Latest Reviews

During the first quarter of the 21st century, there has been no thrash metal band that has piqued my interest in the genre quite like Skeletonwitch. They have been one of my most consistently solid bands in the genre since I really started paying attention around 2007, and only grew in popularity for me when I started to embrace the more extreme of the metal subgenres around 2010. Skeletonwitch's brand of old school Iron Maiden riffs, modified with faster grooves, a healthy dose of death metal guttural vocals and a sprinkle of black metal tossed in just to keep you guessing. Beyond the Permafrost was not my first exposure to this band, but after hearing it in full again, it really gets to the crux of my main concern with thrash metal as a whole.

And that concern is in the songwriting. Yeah, I can admit that Beyond the Permafrost can be a bit one-note at times, especially the longer it goes on, but that one-note mentality allows for this album to be far more concise than a typical thrash metal album. Skeletonwitch do not waste any time here as songs are concise and poignant. Guitar does play an integral role here, but the guitar solos are quick, technically impressive and get us back to the meat-and-potatoes expediently, while the main riffs almost take the form of an earworm considering how many times you hear them played over such a short period of time. 

Given that Skeletonwitch are not a full fledged tribute/homage band to the early "extreme" thrash giants like Slayer and Possessed, the album does have some variety. You will hear the occasional blast beat in the percussion, but they serve primarily as fills and embellishment rather than forming the grooves. What makes the comparisons make sense is when Skeletonwitch break out into a black metal riff with open chordal guitar harmonies and slower percussion grooves. While songs like "Remains of the Defeated" serve as too much of a good thing as well as an interlude, it isn't like the drastic style change is out-of-pocket, since Skeletonwitch have been embracing these types of grooves throughout the record. 

One thing that I would love for Skeletonwitch to embrace would be a couple of longer songs to show off their songwriting capability over an extended timeframe. The bands most recent album, Devouring Radiant Light does exactly that and would serve as quality, complimentary listening material if you find this album to be too simple for its own sake. As for me, I like the simplicity of Beyond the Permafrost more than most and pieces of it reminds me of early Kreator and more recently, Power Trip and Enforced. 

Best Songs: Sacrifice for the Slaughtergod, Beyond the Permafrost, Cast into the Open Sea, Soul Thrashing Black Sorcery, Within My Blood

I don't know what enticed Orbit Culture to begin their album with a constant pulsing of the Inception atom drop on "Black Mountain", but it sounded terrible and set a really bad first impression for their album, Descent. Unfortunately, the production blunders do not end here, as Orbit Culture are undoubtedly caught up in the metalcore/deathcore craze of blasting every instrumental part up to eleven on the soundboard, and letting all of the instrumentalists fight for their time in the spotlight. The percussion is severely overcooked; any time the double bass kick pedal takes shape, the sheer repetitiveness and rate at which they strike pushes everything else to the back. One moment that truly stuck out for me was during the second half of "From the Inside", which at first, I thought could be a pretty decent djent infused song. But then the softer bridge kicked in with this unsavory synth lead. This is followed by a return of the metal foundation, with vocals, and dueling guitar solos. It's just too much stuff going on and none of it is allowed to take center stage.

The albums length is also a big determent. Averaging five-plus minutes per song is not an inherent bad thing, but when more than half of them sound half cooked is when you know something is wrong. The album begins with "Black Mountain", which would have been okay if not for the Inception sound effects. Then both "Sorrower" and "From the Inside" are both over six minutes long, but the main idea ends after only four. That leaves Orbit Culture with another third of the song to fill in with other space. And, like in metalcore, that space is filled with an unrelated riff and an unprepared new melody. If you're band is going to do this, at least put in some effort to make the two parts work together. Otherwise, they just sound half-assed. When "Vultures of North", "Alienated" and "Descent" come on, they are stronger songs with good forms, okay melodies and a smaller collection of sounds conversing at the same time. The production is still hit-and-miss, but I'll take the positive songwriting over poor production.

But Orbit Culture keeps bringing back the patchy songwriting for the albums conclusion (and obnoxious instrumental choices) for the finale of the record and leaves this album feeling a little bit hollow. It's almost like the band wanted to try something more experimental, which I appreciate, but they didn't know how to do it well. Maybe this band should return to the basics of melodic death metal and really embolden their fundamentals before expanding further. I mean, they have already proven that they can with pieces of Descent, but now they need to bring them to the surface for a full album.

Best Songs: Vultures of North, The Aisle of Fire, Descent

Fledgling to the metal scene, coming across this album wasn't anything out of the ordinary; an opinion I held till watching Welcome to your funeral a documentary on the early day's of rigor mortis, and with another re-listen to the album, I can for sure say this album is a favorite of mine.

From the sheer gritty descent of welcome to our funeral, to the brutal slap of demons waking to your new residence hell and it's inhabitants. Rigor Mortis, really opens quite strongly. Other tracks like re-animator, condemned to hell, and foaming at mouth really give the album a fun kick and bash that gets you going.

The big track for me bodily dismemberment, just has the staple thrash feel of brutal lyrics, pounding drums, fast riffs, and unsettling vocals that really gets the ya groovin.

Props to Mike Scaccia, guy has some crazy picking skill accompanied with killer riffs.

Casey Orr is a beast of a bass player.

Harden Harrison the fucking back bone.

Bruce Corbitt the spirit and soul.

R.I.P Rigor Mortis

3 and a half years is a long-ish gap between two albums, and some listeners might've forgotten about Alien Weaponry and their unique Maori metal sound until their new album came out. Then again, there was almost that same gap between their two other albums Tu and Tangaroa. Many fans of Alien Weaponry still remember them, and they continue their memorable path with Te Ra!

This young band has maintained their groove/alt-metal band with a bit of djent, thrash, and of course, their native music. The lyrics alternate between English and the Maori language. Their sound continues to evolve, and so does their popularity when going festival after festival.

Crashing through the gates is the thrashy "Crown" with thick layered production. Culture shall not weigh them down! Following up is the single "Mau Moko" with sick music and lyrics, as the verses deal with ancestors' preserved heads. The band's experience with history is what helps the band stand out a lot. "1000 Friends" is a killer banger with some accessibility. The perils of social media are detailed well in the lyrics. We have another thunderous banger in "Hanging by a Thread".

"Tama-nui-te-ra" has some Gojira vibes. "Myself to Blame" has slow sludgy groove. The vocal power of Lewis Raharuhi de Jong help make that track an epic highlight. Getting into "Taniwha", it's darker and heavier, featuring guest narration and vocals by Lamb of God's Randy Blythe.

Storming in lyrics against war, "Blackened Sky" continues expanding the band's boundaries. "Te Riri o Tawhirimatea" is one of the most deathly tracks the band has done. "Ponaturi" stomps around with the nu metal-ish contrast of melodic verses and heavy choruses. "Te Kore" is a short different ending track, a slow percussive march while Maori origins are described in the lyrics. The live crowd might just march along and pound their chests like gorillas.

Alien Weaponry is not a band to sell out, and they've proven that with some more of their top-notch Maori metal in Te Ra. These young New Zealanders keep putting their passion and emotion into the work, as a reward for their longtime followers!

Favorites: "Mau Moko", "1000 Friends", "Myself to Blame", "Taniwha", "Ponaturi", "Te Kore"

As I waded waist deep into new black metal releases this year, a new album from Cryptosis raised an eyebrow when I spotted it in my search list. I double checked to ensure I had not tagged technical/progressive thrash metal into the criteria by mistake, but as it turns out the black metal aspects of Celestial Death are not even all that subtle. Vocalist Laurens Houvast has gone a few degrees colder with his grim voice on this album. This when put in the mix with some cloying atmospherics, Burzum style chimes (check out ‘Absent Presence’ for a dose of Filosofem), jangling tremolos and melodies all makes for a harsh and abrasive experience.

The mellotron is back again and this and the synthesisers do an excellent job of scoring the air around them with a futuristic, dystopian sorrow. That’s not to say that Celestial Death is an entirely slow and atmospheric outing, far from it in fact. The Dutch trio manage to add lots of bite to proceedings and fans of their debut album will welcome this; I am sure. That rabid pacing is still present and tracks like ‘The Silent Call’ manage to balance that scathing attack with the depth of the synths well. In short, Cryptosis’ sophomore is a cracker.

It did take a couple of listens for me to settle down with the action here. My first listen was whilst working and I had thrown this on to get some thrash going in the background and quickly found myself focusing more on the cold and melodic aspect of the record instead. Once I got a couple of more critical listens under my belt, things started to right-size for me a lot quicker. Celestial Death is a very mature sounding record, one that builds on the promise of the debut from some four years ago superbly. The guitar notes on the opening of ‘Reign of Infinite’ positively dance with excitement and the balance between the riffs and the synths and then the percussion is excellent.

I could do with a little more weight in the drums on the mix, but I still feel Marco Prij does a great job, pacing his patterns as the soundscape that continues to unfold requires him to. Houvast’s guitar work is great throughout. It is vibrant one minute, then cold and jarring the next. I have no major criticisms here in all honesty. I am still a little confused by the black thrash combo that relies more on atmospherics above all other things to emphasise that cold influence and it does still feel a little strange adding this into my The North list for 2025. However, it is absolutely a valid entry and is one of the best releases of the year so far regardless of which sub-genre sits as its driving force.

You know what, I really need to get into more industrial-tinged melodeath. The music made by Cypecore is so good, that I want more of it from different bands. Fear of Domination, perhaps? Anyway, if Identity was a small step up, The Alliance is a big leap that has never let me down. More common listening for me coming my way!

This is the final album with Tobias Derer (drums), Evan K (guitars), and Chris Heckel (bass) before Chris' death. RIP... What a shame, because they're all so talented, and Tobias is such a captivating drummer. Lots of technical rhythms and blasts striking through with no flash, all substance. His drumming is a solid fit to the riffing of Evan K. and Nils Lesser, having an industrial vibe that is also heard in the occasional background synths.

The "Intro" aspect may have been overdone, but it's so short and doesn't affect much. The title track blasts off as an intense battle-ready banger full of djent-ish riffing. The melodic "Dissatisfactory" has a more gloomy flow. It's filled with lengthy complexity that makes it memorable. So is "Dreamsmasher", also having cleanliness from Dagoba.

We also have the diverse "Aeons" with its haunting siren-like guitar leads. "Reject the Stream" rips through with nothing wrong. 7-minute epic "Remembrance" that shows the band at their most atmospheric and progressive. The best one here! "The Voice of Conviction" has some melody from metalcore bands like Unearth and Killswitch Engage.

"Leviathan" is another one of the best tracks in the album, having more melodic guitarwork with some background keys. Vocalist Dominic Christoph sounds fantastic going from harsh to whispers to shouted singing. Everyone's talent shines the best in this heavy/melodic blend. "Values of Death" is like the opposite of their earlier track "Values of Life". After that, "The Gift of Failure" never fails, having some melodeath from Mercenary and early Shadows Fall. The "Outro" is OK, not affecting the album's perfection.

