“We’ll always be a thrash band at heart, but we do want to develop and change.”

“People think that touring is ‘super party time,’ but it’s definitely a lot of work. A lot of stress, too.”

Imagine a labyrinth with no discernable end, where every wall, floor and ceiling are lined with shining, honed blades that could effortlessly split a hair, let alone mutilate doughy human flesh. Welcome to the Razormaze; a box full of lethal, deadly sharp metal. This mythical object is personified by four young Boston headbangers who slice and dice their audiences through shredding solos, killer wails and thrashtastic riffage.

Formed in 2007, Alex Citrone (vocals, rhythm guitar), Dave Carlino (lead guitar), Sam Nevine (bass) and Nick Lazzaro (drums) have carved their way through the underground Boston music scene and earned praise from the locals. Ranging in age from 22-26 years old, these younger statesmen are earning their stripes alongside scene veterans and not only holding their own, but straight up kicking ass.

The heyday of thrash may be a bygone era, but bands like Municipal Waste and Toxic Holocaust have ramped up demand for similar sounding acts. This New Wave of Thrash Metal has gone so far as to become a parody of itself, but the boys in Razormaze don’t want to be lumped in with the poseurs on the bandwagon. Singer Alex Citrone comments, “People tend to put us in that retro-thrash category and I don’t want to be there. A lot of people look on that pretty negatively.”

The haters are mostly old folk who lived through the original thrash movement when Metallica was metal and Anthrax and Slayer were filling US stadiums. But just because Alex and Co. weren’t yet walking when Reign in Blood dropped doesn’t mean they can’t ride the lightning with the best of them. “It felt like the most logical and natural music for me to play,” Alex confesses. “That’s what comes out when I play guitar.”

Razormaze released their first album, True Speed of Steel, in 2009 on Hold True Recordings. Like many debuts, it sounded like a band finding its footing within a genre. Tracks like “Slaughterotica,” “Dawn of the Shred” and “Lobotomized” stirred up circle pits a plenty, but their not-so-serious nature is obvious. Alex agrees, “True Speed of Steel was a good record, but we were kind of all over the place. We were just doing it to have fun.”

Enter Miseries, the three song EP they self-released in 2010. On this recording, Razormaze matured in every department: drums hit harder, bass pulsates the speakers, the vocals are more Mustaine than ever, and the blow-your-brains out solos will leave a barn door in the back of the head. The only question is, “Why just three songs?” Alex’s answer, “We kind of take a while to write songs. It’s a really chaotic process. A lot of disagreeing over what’s going to work, what’s not going to work. It’s clear that we don’t always see things eye to eye, but when we do, that’s when a song is complete.”

The chaos is well worth it, because the more focused Miseries highlights a band on the rise. Available for free on their Bandcamp website, they released the EP to have new music to support on their first US tour. “It was a bumpy road; lots of breakdowns, some poor turnouts, but a lot of great shows. People think that touring is ‘super party time,’ but it’s definitely a lot of work. A lot of stress, too.”

With their first cross-country trek under their bullet belts, the band joined Kickstarter.com, a website for fans to donate money to an artist’s cause. In Razormaze’s case, this means a new van. This may seem like a lofty expectation, but Alex is enthusiastic about the response, “We’re about halfway to our goal. A few people have dropped $250 on us, which is completely unfathomable to me.”

These guys are doing everything right. They have the youth, the skills, the local buzz, the drive to tour and a new full-length in the pipeline; an effort that will surely see Razormaze exploring new creative avenues, “The stuff that we’re writing now, it’s got death metal, it’s got hardcore, it’s got a lot of stuff in there. We’ll always be a thrash band at heart, but we do want to develop and change.” At the dawn of a new year full of uncertainties, one thing is for sure; Razormaze will keep on killing it.

www.razormaze.bandcamp.com