After a relatively promising debut release in the form of 'Insidious Awakening', Portuguese thrashers Echidna return three years later with follow up 'Dawn of the Sociopath'. Sadly, as compared to their first effort, the second outing feels to be more of the same material recycled, with the band's drawbacks all the more audible to hear. 
One particular fall point for Echidna is their overuse of "crunching" guitar notes; a common issue in much of modern extreme metal. A poor influence from metalcore, this style offers little but a restricting twang of mediocre riffs that sit out of place with the freer side of death and thrash metal.

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“Insidious Awakening” comes recommended for fans of Arch Enemy, The Haunted and Soilwork and even if 90% of the times it’s just pointless, misleading information from marketing campaigns in case of Portugal’s Echidna it’s downright accurate since the band operates in realms somewhat similar to these Swedish acts.
Their debut full length album “Insidious Awakening” is built on a Swedish-Metal framework, sufficiently melodic to earn some comparisons to Soilwork’s initial years, thrashy enough to be tagged as a The Haunted-inspired outfit and surely with a Death-Metal edge that sets them close to Arch Enemy.
Although it could be seen as a vaguely derived release since there’s little here you haven’t heard before, Echidna get away with it by churning out a vile and sharp Death-Thrash Metal assault clearly a cut above from the average group that dwells in similar Swedish resources.
Songs such as “Purifier”, “Anger is my Drug” and “Evolution: Reload” prove just how good Echidna can be at blending galloping and aggressive riffs with melodic, cutting leads and pounding and fast beats. Plus, they reveal a technical proficiency that lends the songs a knotty and interesting trait, though they can be equally catchy and memorable at certain points.
Although “Insidious Awakening” cannot be exactly seen as an essential purchase, it’s definitely a strong, coherent and well-versed release in Swedish Death-Thrash dynamics. (7/10)

Band info: www.echidnaband.com
Label info: www.rastilho.com

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