All in all, The Alliance is a perfect balance of the band's past and future, similarly to how A Wake in Providence's Eternity turned out for that band. All before each band's 2024 album takes a more too-pompous-to-enjoy-all route. I shall be giving The Alliance more spins in the future. Despite their unfortunate losses, Cypecore shall not fall!

Favorites: "The Alliance", "Dissatisfactory", "Aeons", "Remembrance", "Leviathan", "The Gift of Failure"

Sometimes the most wonderful and spectacular bands end up being so underrated. I can say that about Cypecore and any band that's either cyber metal of symphonic deathcore (of course, Lorna Shore is too popular to be underrated). This German futuristic melodeath/groove metal band continues their journey with album #3 Identity!

It's easy to describe this band as a more modernized industrial-ish take on Gothenburg melodeath, but they can be more than that. They can expand the boundaries of their sound to add some fresh uniqueness. At the time of recording this album, guitarist Nils Lesser and drummer Tobias Derer were part of symphonic metal band Beyond the Black. After Identity and that band's second album Lost in Forever came out, Lesser and Derer left Beyond the Black and focused on their main band.

The ominous "Intro" begins the album. Then "Saint of Zion" impresses me with its guitar/keyboard fury to get me hooked. "Where the World Makes Sense" is another powerful anthem. "My Confession" is more melodic, throwing back to classic Fear Factory.

Heads will roll in "Hollow Peace", and you can never turn away from it. The title track attacks with the usual blend of melody and heaviness. "Drive" continues the crushing sound while having some driving speed. The clean-sung "A New Dawn" is one of the best tracks I've heard from this band and the groove/melodeath realms.

"The Abyss" is the only track in this album I would consider weak here without bringing the rating down. The same can almost be said about "The Void" which is a little more rock-ish. The "Outro" goes on for too long and is a little unnecessary. Fortunately, saving the album from losing its 4.5-star rating is the popular bonus track "The Hills Have Eyes". If this was in the standard edition as a regular track, and the previous 3 tracks weren't included, this offering would've been 100% perfect.

Odd tracks aside, Identity shows Cypecore unleashing amazing hits that tear down the walls of conventionality. They stand out amongst the sea of Gothenburg copycats. Nils Lesser is still committed to Cypecore and keeping the band alive, and maybe their future will be more successful!

Favorites: "Saint of Zion", "Where the World Makes Sense", "My Confession", "Identity", "A New Dawn", "The Hills Have Eyes"

The passing of two members from the band's original lineup has the concept of this album Take the Consequence to be given a bleaker effect. This is the story of how the world may end in the hands of humanity, with no hope for a bright future...

Cypecore have a lot of mechanical atmosphere in their sound. Their blend of melodeath, groove metal, and industrial elements makes them come out as a stylistic offspring of Dethklok and Fear Factory. It is their vision to warn us about this dark future via music of rage and emotion. It's a cold feeling with barely any warmth. With that said, Take the Consequence lets us endure the darkness within the brightness of our homes.

The "Intro" is a little long for one but it is enough to get you hooked. The first actual song "Values of Life" is what I like for all this heavy aggression and some electronic experimentation in literally the last minute. "The Lie of Redemption" is slower but has beautiful melodic soloing. Then the verses start and the riffing is sh*tloads of heavy, heavier than even Fear Factory! H*LL YES!!! And this was 15 years after Demanufacture! Maybe this year (as of this review), a heavier industrial/groove metal band might take the throne. Anyway, the mosh-worthy chorus once again makes that song a great highlight. We have some Dark Tranquillity-like melodeath in "The Balance".

Losing some impact is "Plague". However, "Moment of Impact" brings back the impact. While it's slower, it has dark melody in the guitarwork, balanced out with the usual heavy rhythms. That oughta get the listener hooked! The vocals are a little strange, like there's the usual shouting but there are also some rap-ish whispers in the verses. Still quite cool all the same. "Coma Vigil" would've also been great, but d*mn those f***ing keyboard effects in the first half. Not all of that song is a total loss though. The final two minutes are almost entirely instrumental while making great use of the guitarwork, especially in the tasteful soloing to end it all. "Sick Sad Little World" makes me remember the band's skillful talents and pulls off impressive turns in tempo.

It segues to the awesome "Torn Apart" with some of the best vocals and lyrics ever shouted by the late Azge. "Feel the Ground (Devastated)" is more devastating, sounding almost as djenty as Born of Osiris in the riffing. The epic "And the Sun Will Never Rise Again" has some of the groove of Nevermore and Dave Padden-era Annihilator while sneaking some industrial elements of later Motionless in White and Celldweller. The long "Outro" isn't all that necessary. Neither is the odd hidden country track.

It's sad that Attila "Azge" Erdélyi would leave the band after this album and never return, especially since he would later pass away along with bassist Chris Heckel. Still, Azge's vocals help out with the album's variety. A couple tracks could've been better, while not affecting this great album. And this band would later reach greater heights....

Favorites: "Values of Life", "The Lie of Redemption", "Moment of Impact", "Sick Sad Little World", "Torn Apart", "And the Sun Will Never Rise Again"

Not as bad as reviews on other websites might suggest. Shrapnel are a U.K. thrash band who have decided to go more mainstream with their fourth studio album, In Gravity. For starters, this is a huge departure for the band since it contains next to nothing in true thrash texture. This is much closer to mid 200s metalcore/post-grunge than anything in the bands previous discography. As someone who was not aware of Shrapnel before In Gravity, this actually doesn't bother me since I can view this album from a neutral position. Perhaps the album gets a bad reputation by putting two of its slowest songs, "In Gravity" and "Amber Screams" right at the top. The record does include some faster grooves and has some pretty solid ones too, such as "Breaker" and "Follow The Cold", but those seem to be the outliers in an album that is much more subdued than previous efforts.  The vocals sounds like a cross between Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy and Machine Head's Rob Flynn. And the instrumentals can be fun at times; as mentioned previously, some of the grooves are quite solid on the album, but they are at their best when they break away from the standard thrash or even nostalgic metalcore mold.

All that being said, this album fumbles the songwriting hard. As a former thrash band, I cannot say that I'm surprised. Some of the tracks on this record are painfully put together and have no real sense of direction. Even though I do like "Breaker", something about the final chorus feels off; almost like its missing a buildup to the chorus instead of just jumping right into it out of the bridge. Same can be said for "Guardian". "So Below" is arguably the worst culprit of disastrous songwriting, where the verse and chorus riffs do not coalesce together at all. They feel like two different songs that have been sheepishly thrown together in an attempt to save time, or to simply save the riffs from becoming forgotten B-sides. While I do appreciate the change in direction for Shrapnel on In Gravity, they lost their sense of identity, and showed the listener just how forgiving we (as listeners) are towards poor songwriting when the riffs are ferocious.

Best Songs: Breaker, Follow The Cold, Absolution

I didn't go into Helldorado with the greatest of expectations. I remember this band and their 2022 album DEATHWESTERN being a very good (if a little same-y) novelty thrash album. The western/southern elements of that album appeared mostly in the lyrical content while the music itself remained quite bare. Well in 2025, Spiritworld will actually put some ambition into their music as "Abilene Grime", "Bird Song of Death" and "ANNIHILISM" show the band embracing a softer, country side.

Now, if you're expecting this album to be the thrash ladened beating of the last album, you might find Hellorado to be disappointing. But as someone who has continuously pointed out the flaws of novelty bands in the past, this might not be a bad thing for Spiritworld. It might make them a little bit more gimmicky as style changes from smooth and sultry sax solos ("Prayer Lips") back into thrash metal riffing ("Waiting on the Reaper") to black metal guest vocals on "Oblivion". However, the changeup in presentation is commendable. And it is not as if Spiritworld even needed to do this given that Hellorado is less than half-an-hour in length. For now anyways, the gimmick has not grown tired yet.

Best Songs: No Vacancy in Heaven, Bird Song of Death, Oblivion

Released in 1987, ‘Among the Living’ is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Anthrax, and is hailed by fans as one of the genres greatest albums. Much like the other members of thrash metal’s “big four” (look ‘em up if you don’t know), Anthrax were at this time, riding an upward trajectory of both creative and critical success. Their previous outing, ‘Spreading the Disease’, solidified them as one of metal’s most promising bands, and this follows on exactly from where they left off.

With the same line-up of musicians, having toured and played together for a number of years now, it’s no surprise that everyone is firing on all cylinders here. The twin-guitar assault sounds even tighter than before, with rapid-fire thrash riffs that refuse to slow down. The bands tongue-in-cheek approach is here in spades, in particular with vocalist Joey Belladonna’s performances, sometimes serious, oftentimes humorous, all the time impressive. All the ingredients for a great Anthrax record are here.

The production sounds good for its time, though nothing overly remarkable, it sounds pretty much as you’d expect an 80’s thrash album to sound, and it holds up well to this day. With fist-pumping anthems such as ‘I Am the Law’, ‘Indians’, ‘Caught in a Mosh’, ‘Among the Living’ and ‘Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)’, there’s an abundance of Anthrax classics here, helping make ‘Among the Living’ an essential album that belongs in every metal fans collection.

I believe to have reviewed this EP a couple years back and wasn't into it that much. But now that my taste in industrial metal is expanding further and further, I enjoy it much more now! At this point, I'm already familiar with dozens of Sphere bands and I like a few songs by White Zombie and KMFDM. And now here I am, making a better revisit of this collaborative EP between those two bands...

KMFDM contributed some remixes of two singles from White Zombie's La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One. The remixes are included in this EP along with their original album versions. This is probably the earliest KMFDM has gone metal and the earliest White Zombie has gone industrial.

From that first riff, you know it's the original version of "Thunder Kiss '65". Great track, though the mixing is a bit cold. The "Swinging Lovers Mix" is different from the original version's metallic sound, including the intro and outro. Throughout the song, synths appear more than the guitars just come out as more of an afterthought. Next up, "The Remix That Wouldn't Die Mix" is longer and has more creativity, which makes me prefer it over the previous remix.

The next original track "Black Sunshine" is so spooky while still sounding cold in the mix. However, the "Indestructible 'Sock It To Me' Psycho-Head Mix" totally beats the original by throwing in raw aggression in the guitars and vocals. In the middle of the track, the drums switch to a dance beat before going back to groove-ish double kicks.

All in all, Nightcrawlers is a great EP that might be good for dance club parties with friends. Maybe a little weird for that, but just as long as everyone's OK. The remixes really depart from the originals with the "Thunder Kiss '65" remixes sounding more suitable for the club and the "Black Sunshine" remix actually being heavier and edgier. Cheesy while still the good kind of cheese. Worth it for any Rob Zombie fan to add to their collection....

