’t always compelling enough, and the frequent solos and instrumental segues end up disrupting the thrash instead of enhancing it.

There’s a tight thrash record in these 43 minutes, but with so many songs creeping towards or past the five-minute range, it suffers too much bloat. In some cases it’s good thrash that just carries on too long (“This Mortal Coil”), but there’s also some tighter thrash that’s just too bland to move the needle (“The Heritage,” “Side by Side”). Things especially fall off down the stretch as the hooks struggle to land. “Ghosts of Ourselves” inserts a pretty fun dueling guitar bit between the lead guitar and the bass, but this just serves as a highlight for an otherwise uninspired tune. Thematically, This Mortal Coil is all over the place as well. Adversor includes some sci-fi touches inspired by the films Interstellar and Event Horizon and channels that into an instrumental interlude and outro containing synths that feel more at home on Stranger Things.

This Mortal Coil sounds like a band seeking to take its identity in a new direction and expand their musical repertoire. Their earlier stuff has tighter writing and the Kreator thrash feels more prominent. Here, Adversor choose to go in more exploratory directions, even as some of the thrash they write is among their best stuff. There’s plenty to enjoy here, with a track or two to throw on your thrash playlist. Maybe as a whole the record doesn’t fully succeed, but perhaps Adversor can build off of this and write some more compelling material next time that better matches their instrumental prowess.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Selvajaria Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: November 6th, 2026

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