Review by Vinny for Zerre - Rotting on a Golden Throne (2026)

Can you write a crossover thrash album nowadays without sounding like Power Trip? Thought I would get that statement out of the way early in the review. Not that it is a criticism though, to be able to emulate one of the most enjoyed sounds of the modern era is a solid prop to be able to give any band I suspect. Power Trip’s legacy (even though they are still active) is lasting, and rightly so, with Zerre doing that legacy justice here. Having moved away from their early hardcore punk sound, Zerre smash out the riffs and solos on this, their fourth album to date. The five-piece operate a tight ship on Rotting on a Golden Throne, with a savage and consistent attack that holds up well over nine tracks.

Album opener proper, ‘Pigs Will be Pigs’ sets the listener up for what is to come nicely. It is a clear opening statement of their intent to take no prisoners, which is very much the attitude they keep for the whole album. The danger of the relentless attack causing songs to morph into one another thankfully doesn’t come to fruition. This is because, in the first instance at least, Zerre are skilled musicians. Their abilities as a collective are difficult not to appreciate given the collective experience of the musicians involved. Guitarists Rocco (Julian) Lepore and Dominik Bertelt ply their trade elsewhere as drummers in heavy metal band Forensick and veteran German thrashers Vendetta respectively. Vocalist Nico Ziska was bassist in Der Weg einer Freiheit for eight-years and is audible in the mix too. No …and Justice for All shenanigans here folks.

Zerre vary the track lengths and pacing nicely to mix up the experience of the album. They slow down the longest track on the album, ‘Mental Vacation’ to give the leads a build up and then bring the track back twice as strong as before. Germany has a habit of being to sneak out these gems of thrash metal on the quiet as I discovered with Reactory and their Collapse to Come album from 2020. Just as with that album, I stumbled across Rotting on a Golden Throne – probably to rate another subpar Girardi artwork in all honesty – only to find it worthy of repeated plays and a slot in my feature release schedule for the site.

All that said, it is still a crossover thrash metal album, and it is hard to be ultra-excited for it, which is no reflection on the content, more just my diminishing enthusiasm for the sub-genre that The Pit covers. However, I will be coming back to this record (although I will always be liable to skip the indulgence of ‘Concrete Hell’) for future quick fixes when the itch calls for it.