Favorites: "Thunder Kiss '65" (original), "Thunder Kiss '65" (The Remix That Wouldn't Die Mix), "Black Sunshine" (Indestructible "Sock It to Me" Psycho-Head Mix)

The gritty and gnarly style of groove metal that Prong play on album opener, Another Worldy Device is like an oddly melodic punk track in some ways.  The clinical riffing plays on through most Prong tracks I have heard and makes me think of Helmet a lot of the time, except Prong possess a more potent infectious essence than Helmet, with the added exception being that Tommy Victor and co are also much more experimental.  Cleansing is the album where the electronic experimentation meets the more familiar riff patterns.  Whatever element is present however, the overall sense of Prong simply writing some of the least complex yet still delicious tasting industrial groove metal is impossible to shake off the old tastebuds.

Even the absolute overkill of attention that Snap Your Fingers… gets seemed justified when you don’t visit that one track over and over again.  It is a track that rings true to the “less is more” mantra.  That having been said it is One Outnumbered that stands out as my favourite track on Cleansing.  The abrasive nature of the industrial elements are tempered well by clever pacing that whilst clearly creating something of a void in terms of power at times, somehow do not dilute the venom behind the messaging.  Prong are the proverbial grinning assassins here on album number four.  A seemingly clean production job actually exacerbates the muckier tones of the music, that industrial grime somehow smeared across the album as opposed to being wiped away.

It does not always work however.  Out of This Misery lacks punch and suffers from a loss of regimenting in the songwriting that epitomises the earlier tracks on the record.  In fact, it soon became clear just how front-loaded Cleansing is.  As we drop into a more Machine Head style groove in the second half of the record, tracks soon start to sound whimsical in nature and lacking in form.  I am not sure what the intent was behind Not of This Earth but it is far and away the most throw away of the tracks available here.  The balls are still around in places but the earthier elements all but disappear all too soon on Cleansing, ruining that early promise in favour of unnecessary experimentation.

Well, this was a neat little find as I went through the feature releases this month.  My usual excuse of not having the time to listen to much of the releases was left to one side by virtue of this being an EP.  That twenty-one minute run time was perfect for me to perform a few smash and grab raids on Contra iglesia y estado on breaks between work calls and it even accompanied a few workouts this past week also.  What kept it on such frequent rotation was the obvious passion for their art that Dekapited clearly have.  As thrash metal continues to be viewed with that regurgitated/retro lensed glasses on, it is clear that this band are just out for the fun of it.  High energy levels with a consistent and scathing attack make for a very entertaining experience indeed for me.

Laden with Sepultura and Sodom vibes, Contra iglesia y estado does little to reinvent the wheel, and it is stronger as a result of this in my book.  I cannot point to any weak tracks on here, even though the overall rating still sitting below a five star mark does mean that I equally cannot flag this EP as being truly remarkable overall.  However, what is here is powerful sounding stuff.  The blows hit with a consistent level of force and are certainly not pulling any punches as they rain down on the listener.  The ferocious form of Chilean thrash that we have come to know and love (well me at least) from the likes of Critical Defiance and Ripper is certainly coursing through the veins of Dekapited as well.

The appeal of this EP for me is its earthiness.  It sounds like a true reflection of the band.  Never tryingto be something that they are not, Dekapited here simply play the music they love and provide a fine celebration of thrash metal at its best.  Short, sharp and succinct whilst being delivered with a hell of a level of grit this leaves me full of promise for further exploration of their discography.  My only reservation is how they make this style of balls to the wall intense thrash metal interesting across a full length release, but I guess I will have to wait and see.

Considering I wasn’t overly impressed with Desaster’s preceding Hellfire Dominion (don’t get me wrong, it’s very good, but no masterpiece) I was blown away by Tyrants of the Netherworld. They turn the Black Metal influence down just a tad, and the Thrash way up.

As someone very partial to Thrash-hybrids that lean more towards Thrash, this was perfect for. We get some Blackened chords, evil atmosphere and of course the vocals, but the meat of this record is honest to Satan classic Thrash Metal. Both the riffs and drumming see a marked improvement from the previous releases. The guitar work is not only more precise and impressive, but way catchier, with some of the best riffs in the genre since Thrash died in the 90’s. Never ceasing to be evil, however, as the band walks a fine line between melodic and twisted chaotic leads. The drumming has more variety and a lot more energy without relying on generic blast beats for heavier sections. Even some of the solos here really impressed me, those actually leaning a bit more towards Black Metal as they worked in tandem with the song to create some dark and piercing evocations of the infernal chaos. The vocals don’t need much mention, but they are very good and satisfying blackened yells.

I will name one song that surprised me most – “Battle Oath.” It’s not my favorite song on the album, but definitely the most unique; it starts out as a more mid-tempo Blackened Heavy Metal song, but develops into a more Thrash-influenced Viking Metal territory, rife with atmosphere and fantastic, moody riffs. Didn’t expect that from the band!

Definitely a great start to the 2000’s for Thrash, and a foreshadowing of the rebirth of the genre after the shadow of the 90’s slowly dissipated.

This is a return to the album after having it in my thrash chart for a couple of years.  But a return to Darkness Descends a while back and a lowered rating  made it necessary to return to this and see if it still belongs in my top 100 of thrash or my top 100 of 1989.  It seems pretty obvious from the first track that the primary focus of this album is simply to thrash and be heavy, so that's not necessarily a good sign despite appealing to the metalhead in me with its raw power, especially where Hoglan is concerned.  This guy's prowess goes far beyond the standard thrash that these guys play.  But in this raw power is also some subpar mixing.  Things are a little fuzzier than I like, and combined with the ambiance of the vocals, I can barely make out what Rinehart's saying.  So the production alone has a big pro and a big con.  On top of that, the guitarists' solos aren't really doing anything for me anymore.  Thankfully, there are some instances of real compositional skill.  The seven-minute song No One Answers gets better as it goes along, for example.  But the mixing can also really screw things up.  The instrumental Cauterization's maxing is constantly getting in the way of the guitars, almost making it sound more like a harsh noise album than a metal album.  I get it, they have power.  Now can that power be molded with SONGWRITING?  You know, like Butcher the Weak, Ride the Lightning, any Emperor album, PAINKILLER?

I'm not sure why I ever gave this album a 9/10.  Did the heaviness really hypnotize me that much when I first heard it?  Damn. That actually hurts.  They didn't even manage to do justice to that Zeppelin cover.  Was I even paying attention to the album?  It really is a brutal album.  This is the kind of brutality that slam death metal bands wish they could achieve, and thankfully the band makes it look easy.  Unfortunately, everything is album the album is just OK.  Having said this, even though I'm disappointed in myself for betraying my long-time standards for heaviness back then, I'm happy about this major correction.

Dekapited are a four-piece thrash band from Santiago, Chile who formed in 2006. This 2011 EP marked the band's debut release, following on from three demos, one from each of the preceeding three years. The EP features five tracks and an intro with a 21 minute runtime. I have constantly been heard espousing the merits of chilean thrash metal and these guys are deservedly one of the beneficiaries of my effusive praise over the past few years.

Taking their cues from deathly thrashers of the late 80s and early 90s such as Demolition Hammer, Dekapited tread a path that will be familiar to anyone who has any knowledge of the 21st century South America thrash scene, especially as it manifests in the chilean capital and it's surrounding areas. This small area has kept the thrash metal flag flying through what has been a lean time for the genre by incorporating aspects of extreme metal, usually black or, as is in Dekapited's case, death metal. This is nothing new of course, but I believe that because there is an actual vibrant and lively thrash scene centred around Santiago and Valpairiso, then the bands, including Dekapited, who are part of that scene, feed off each other and consequently produce metal that sounds more vital and energetic than the thrash that is being produced by more isolated practitioners. It is no coincidence that a lot of the metal world's greatest material has come from clearly defined scenes, such as the NWOBHM, the Bay Area thrashers, Florida death metal and the scandinavian black metal scenes. There is a fair bit of cross-pollination in the chilean scene with many musicians being members of several bands concurrently, allowing a flow of ideas between these bands, but an integrated scene also sees bands pushing each other to new heights as each tries to outdo their peers, which can only be good news for the fans.

Dekapited play at an almost unrelentingly quick pace. This is energetic stuff that is meant to get fans moving and feed those mosh pits with hurtling bodies. The riffs are the stuff of the classic Bay Area thrashers, loaded with hooks aplenty and being memorable enough to remain in your head long after the EP has ended. It is almost impossible to listen to this as a thrash metal fan and not to feel your head starting to nod along with most of those riffs. The guitar solos are fairly noteworthy, being more expansive than the Kerry King-derived howls that so many of the more extreme thrash acts aspire to, being more in keeping with a classic metal style of soloing. They aren't exactly birthed in neoclassical metal, but they are a bit more imaginative than the short-sharp shock of the more usual Slayerisms.

The rhythm section is decidedly capable and underpin the riffs admirably, drummer Raul Guevara displaying the chops to maintain such a high velocity assault with power and precision. He may not indulge in a lot of the fancy fills that some of his contemporaries flourish, but his is a very solid performance. Bassist Alonso Friend likewise does a great job providing a rumbling foundation for the two guitarists to perform their six-string acrobatics. A trait which is peculiar to the chilean scene specifically is for the bass to sit quite prominently in the mix, but here it is mixed much more traditionally and less conspicuously.

For me, this was a nice calling card for a pretty talented bunch of guys who could take what originally made thrash metal so great and transpose it into the modern day with just enough of an extreme metal twist to imbue it with an energy and vitality that renders it so much more relevant than a mere harking back to earlier times.

If their EP, Version 4.5: The Dark Chapter, can be considered the All That Remains "Forever Cold" EP of Cypecore, Make Me Real is their Antifragile. It is their comeback album after the passing of their founding bassist Chris Heckel. They chose not to replace him to respect his memory. And besides that EP, they have performed some live shows with a few other members making their exit and entrance. I'm still trying to get a little more used to the band's sound though...

Make Me Real is less deathly than their earlier works. Here we have more melodic choruses and stronger cleans for more of an industrial groove metal sound similar to Mnemic. Most of the new songs pack quite a punch, so if you're expecting some freshness in their new material, you've come to the right place.

Traditionally for Cypecore, the album starts with an "Intro", this one nice and short. "Neoteric Gods" kicks off the technical action hard. This is deathly djenty industrial/groove metal at its best! It impresses me with its background synths and its dark yet anthemic chorus. I love it, and I'm sure Cypecore fans would too. "Pinnacle of Creation" keeps up that strength as a more groove-ish standout. Synths pop up more in "Doomsday Parade".

I don't know why they chose a ballad as the album's title track. I mean it's not too bad, but lacks some strength. Next track "King of Rats" is worse. Too much electronic sh*t in that one. The more deathly groove highlights return with "Fragments".

Hammering in further is "I'll Be Back" (Terminator, is that you?), an industrial banger suitable for the dark reality of humanity. "Patient Zero" is the closest throwback to their earlier melodeath sound while adding in a nice amount of electronics for good measure. Traditionally for Cypecore, the album ends with an "Outro", but the issue is, it's a 3-minutes long, a little too long for an electronic instrumental.

I would've loved the album much more if not for the 3 tracks in the middle along with the outro being so long. Still, Make Me Real is quite good. It's a nice comeback 6 years after The Alliance, and I might just be up to checking out more of their earlier deathly material....

Favorites: "Neoteric Gods", "Pinnacle of Creation", "Fragments", "I'll Be Back", "Patient Zero"

Is time travel real? While it isn't in the era we are in, Cypecore knows how to create that illusion with their "2123 Tour". Honestly, one of the reasons I don't go to live shows is the fear of experiencing a future that seems so real yet coming home embarrassed that it isn't. And this is a band that have started nearly two decades ago...

Cypecore have released 5 albums that follow a futuristic sci-fi conceptual saga, a similar aspect to Mechina. A year before their new fifth album Make Me Real, the band hinted at their new direction with this EP, Version 4.5: The Dark Chapter. The "4.5" part is quite clever, since the band wanted to give their fans something new after a 5-year gap that may have been caused by the tragic loss of the unreplaceable bassist Chris Heckel. Consider this Cypecore's own All That Remains "Forever Cold" EP, if you will.

Blasting off is "Chosen Chaos" which is one of the coolest song titles ever chosen. The EP doesn't follow the usual "Intro"/"Outro" aspect, so it has only a short amount of time for you to actually prepare for the chaos. The blasts and guitarwork strike through with their might. The vocals help make the song sound like melodeath-ish metalcore gone Disturbed. "Rise" is a nice display of a cleaner, more industrial sound. The guitar and bass shine instead of the previous track's drum blasts. Slight points off for the electronic overdose, but it's still good. "Spirals" has great harmonies that fit well with the screamed vocals. I also love the cleans and the bridge in the second half.

"Liquid Fire" is a strange track that's still OK. It's more nu metal-ish with some rapped vocals, closer to Korn and Limp Bizkit. Nonetheless, the usual madness is still going on at full force. Then we have "Rise (Death Version)", a version of "Rise" in which the vocals are screamed and the drums blast through. The sound here, along with most of the other tracks, is closer to metalcore than melodeath, which I can greatly accept. I love this heavier version more!

All in all, this EP sounds quite cool in the highlights, and I think they should've kept just the heavier version of "Rise" instead of the clean version that's still good. Version 4.5: The Dark Chapter might not be their best work, yet it can get you geared up for their next album. Time travel may not be real, but this dark futuristic music is....

Favorites: "Chosen Chaos", "Spirals", "Rise (Death Version)"

In the eyes of many metalheads, heaviness can be a more defining factor than writing ability.  This is why some more simplistic albums, like Kreator's Pleasure to Kill, are more well-received than many of their more creative efforts later on.  So since this is Exodus' debut, it's not much of a surprise that a few of the songs have the same tempo and vibe.  This album helped to push the limits of what was generally accepted in metal at the time.  You can tell from the structures of the songs that these guys listened to a fair bit of that old-fashioned NWOBHM stuff like Iron Maiden, which explains the thankful focus on melody and riffs being handled and treated like equals.  That's a difficult thing to do for a lot of thrash bands.  Unfortunately for me, I'm a Metallica guy, and I'm that way because their golden age is diversified, exceptionally poetic and has a vocalist who doesn't need all those effects to maintain a form of power.  I'm certain this singer here's done that without effects on other albums, but it was a faint distraction for me.

Now if I wanna pump myself up, I might choose a couple of songs from this album for the sake of that.  The fact that each song goes for the same vibe, core and genre does in fact mean it's not a very creative effort in that vein, but the balance of melody and riffs is quite impressive, ensuring that Bonded By Blood is a consistently great effort and a good example of how to do thrash right, even if it's technically just one way.

Excursion Demise is one of those albums that wants to put its fingers in both of the cooler styles of thrash's pies while not really committing to either. In this case, brutal thrash on one and tech thrash on the other. In theory this could be very nice, but this is dragged down by a few factors.
To start with, the production job is on the softer side, which wouldn't hurt a tech band, but when it goes more brutal it doesn't really work to the strengths of such an assault but keeps the weaknesses. On occasion, I found myself annoyed by the spots of brutality, since it can and does degenerate into noise. It's not that this part is bad, it's competent but not very notable in of itself.
The technical half, meanwhile, feels half-hearted. I can tell it is supposed to be there and it isn't people on the internet making something up. They're too spotty, just sort of there because they liked it, but not with enough confidence to fill it out more. There are even distinct shifts between the two modes, which shows the stronger side of what they were trying to do. But it just doesn't shift enough to make that worthwhile.
It has some nice ideas, and it's pleasant, but it's not interesting enough to really recommend.

Mayhemic guitarist and vocalist Noctumbra may be better known by his real name, Javier Salgado, ex-mainman of Parkcrest, guitarist with Hellish and one of the leading lights in the chilean thrash metal scene. Unsurprisingly then, Mayhemic encapsulate the archetypical chilean thrash sound, which is typified by white-hot, hyperkinetic riffs and an influence from black and death metal. Toba marks the band's debut full-length after an EP in 2019 and a split album with Hellish in 2020. The band have undergone a number of lineup changes since they formed in 2018, with Noctumbra himself switching from drums to guitar in 2022 and only he and guitarist Doom (Nacho Pérez) remaining from the band's previous releases.

I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that chilean thrash metal is well and truly in the vanguard as the standard-bearers of the modern thrash scene. As the genre enters its fifth decade the sounds coming out of Santiago and Valparaíso are the most vital and energising thrash metal has known since its heyday ended in the mid-nineties. Salgado himself, and by extension his bands, are prime examples of just how the chileans have been able to inject new life and energy into the mouldering corpse of thrash metal. Toba is just the latest in a string of releases that have redefined what thrash metal means in the 21st century. The members of most of these Santiago thrash bands are almost invariably members of several others, so are constantly either recording or playing live, honing their skills with every performance to a point where these guys are absolutely razor-sharp technically, wrangling every ounce of energy and vitality out of their instruments and laying it down for us all to marvel at.

Toba is a relatively short album by modern standards, only running for thirty-six minutes, yet it doesn't feel particularly short due to the sheer effusive energy it radiates throughout its runtime. In the main, Toba's eight tracks are high velocity affairs chock-full of lightning fast and precise riffs that slash at the listener like a flurry of rapier cuts. They may like to rein back on the tempo and drop into a mid-tempo, groovier riff, with most songs involving several such tempo changes, but the main impression Toba leaves is that this is absolutely blistering stuff. The riffs are well-written and are pretty damn memorable, not merely blurs as they flash from speaker to ear and are designed to wreak maximum neck-wrenching damage. There is a certain infectious ebullience about Mayhemic and, for me, that is most aptly illustrated by the frantic and searing guitar solos which howl with an effusive elation at being unleashed upon the unsuspecting listener. These are not just the standard Hannemann / King short, sharp shocks that became pretty much the standard for the more extreme styles of thrash metal, but are wild expressions of metal's irrepressible ability to excite and thrill, each sounding exuberant and unique.

Noctumbra and Doom share vocal duties. with Noctumbra leading on tracks 1, 3 and 8, Doom on 2,4 and 6 and both contributing on Olduvai's Lullaby. Both are ragged and aggressive bellowers with Noctumbra having a slightly shriller, black-metal influenced shriek and Doom having a similar, but lower-pitched style. In truth there isn't a huge amount of difference between them and I wouldn't really say one is better than the other as both suit the material equally well. Drummer Leviathan (Javier ''Crow'' Buzeta), who has since left the band, is beastly behing his kit, unleashing salvo after salvo of thrashbeats and busy fills, driving the tracks along with precision and powerful kit work. He is ably supported in the rhythm section by bassist Magelis (Ítalo Sánchez). A feature of many chilean thrash releases is a very prominent bass presence, but here the bass takes up a more traditional position in the mix. It is nevertheless perfectly audible, but not as noticeably intrusive as it sometimes is within the chilean scene.

With Toba Mayhemic may not have produced the kind of original and unique thrash release compatriots like the superb Demomiac and even Salgado's previous crew Parkcrest managed, but with a blackened snarl, shredding strings and a withering and pummelling rhythm section, they have captured the essence of what makes metal so damn thrilling and attractive in the first place.

Why do some of the most loyal members of a band end up being the ones passing away so soon? WHY?!? Bassist Chris Heckel was one of the founding members who stayed with the band until he lost his life to leukemia in 2018. Vocalist Attila Erdélyi was also a founding member, but he left the band in 2016 then died in 2022. I've just discovered this band today as of this review, and his vocals are some of the most distinctive I've heard in the genre. RIP those two fallen members...

The highly underrated cyber metal subgenre is worth good listens on the move, like in a car, train, or plane, when you imagine a more technological future in the outdoor landscape. Cypecore, by name, sounds like a blend of that subgenre and metalcore, but actually those two are more secondary. Melodeath/groove metal reign here!

Not all of it are those genres though, as the "Intro" has an ominous trip-hop-ish vibe that sounds like one of those interludes are the second-to-last track of a Linkin Park album. "Everdying" blasts off with the core-ish melodeath of Dark Tranquillity and Sonic Syndicate. If you're a melodeath fan who enjoys this blend of heaviness and melody, you're gonna enjoy a lot of this album, along with Attila's vocals. Next up, "Mission" continues the crushing glory. The drumming sounds so organic, pounding through alongside the melodic guitar and growling vocals. "...And Death Was Nothing To Him" has more of that awesome writing as heavy verses collide with the melodic chorus. That's the kind of aspect the band can borrow from Dark Tranquillity and other melodeath bands without ripping them off.

That sound continues on in "Final Hour". Same with "Signs", channeling the spirit of Gothenburg metal. Heading into the title track, the heaviness is toned down for beautiful melancholy. Still the chorus is worth screaming along to, with the opportunity to growl from the darkest vocal depths of Hell. The band's core-ish melodeath/groove shines well as being independent allows the band to have a lot of creativity. "Something Inside" turns up the groove, not too far off from Lamb of God. Maybe closer to that downtuned Lamb of God cover project, Drop God. That shows how greatly the NWOAHM can spread into Germany and other European countries.

Then "The Origin of Hate" proves the band's talents with the speedy verses, melodic chorus, and heartful soloing. You can also hear some slight industrial here and there. Also memorable is "Control Yourself" with its cool catchiness. The last full song "Distraction" balances everything smoothly without anything distracting. Finally, an "Outro" appears, sounding similar to the intro, bringing this 12-track (10-song) album to full circle.

Cypecore should be appreciated for their great sound and production. Albums like Innocent should really catch on to a greater population. There's not much bad about this killer album, really. But the intro and outro are both necessary and not....

Favorites: "Everdying", "Mission", "...And Death Was Nothing To Him", "Innocent", "The Origin of Hate", "Control Yourself"

Before I started listening to music on a critical level, I begrudgingly enjoyed a couple of Megadeth's early records because all of my friends hated Metallica. I knew about Dave Mustaine's history with Metallica and, of course, the drastic style changes of thrash metal between the two bands. I think most people who enjoy the early Megadeth records (Killing is My Business through Rust in Peace) like how uptempo they are, the riffage and the solos. No one in their right mind is listening to a Megadeth record for the lyrical themes.

Now that I am older and have listened to a lot more music, I find Megadeth are just plain boring. When I listen to thrash in 2025, my go to classic names are Metallica, Testament, and Kreator, while bands like Slayer and Megadeth lose me every time. As for Rust in Peace in particular, I can provide credit where it is due, for a late 1980s thrash album, this is produced wonderfully (amendment: I am listening to the 2004 remix version of the album). Besides the messy guitar solos, every instrumental part is articulate and David Ellefson's bass lines are given a lot of presence to give the songs on this record huge momentum. And even though I've never really enjoyed Dave Mustaine's vocals, this early 19990s era of Megadeth, including albums like Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction are some of my favourite vocals timbre's of his.

But now we get to the juicy parts. I know my opinions on thrash metal are far from conventional, considering I have gone on record multiple times and said that Reign in Blood is the weakest of the big four 1980s thrash albums. Like with that album, Rust in Peace represents a tired trend in thrash that does not resonate with me. That trend being a complete disregard for writing memorable hooks and instead making a rif-fest and hoping for the good favour of the neoclassical fans with endless guitar solo wanking. I'm no pop apologist who thinks that guitar solos don't belong in music, but they have to be tasteful and Megadeth filling each song to the brim with blistering solos is the antithesis of tasteful.

The compositions are also very patchy. Both of the albums bookends "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and "Rust in Peace... Polaris" are divided into two distinct passages that do not belong together. I hated the constant increase of intensity on "Hangar 18" as well. The sequencing does stable out during the albums middle portion with "Take No Prisoners" and "Lucretia" having a decent form, strong groove and less intrusive soloing. And I cannot deny that the first half of "Rust in Peace... Polaris" is really great. But when it comes to sequencing, because Megadeth don't modulate any of their songs to different key centers, after a brief period of time, even the records more infectious riffs become a chore since we've already heard them earlier in the album. "Poison Was the Cure" borrows heavily from the first section of "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" while the finale of "Rust In Peace... Polaris" sounds really cool, it can't help but but use a similar tempo and key as "Take No Prisoners".

I cannot state it enough times for risk of getting crucified that thrash is a hard sell for me. I don't hate the genre, but I am disappointed in what it has become. As thrash moved further and further away from its speed metal roots with Slayer's Show No Mercy, early Helloween and Venom, melody becomes an afterthought in the genre. And no thrash band of the 1980s suffers from this more than Megadeth. Metallica seemed to do just fine during their legendary run, which is likely why Mustaine left the group in the first place. Rust in Peace is an album that should have been put to bed a long time ago.

Best Songs: Take No Prisoners, Lucretia, Tornado of Souls

Invocator are a danish four-piece, formed in 1986, although this, their debut album, wasn't recorded and released until 1991. I had never heard of these guys before, so this is my first encounter with them and I must admit I quite like what I am hearing here. Excursion Demise is an album of prime brutal thrash, with the band endeavouring to play the most extreme version of thrash metal that they could. Unfortunately they have been a little hamstrung in that department by the production, which is lacking on bottom end, robbing the riffs of some of the blunt-force trauma they may have possessed otherwise and rendering them more lightweight than they deserve. This lack of riff power, though, forces the drumming more to the fore which, considering just how impressive Per Möller Jensen is behind the kit, is not such a bad thing. His technique is powerful and technical, with an impressive arsenal of percussive weapons up his sleeve. Busy and complex patterns weave together and provide the driving impetus behind the tracks, also bolstering the riffing to some extent.

Guitarist and vocalist, Jacob Hansen, is obviously the main draw here though. His vocal style is a rough, aggressive snarl that is reminiscent of Kreator's Mille Petrozza and well suits the blistering pacing of the majority of the tracks. It is, however, his six-string solos that, along with Möller Jensen's drumming, are the stars of the show. Taking the howling riffs of Hannemann and King and torturing them into ever-more distorted patterns and directions and sprinkling them liberally all over the album's runtime, boosts the violent brutality factor by an exponential factor.

Now I am always one for a good slab of brutal thrash metal and Excursion Demise is indeed a very solid example but, much as I enjoy it whilst it is blasting out of my headphones, there isn't a great deal that sticks with me afterwards, other than an impression of having had my ears sufficiently brutalised for nearly fifty minutes. I am not complaining and I feel that the failing in that respect sits with my lack of technical musical expertise not allowing me to grasp hold of specifics and, consequently, the album's unrelentingly fast-pacing and lack of memorable riffs and hooks only leaves me with a lingering overall impression of it's brutality rather than any specific outstanding moments. Look, this is far from the only album that I view that way and it doesn't prevent me from enjoying it massively whilst it is playing, I just wish I was able to take a bit more away with me afterwards is all.

There is a lot for me to like about Excursion Demise.  In theory at least, those clear Demolition Hammer and Dark Angel influences postively kick down the front door as the album announces its own arrival with a an intensity level touching on nuclear.  Everything is frenzied more or less from the off (well once the fade up of the intro lapses), and with a vocal style that I always feel sounds like the lyrics are tripping over the music in some clumsy yet somehow with a rhythmic relationship to the music, things look promising for Invocator early on.  The drums also show a welcome presence on the opening, title track.  Not technical as such, but interesting enough to be able to mix it up whilst hitting a consistent level of power at the same time, against a mix that does not necessarily sound like it wants to help them at all.  I am unsure though as to why the band elected to put in a thirty-two second track instead of just using it as an intro to what they bill as track number three, yet to me it is all clearly one track??  It is not a massive issue but is certainly an early annoyance.

Strong start though it has, Excursion Demise suffers badly from a poor production job on the guitars.  The riffs are lacking any power in the mix at all,  playing at times as if they are black metal riffs, such is their lack of meat.  Conversely, the sonic chaos that I would describe the lead work as being offers a much more scathing and memorable experience for me.  It is like the guitars got recorded on a different day inside a barrel with just a couple of holes in it, whilst the rest of the instruments and vocals got done in a studio proper.  Whlst I can still put the album down as being overall a suitably frenzied and frantic experience for my metal tastes, the rhythm guitar does ultimately detract from my otherwise positive listening experience here.  Only on the excellent The Persistance from Memorial Chasm comes close to being able to overcome these production struggles but if ever there was a case for a remix of an album, Excursion Demise is top of the list in my book.

Still, for me to find an album of this style from the 90's that I had never heard of before (although I recognise their sophomore, Weave the Apocalypse from programming the playlist) is a good enough treat.  There are not many albums of this intensity that I discover on a frequent basis.  Just as I thought I had swept the decks clean of most decent thrash metal releases from back in the day, Ben churns one up as a feature release to keep me on my toes.  I just wish the quality of the production, matched the quality of the music.  Whether a conscious effort or not (I doubt it was conscious) it is the main thing that keeps Excursion Demise away from the higher scores range.

As the thrash metal scene was making its way into Denmark, Artillery was the band making the genre big over there. Whereas on the heavier end of the thrash spectrum, Invocator take on the technical thrash sound of Coroner, Dark Angel, and Sadus with speed and brutality. And you might know a couple of the band members from their later careers; Per M. Jensen as a former drummer of The Haunted and vocalist/bassist Jacob Hansen as one of the most prolific record producers in metal!

The heavy side of the band comes from the speed/death metal elements, and in their debut Excursion Demise, many tracks are a fast blizzard with some slight mid-tempo groove. With all that in mind, Invocator knew how to add variety to their speed so that their listeners can breathe.

The opening title track is the greatest place to start with fantastic riffing. The perfect beginning highlight! The eerie acoustic instrumental "To a Twisted Recess of Mind" follows with some nice bass, as a much needed break within the intensity. It makes way for the furious "Forsaken Ones". Then "The Persistence from Memorial Chasm" is another banger in which speed and heaviness continue to persist.

While maintaining some of their hyperspeed, the more complex "Absurd Temptation" starts off slow, again showing their diverse structure. I wouldn't consider "Schismatic Injective Therapy" a total failure, because of its brilliant heavy speedy sections here and there, yet it's a bit draggy and could've been trimmed down. I mean, I like long songs, but there should be more dynamics than just solo noodling. And I know how that kind of thing is done, just listen to DragonForce. The soloing should've been more melodic rather than just fiddling with the notes, and it should balance out with the riffing. Shining better is "Occurrence Concealed" with great audible bass by Hansen.

I love the speedy riffing in "Beyond Insufferable Dormancy" that makes this track another sweet highlight. "Inner Contrarieties" is shorter but adding more progressiveness to their rapid technical thrash, similar to Meshuggah's debut Contradictions Collapse from that year. The CD edition comes with a bonus track, "Alterations". It is perhaps one of the fastest tracks in technical thrash, pretty much catching up with the frenzy of early Atheist and Believer. I feel sorry for those who have the vinyl version without that track.

All in all, Excursion Demise is a solid debut by this Danish band for all thrash fans. It probably could've been perfect if the two long tracks in the middle could have some slight improvement. Still this is top-notch tech-thrash before its 90s near-extinction and something an extreme metal fan should never miss out on!

Favorites: "Excursion Demise", "The Persistence from Memorial Chasm", "Occurrence Concealed", "Beyond Insufferable Dormancy", "Alterations"

Valkyria is one of those weird foreign thrash metal bands. I've seen many things said about them. Prog thrash, tech thrash and thrash/speed. Yet of these, I would say the most important aspect of the band's sound is none of them. Instead, it's a little cheap keyboard making symphonic sounds that fulfills this band's sound as a not quite symphonic thrash metal band.
I say not quite, because the symphonic parts are sporadic, but their presence elevates this album from being a well made thrash album to something quite unique. Yes, there's something unorthodox in the song structure, and yes, the album has that speed metal sound, but it's nothing compared to a great thrash guitarist sitting back and letting someone do a MIDI violin solo.
One issue I noticed is that a lot of the solo sections have a sound similar to Doom E1M1. In the sense that the backing tracks match how it goes to some extent. The guitars are somewhat different, but the drums are clearly riffing on almost the same idea.
But the big issue is the production. Some might call it bad, pathetic, wimpy, or muddly. I prefer charmingly bad. It's obviously a cheap job with a lower range than it should have. The aspect that suffers the most is the vocals, the dude's a shrieker emulating Halford to some degree, and it crushes the hell out of his range, often blending into the guitars.
Overall, I really like this album, and I think even if it has flaws, the strengths outweigh them. If nothing else, this is a solid addition to the collection of any fan of weird thrash.

My earliest encounters with Danish thrashers Invocator came way back in my tape trading days. I’ve always been a huge fan of the more brutal end of the thrash metal spectrum & I was hearing that I needed to check out Invocator’s 1991 debut album “Excursion Demise” as there were comparisons floating around with all of the bands that I was loving at the time. Those comparisons were certainly warranted too with the four-piece outfit's first proper release proving to offer a sound that was right up my alley. Admittedly, I don’t remember placing it on the same sort of pedestal as the bands I would instinctively reach for whenever I needed a brutal thrash fix but I recall it being a very solid second-tier record that ticked all of the right boxes. That experience would subsequently see me checking out Invocator’s 1993 sophomore record “Weave the Apocalypse” which I’d find to be a little less relentless & a touch more groovy. There's no doubt that it's an enjoyable enough record but it didn’t command as many repeat listens & I haven’t returned to it since. Perhaps that’s why I’ve never given 1995’s “Dying to Live” third album a chance but I did check out Invocator’s 2003 comeback album “Through the Flesh to the Soul” shortly after I returned to metal in 2009 & found myself really struggling to connect with it in the same way as I had the Danes' earlier material. It’s been many years since I’ve thought about Invocator now but I have to say that I’ve been really looking forward to revisiting what I consider to be their finest work ever since Ben reminded me of its existence by nominating it as this month’s feature release.

Invocator first formed way back in 1986 at the height of the thrash movement. They’d release a few largely overlooked demo tapes (none of which I’ve heard) before signing with the brand-new extreme metal label that Bathory mastermind Quorthon had created in Black Mark Records. This would see Invocator venturing into Montezuma Studio in Stockholm, Sweden in June 1991 to record their debut full-length under the guidance of Quorthon’s father, an experienced metal producer by the name of Börje Forsberg (or Boss as he was widely known). The result of those sessions was a very raw record that could have been a lot better with a more appropriate production job in my opinion. The rhythm guitar tone is the main issue I have with it as it’s noticeably tinny & thin which limits the heights with which the album has the potential to go.

Invocator had clearly come from a very similar musical background to myself which certainly helps their cause. The material included on “Excursion Demise” sits very comfortably in the same space as brutal thrash titans like Dark Angel, Sadus, Demolition Hammer & Exhorder although the thing that differs from those artists is the ability to create their own sound. You see, Invocator simply sound so much like those acts that it’s hard not to reach for the plagiarism card at times, particularly when it comes to “Darkness Descends” & “Leave Scars” era Dark Angel which Invocator seem to have meticulously modelled their sound on. The claims that “Excursion Demise” is a technical thrash metal record are largely misguided though. There are techy moments here & there but they’re nowhere near as consistent as is required for a tech thrash tag. Neither does the inclusion of the occasional tremolo-picked death metal riff warrant a death/thrash tag. This is straight down the line brutal thrash that doesn’t test the waters in any previously untouched creative space but still does the job very well indeed. I will say that this is likely the reason why I was championing the cause of the other bands I mentioned with Ben & my mates over Invocator as they simply felt like they belonged predominantly in the second tier.

There’s a similarity to a lot of this material with the tempos remaining high throughout & the riff structures regularly drawing upon the same Dark Angel riffs for inspiration. “Forsaken Ones” is probably the track that stands out a little as it is likely the source of those tech thrash associations given that it presents similar attributes to bands like Atheist & Sadus. The guitar solos of front man Jacob Hansen (Anubis Gate/Beyond Twilight/Maceration/Pyramaze) & Jakob Schultz (Maceration) come very much from the Kerry King/Jeff Hannemann & Trey Azagthoth school of showmanship in that there is very little attention given to composing memorable melodies. Instead, the duo simply go for broke with the light-speed shredding & it works really well for them too as Invocator clearly understand how to make a solo into an intensity peak for each track, a crescendo of sorts that sees everything coming together in a chaotic release of energy. Hansen’s aggressive vocals are certainly fit for purpose, siting somewhere between Dark Angel’s Don Doty & Exhorder’s Kyle Thomas, but it’s the drumming of Per Möller Jensen (Artillery/Konkhra/The Haunted) that’s the real highlight here with his relentless, yet controlled, rhythmic barrage keeping things tight & finely honed throughout.

The tracklisting is generally without blemish but the thing that stands out to me the most is that Invocator have chosen poorly when constructing the order of the tracks. You see, the first three pieces are clearly the least impressive of the ten on offer in my opinion & this has perhaps led to me feeling like Invocator were more of a step down from the top tier exponents of their craft than was actually the case. Things pick up very quickly from there though with “The Persistence From Memorial Chasm” & bonus track “Alterations” being genuine brutal thrash classics. I’ll also mention “Inner Contrarieties” as the back end of the album is really very strong which only amplifies the reduced impact of earlier songs like the title track & the previously mentioned “Forsaken Ones”.

Look, if brutal thrash is your thing then you should definitely be checking out “Excursion Demise” as there’s no doubt at all that you’ll get a lot out of it. It could definitely do with a little more originality & variation but if you’re like me then those things are not in any way deal breakers in whether you can appreciate a record like this one. It certainly helps that there’s not nearly enough high-quality brutal thrash in the market to choose from so I’ll always be able to appreciate a release like this one.

For fans of Dead Head, Dark Angel & Sadus.

By 2009, it’d been five years since Megadeth’s “return”, after Dave Mustaine had split the band up and retired following a well-documented injury. Upon their comeback, they unleashed two albums, 2004’s ‘The System Has Failed’ and 2007’s ‘United Abominations’. Both albums were a sure throwback to the bands earlier thrash days, with intense guitar riffs, lyrics full of distain and hatred, spewed out by a voice oozing of political unrest. This was the Megadeth of old!

However, with 2009’s ‘Endgame’, it just feels a tad repetitive already. Like the band are on autopilot and just repeating the previous two albums.

That’s not to say ‘Endgame’ is bad. It’s got its moments. It’s got all the ingredients of classic Megadeth. The playing is insanely fast, and the riffs are as intricate and intense as they were in the ‘Rust in Peace’ days. But after having this on my playlist for what feels like forever, I’m just struggling to really feel like I’d ever come back to any of these songs by choice.

And that may seem harsher than I intend it to, because there are some decent tracks on here, they just don’t, in my opinion, hold up as well to Megadeth’s previous output. ’44 Minutes’, ‘Head Crusher’ and ‘The Hardest Part of Letting Go… Sealed With a Kiss’ are all good tracks, and are worth a listen or two, but personally, I’d rather listen to anything from ‘Cryptic Writings’, ‘Youthanasia’, ‘Rust in Peace’ or even, *gulp*… ‘Risk’.

It's odd how many tech thrash bands have made a conscious effort to copy Voivod over the years. It's not like it's a negative thing, they used it as a starting ground for amazing things. I just wouldn't think of Voivod as influential off-hand. It makes me wonder if you can divide the genre into camps based on whether they owe more to Voivod or to Watchtower.
The album starts off quite strong with Die By My Hand, while it's aggressiveness and technical prowness is obvious, that's not where it's strengths lie. Instead, the chorus is incredible. There are no real melodic elements in this moment, it's a pure rhythm piece with a group shout; Yet it works thanks to the already simple nature of the vocals and lyrics combined with the whole band playing in perfect harmony with each shout of the title.
Really, you could take a moment as memorable as this out of any song and construct a paragraph out of it. Beneath a surprisingly dirty production job lies a very musically varied album. But this also leads into the one big problem this album has, that this is basically a solo guitarist album that doesn't know it's one. If the bassist/vocalist and drummer are as skilled as the guitarist, you'd never know it from this album, for they remain purely background material. While they are a tight unit, I just wish they were a little more.

Melbourne crossover thrashers S.I.C. (or Screaming in Churches as they were also known) were yet another underground Australian act that I discovered shortly after I joined the local metal scene & started associating with older & more experienced metalheads. I believe I came into possession of a cassette that contained all three of their releases in their 1987 “Sick” demo, their 1988 “Screaming in Churches” E.P. & their 1989 “Spastics Inflicting Carnage” demo on the one side along with a bunch other Aussie crossover stuff on the other. I’ve recently sought out those two demos to see what they sound like in the modern day but I’ve been unable to find them anywhere online thus far so I’ve had to satisfy myself with the E.P. which I had some fairly foggy memories of enjoying when I was a kid.

Much like the two demos, the “Screaming in Churches” E.P. is a short burst of thrashing hardcore energy that includes eight fairly brief songs across just a thirteen-minute runtime. The band members co-produced it with a trio of external contributors including Vicious Circle front man Paul Lindsay, Reactor Records owner Phil MacDougall & Warwick Thomas who had worked with Lindsay on the last few Vicious Circle releases. The result of their efforts is a rough & ready record with all of the sharp edges having been left on in classic hardcore fashion. It sounds very live yet you can easily discern all of the instruments & it simply feels very appropriate for the content its attempting to showcase. The record would end up being released through Melbourne punk label Au Go Go Records which surprised me as they weren’t known as a metal label, instead making a name for themselves through more accessible artists like The Scientists, God, Spiderbait, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Magic Dirt & The Hellacopters.

S.I.C.’s sound was nothing new for the time & one gets the feeling that that wasn’t really the point either. They were a straight down the line crossover thrash band that closely emulated their US counterparts, particularly those who also went by initialist monikors like S.O.D., M.O.D. & D.R.I. There’s a similar sense of fun & not taking yourself too seriously here with the surf & skate themes that those bands often pushed being evident as well. Each song contains moments of sheer violence that work to offset the silliness & its those moments that make “Screaming in Churches” an enjoyable listen for someone like myself. I can do without all of the tongue-in-cheek bullshit & prefer a more serious approach to my metal so I’m thankful that S.I.C. obviously know how to thrash out with sheer hardcore aggression. Front man Luke may not be a technical wizard but he certainly knows how to spit out a compelling hardcore performance while his band mates (who interestingly included bassist Damian Gardiner who would later go on to experience significant local success with Victorian alternative rockers 28 Days) throw themselves into a series of lightning-fast thrash riffs.

The tracklisting kinda hovers over that line between mildly enjoyable & fairly disposable to be honest but the wins just manage to outweigh the losses which has left me with a generally positive taste in my mouth. As you may have gathered already, it’s the sillier moments that see my interest waning a bit with “Skatehead”, “Don’t Nag Me” & “Gadgetry” (complete with its rendition of the “Mr.Gadget” theme song) all leaving me fairly cold. Opener “Radiation”, “Brown Paper Bag Man”, the short hardcore blast that is “S.I.C.” & “Little Boy” are all pretty entertaining though & make up for S.I.C’s failings through uncompromising spurts of violence & vitriol.

Look, there are no doubt better crossover releases out there but I think there should be enough quality here to satisfy most fans of the subgenre, particularly those who have enjoyed a drunken laugh with their skater or surfer mates on occasion. Crossover thrash has never played a particularly major role in my listening habits but S.I.C. make a good fist of that sound here & are worthy of a few casual spins if you’re partial to that sort of thing.

For fans of S.O.D., Suicidal Tendencies & M.O.D.

Underground Australian metal band Aggressa aren't the most well-known of local acts to come out of my home country. Hell... if you weren't deeply involved in the early movement over here then you'd almost certainly have missed them as they weren't the most prolific of artists in terms of recorded output, having only put to tape one crude demo & an almost as crude E.P. that sounds like it was recorded with a handheld cassette recorder. But that level of inaccessibility can often become a source of attraction for some of our more devoted metal aficionados so it's probably worth revisiting Aggressa in the modern day, if only to make sure that there isn't some sort of unheralded gem sitting undiscovered between the two pieces of cardboard that originally housed its charms. My own experiences with Aggressa came through the E.P. rather than the demo which has only recently been made available as a bonus inclusion on the re-release of "Nuclear Death" & I'm gonna guess that the presence of a certain drummer that I had a mild association with back in the Sydney metal scene of the early 90's was likely the catalyst for me becoming aware of it at the time. I can't say that "Nuclear Death" made all that big an impression on me back then though & I was hoping that I might be better prepared for it in the modern day, particularly given the context of my recent explorations into the earliest roots of the Australian extreme metal scene.

Aggressa recorded the self-financed "Nuclear Death" E.P. at Sydney's The Loft Studio in 1987 & would release it to the public in a vinyl format that didn't even come with a proper cover the following year. I'd be very surprised if there was a producer involved as the sound quality is so raw that it could easily be mistaken for a rehearsal tape or cheap demo recording. In fact, I'd suggest that there was almost certainly no mastering done at the time as the tracks often contain count-ins or brief snippets of pre/post-track discussion. The start of "Tunks" even hints that it was recorded at a live show but I don't believe that to be the case so it was a strange decision to announce the song in that way. The Spotify version of the release was clearly taken from a vinyl rip too as there are obvious vinyl crackles running all the way through it. In saying all of that, all of the instruments can easily be identified & are reasonably well balanced. The rhythm guitars do drop out while some of the guitar solos are taking place which is a little annoying but the recording captures Aggressa's live energy pretty well & I'd imagine that they must have been a force to be reckoned with on stage.

Aggressa's style sits somewhere between heavy metal & thrash metal most of the time with many of the seven songs included containing elements of both genres in classic US power metal fashion. Many critics would call that sort of hybrid speed metal but I don't think that's entirely warranted. It's more accurate to simply use a dual tag in this situation as there were clearly two sides to Aggressa's sonic arsenal with the overall aesthetic generally leaning a little more to the heavy metal side than the thrash one. The riffs aren't terribly inspired & neither is the song-writing but I do really enjoy the vocals of front man Darren Jones as he possessed a muscular rasp that would have worked really well with a band like Exodus. The guitar solos of Craig Martin & Carl are frantic & chaotic without being too polished which works well in this context while the drumming of Sadistik Exekution/Reverend Kriss Hades drummer Sloth (who had only recently replaced original drummer Adam Marsh who had left to form prominent Sydney thrash metallers Frozen Doberman) is quite accomplished with his occasional use of blast beats representing some of the better moments on the release.

The tracklisting isn't exactly star-studded but one gets the feeling that a decent production job could have improved things significantly. The previously mentioned "Tunks" is really the only one of the seven tracks that I find to be genuinely enjoyable with its short & violent crossover thrash format working pretty well to get me throwing myself around my lounge room. The more intense material is certainly were I find the most appeal though with speed metal opener "Torture & Pain" & the more expansive death/thrasher "Voo Doo Doll" not falling as far short of the mark as other inclusions with the sub-standard heavy metal of "Break Down the Walls", "Phantom Stage Diver" & the title track failing to capture me much at all. Closer "D.O.A." is probably the best of the more traditional heavy metal on offer but even then I wouldn't say that it manages to raise much of a sweat. There's nothing all that horrible here but there's also not much to write home about either.

It's not hard to see why Aggressa failed to break out of the underground because "Nuclear Death" is really a pretty inaccessible listen. The re-release of the record was clearly intended for a niche market of dedicated fans who crave a simpler time when the tape trading scene was at its peak & was the only way to discover lesser known or unsigned artists. Although I was very much a part of that demographic, I can't quite see past the fact that there was so much better stuff out there than this at the time, even in the fairly isolated Australian scene, & this has left Aggressa floundering in obscurity for the most part & not without justification either. Perhaps a stronger production job & some label backing might have helped a bit but I think it would be a mistake to place the blame in that area as "Nuclear Death" simply isn't a particularly sophisticated release & is best served as drunken background music if I'm being honest.

For fans of Nothing Sacred, Metal Church & "Acid Storm"-period Rampage.

Melbourne thrash metal trio Rampage are definitely one of those bands that you would only have come across if you were heavily involved in the underground Australian metal scene back in the latter part of the 1980's & first half of the 1990's. They released just two demo tapes & a single full-length album across a four-year life span but wouldn't manage to achieve much commercial success & eventually decided to call it quits two months after vocalist/guitarist George Mitrov found God & promptly left Rampage in May 1988. The Spotify age has seen the band's legacy being revitalized for a new generation of Aussie metalheads to indulge in though & the question is now whether that commitment is actually worth the effort or not. My recollections of Rampage's "Veil of Mourn" album weren't that great if I'm being honest but I have been wondering whether a little context might see it taking on some additional importance. My recent revisits to the two Rampage demo tapes have done nothing for my confidence but I did recall "Veil of Mourn" sounding a little different to those two releases so I decided to grit my teeth & battle my way through one of the less understood records from a time when the Aussie thrash scene was still in its infancy.

Neither of Rampage's 1986 "Acid Storm" or 1987 self-titled demo tapes received a lot of record label attention which was a critical ingredient if you were going to take things to the next level at the time. Young bands rarely funded their own full-length albums & some of that came down to a lack of belief & understanding as much as it did anything else because the option was always there. But the lack of hype didn't stop Rampage who self-funded & self-produced their debut album in 1988 with a run of just 600 vinyl copies being manufactured after the recordings were completed. A gentleman going by the name of Rock was responsible for assisting the band through those sessions & I can't say that I'm surprised that he hasn't gone on to bigger things because the production job on "Veil of Mourn" is nothing short of a dog's breakfast, failing to even compete with that of the band's two demos, particularly the self-titled one which sounded much better than this mess which comes across more like a crude rehearsal recording than an album. The guitars are much too far back in the mix in comparison to the bass guitar while the cymbals possess a boomy white-noise characteristic. The performances are really quite loose too with guitarist George Mitrov's pitchy high-pitched vocals regularly seeing my face struggling to prevent a cringe. Rampage were far from a well-oiled machine at the time but, to be fair, they had other things going for them.

Rampage's lineup for the album was a little different to the one that had recorded the "Acid Storm" demo tape two years earlier. Original guitarist Mark Bailey had left the scene by this stage with Mitrov taking on the guitar duties on top of the vocals while drummer Rick Sorrentino had been replaced by future Hobbs Angel of Death skinsman Bruno Canziani. Former Tyrus bass player David Frew (who would join Canziani in Hobbs Angel of Death during the mid-1990's) was still onboard but it's worth mentioning the differences in sound between the two demo tapes & the one we receive on "Veil of Mourn", despite it containing a few of the same tracks as the demos in "Acid Storm", "Sinister at Sunrise" & "Producers Edge". The "Acid Storm" demo saw Rampage hovering somewhere between thrash metal & traditional heavy metal while the self-titled saw that heavy metal component heading more towards power metal. There isn't any heavy metal on "Veil of Mourn" while the power metal influence is limited to "Sinister at Sunrise". This time Rampage have expanded their sound with a very interesting progressive rock influence which sees them hitting on some highly unusual song & riffs structures & it's this element that would become the band's calling card. On the evidence here, I'd have to suggest that Rampage had been listening to a fair quantity of Voivod records in the lead-up to these sessions as I can clearly here the Canadian progressive metallers impact here, although I wouldn't suggest that it's enough to see me reaching for a dual tag as the thrash side of the trio's sound still sits comfortably in the ascendency.

Despite the intriguing complexities of Rampage's new sound though, I have to admit that I've once again struggled with this release in much the same way that I did with the two demo tapes. Yes, the band's sound certainly keeps you on your toes by maintaining the electricity of a live performance throughout but the obvious production & performance issues are simply too much to overcome the majority of the time. It's only really closing track "Transgression to Sin Under the Invisible Empire" that sees me able to look past the album's inadequacies & achieve true enjoyment but that's not to say that Rampage didn't come close on material like opener "Terrortaphobia (Fear of Giving Birth to a Monster)", the previously mentioned "Acid Storm" & prog thrasher "Autopsy". The other half of the album falls well short of the mark but has somehow managed to keep my attention in a similar way to a fatal car crash. You don't really want to see the horrors inside but you struggle to look away nonetheless. It's for this reason that "Veil of Mourn" has managed to avoid a more embarassing rating but I'd still suggest that the simpler "Acid Storm" demo is perhaps the release that saw Rampage coming the closest to producing a genuinely rewarding experience. Even it didn't quite get there though so I can't say that I'm disappointed to have finished my exploration of Rampage's quietly spoken back catalogue. While I seriously doubt that I'll be returning to them in the future, I do give Rampage some credit for producing one of the more unusual debut albums in Aussie thrash history.

For fans of Bezerker, Tyrus & Midas Touch.

Those readers that are regular contributors to the Metal Academy website would likely have witnessed my recent indulgence in the back catalogue of a relatively unknown Melbourne hardcore punk band from the mid-to-late 1980's by the name of Depression over the last couple of months & have wondered what all the fuss was about. Well, the truth is that I've been taken aback by my discovery that there is a lot more to Depression's legacy than I'd given them credit for back in the day. You see, I only ever familiarized myself with Depression's final studio effort "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" in my youth, trusting the consensus that the remainder of their discography stayed predominantly within the constraints of the hardcore punk sound. The reality is a bit different to that though & I've actually found a lot more that would be of interest to your average metalhead than I'd bargained for. In fact, I've uncovered the true roots of the Australian extreme metal scene along the way with 1985's "Australia, Australia" E.P. being the very first thrash-based release to be recorded in this country in my opinion. It's been a really interesting journey & one that I've found to be universally rewarding too but I've purposely left "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" to the end, electing to take a chronological path through Depression's back catalogue in order to gain the appropriate level of context along the way. Depression's sophomore album made quite an impression on me as a kid & I've returned to it a number of times over the years as a result but I've been wondering how it might stack up against some of Depression's earlier works, particularly given that it apparently saw many of the band's longer-term fans jumping ship due to the increased focus on metal.

"Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" arrived a year after Depression's previous release in the excellent 1987 "Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash" live album which documented the band's first live show in two years. Depression had parted ways with former vocalist Spike following the ground-breaking "Australia, Australia" E.P. & returned with a three-piece lineup fronted by talented guitarist Smeer (also of Melbourne hardcore act Gash) who first tested the waters behind the microphone on 1986's highly enjoyable "Big Brother" single. Producer Mark Woods (who was also responsible for producing Nothing Sacred's 1988 debut album "Let Us Prey") would once again oversee the recording sessions after the success of the "Ultra Hard Core Mega Heavy Punk Metal Thrash" exercise & he does a reasonable job here with the album sporting enough clarity to allow all of the instruments to be easily discerned but maintaining enough raw grit to adhere to the expected hardcore aesthetic. The guitars are vibrant & full of life while the rhythm section offers plenty of power, particularly the bass guitar of Liddy & snare drum of Dakka (Persecution) which add some driving bottom-end depth to Depression's audio assault. Smeer's vocals sit beautifully over the top with his higher-register delivery cutting through the instrumentation with great vitriol.

As with the last few Depression releases, this material is pretty much as showcase of the breadth of the band member's various influences, rarely sticking to the one subgenre for too long. Metal & punk are both well represented but on this occasion we find the metal component outweighing the punk one in around a two-to-one ratio which could perhaps explain the loss of some of Depression's more punk-oriented fans. I'm a little confused as to why those fans didn't drop off earlier though as I'd suggest that both "Australia, Australia" & "Big Brother" followed a similar musical trajectory with the crossover thrash tag being more than appropriate to encompass the sound of both of those records & I don't think "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" is much more metal than those two in all honesty. It does, however, explore a few more of the various styles of metal music than Depression had touched on in the past with "Instrumental" toying with a more technically structured thrash metal sound, "Masters of the Universe" being a synth-backed heavy metal number that pays homage to the great Iron Maiden & closer "Spiritual Warrior" even reaching genuine speed metal status. The more straight-forward crossover thrash material is where the true gold can be found though with the incredible ode to heroine "Fifty Bucks" (one of my all-time favourite crossover tracks & the clear album highlight), the wonderfully short & violent "Civilisation of Destruction" & the powerful "Have a Look Around" being my picks of the bunch. As with most of Depression's back-catalogue, there are no weak moments to be found here as these guys were a class act & must have absolutely killed in a live capacity, particularly given that Smeer's guitar skills are pretty amazing for a punk. I mean, this dude can easily compete with (if not outclass) the best the local metal scene had to offer at the time. His ability to sing this stuff at the same time is pretty amazing really.

What can I tell you? This is really a case of another Depression record, another unheralded gem. I'm not sure whether my long-time affiliation with this album is seeing me holding any subconscious biases but I'm gonna suggest that this is Depression's best work & have now had to find room at the top of my Top Ten Crossover Thrash Releases of All Time list with "Thrash Till Death: Studio Tapes" managing to usurp all but Slaughter & S.O.D. at number three on my list. It's also worth noting that Depression now hold a previously unheard of THREE places in that list which makes them arguably my favourite crossover band of all time now. Wow! I never would have thought that might end up being the case when I undertook for my first casual listen to their earliest demo recordings a few months ago now. But that's why our beloved metal scene is so great now, isn't it? No matter how experienced & knowledgeable we think we've become, there's always something unexpectedly incredible around the corner to pull us out of our own arses.

For fans of D.R.I., Discharge & Municipal Waste.

I've never really listened to much Sepultura. I've listened to most of the albums from the classic period, and while I've liked some, I've never really revisited them. They're certainly one of the oddest groups, going from near death metal to nu metal sellouts is one heck of a career trajectory. I haven't heard anything since Roots or so, but people love these guys again, so clearly they did something right.
What surprised me when I first listened to this album was how much it sounded like modern Testament, which forced me to ask the question, who did it first? I mean, Testament did start off like Metallica before getting heavier, so I took a moment to check. The answer's complex, since I think Testament hit on the exact package first, but vocally they only thing they really stole, as such, was the way the vocals here sounded. It's very clearly an influence, since both are gruff, deep guys who frequently do near growls.
As an album, it's pretty good, feeling like a mix of their best moments. Songs tend to blend more sell-outy parts with harsher bits. Normally, that's not really a combination that I think works, usually the style differences seem awkwardly sewn together. But these guys make it work, which I find amusing since I gave up on them because they were getting crappy because of some elements. Here they blend the two pretty well, sometimes even in the same song. It comes off as unique, like if it weren't them you'd get something incredibly mediocre.
What I was surprised at was the occasional bits of prog leanings that sneak in. Never an entire song or anything, but a strong undercurrent. Even some of the requisite tribal music is thrown in. That said, a lot of times it feels less like a genuine attempt at expanding and more like someone got really into listening to Joe Satriani during the recording of this album. Sometimes it seems like passages are copied note for note.
I ultimately enjoyed this, as the negatives generally seem minor. I daresay this might even end up being my favorite Sepultura album.

Supergroups largely suck as a concept. Adrenaline Mob start out stronger than most others by they had drum aficionado Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater in the line-up and long serving Symphony X vocalist Russell Allen front and centre. Oh, and a couple of guys from Fozzy (meh). On paper then there was the promise of something interesting at least. Inevitably though, what is on paper is much better than reality, and this most definitely the case with Adrenaline Mob.

For a start, I don’t like Russell Allen’s, straining whilst having a poo style of vocals at all. They fall short of any operatic/epic metal standards and are by far the most annoying aspect of the record. When these guys were all sat round having a beer and going “Hey man, we should record an album together!” at least one of them should have gone “Hang on, do we actually fit together?”. As a result of missing this simple sense check, this album lacks any coherent form or substance. Allen’s vocals take the groove metal prowess of the group and dumbs it down to some indifferent (pun intended – read the tracklisting) mish mash of heavy metal vocals over some potentially interesting riffs and rhythms.

Considering I have zero time for Fozzy, Rich Ward does a great job alongside Mike Orlando on the guitar front. Great leads get pulled out of what are otherwise laborious and poorly conceived structures that are let down largely by a very tame and underwhelming vocalist. Can you write groove rock? Well, no in all honesty. This does not stop the mindless pop/country/rock of All on the Line getting an inclusion here though. Evidence of predictable ego playing an unwelcome from a bloated bunch of metal “celebs”?

For his part, Portnoy is as good as you would expect him to be. I doubt he breaks sweat here though and I cannot help but think of the image of him pounding the skins with one hand, whilst the other sips from coffee cup, the rest of the band looking like they have run a marathon to keep up with him as they puff hard, chests wheezing and faces all ruddy.

Somewhere after the aptly named Hit the Wall, I drifted into a coma in all honesty. It is arguable to me that this is even metal in some parts but I care so little about this album and all the layers of cheese that accompany it (even Lzzy fucking Hale gets an appearance, FFS) that the Hall of Judgement nomination can stay untouched.

As if the excessive snare drum of St. Anger era Metallica needed any further reminders of why such overuse of the instrument was a poor idea, it is worth noting that Acid Drinkers already went down that cul-de-sac five years before Lars and co. ever put stick to skin. It is not that this is even the main issue with High proof Cosmic Milk either. That list is near endless for me. Dull song structures that tickle alternative tentacles far too often (even for a groove metal record), horrible production that makes the whole thing sound sterile and borderline lifeless, vocals that constantly sound like they are straining to be heard when in fact they are already far too clear in the mix…I could go on, but I won’t.

According to other scribe son the internet, this album is a departure from the band’s usual conventional thrash metal sound, and it seems that the trend of venturing out of that familiar pen into the groove metal stall just across the farmyard was being followed by this quartet of Poles just like seemingly many long-standing trad thrash bands before (and after) them.

Unfortunately, Spotify offered up the bonus track version of this album when I searched it and, not content to simply numb my mind with their own material the band butcher Proud Mary by Creedence Clearwater Revival. A truly awful discovery right here folks.

Searching through groove metal over the past twelve months or so has churned up a mixed bag of releases. Crossing into core, death metal and of course thrash metal, the journey has been one that has broadened my horizons from my personal (and seemingly insular) belief that the genre consisted of Pantera and (early) Machine Head as its brief contribution to the metal world before it was consumed by the arrival of nu metal. Hitting a search on Metal Academy for releases in the genre up to 2020 pulls fifteen pages of results containing household names such as Anthrax, Overkill, Decapitated, Lamb of God as well as at least three bands containing one or more of the Cavalera brothers.

By the time Quadra was released, both Max and Igor were no longer in Sepultura. Andreas Kisser and Paulo Xisto were the only long-standing members left (although I often smirk at Paulo’s status under that banner given, he played nothing on Schizophrenia, Beneath the Remains or Arise). With the now familiar voice of Derrick Green fronting the band and Eloy Casagrande starting his third album on the drum stool, Quadra had a stable line up and this shows in abundance on the record for me. Kisser was always lauded as a great guitarist back in the day and I never really got onboard with that sentiment if I am honest. Yet on Quadra I find his work is consistent and versatile. That slightly detuned solo on Capital Enslavement could have really been butchered I sense, but despite it risking teetering on the brink of plain amateur, Kisser carries it off nicely. Likewise, his riffing maybe a little too familiar, resulting in some sense of there being a lack of variation across the riff and rhythm sections of Quadra, but it is entertaining enough when the vocals and song structures add the necessary depth to the album that is at times lacking.

The above having been said, Quadra may not be my favourite Sepultura release. But having heard everything up to an including Chaos A.D. on a consistent basis over the years, Quadra is the most interesting release from the band to my ears. The thrash metal elements are sparse, and the groove metal takes more of a centre stage. This is no bad thing. Based on my groove metal exploration to date, I would say Quadra is one of the better releases I have heard. Within these progressive structures there is no loss of the urgency I would seek in the tempo of the record. The orchestration of tracks like Guardians of the Earth are done against an obvious metal backdrop and blend well. The crowning glory of the album is without question for me the well-balanced, Agony of Defeat. Here the choir arrangement is professionally done to add depth to the tack, giving it a sense of the epic. Bestial Devastation fans need not apply.

I prefer this record to Roots, an album that whenever I have attempted to delve into has resulted in some horrible combination of confusion and disappointment. Indeed, I would go as far as to say that I prefer Quadra to pretty much anything Max and Igor have put out since they departed the band. If, like me, you had assumed Sepultura’s better releases where behind them after 1993 then you would be mistaken. This is not Arise or Beneath the Remains, it is something else altogether, and whilst it will never trump those two it is still a very strong release based on its own merits.

Melbourne thrash metal legends Hobbs Angel of Death first came to my attention some time in 1989, shortly after I'd discovered that there was a local extreme metal scene through Sydney thrash establishment Mortal Sin. It was while perusing a Metal For Melbourne (a seminal Australian metal record store, promoter & label) end of year list that detailed all of the top releases from 1988 (likely in "Hot Metal" magazine that I bought religiously) that I noticed a record that I wasn't familiar with in Hobbs' self-titled debut album. It was a pretty amazing list to be fair & would lead to me seeking out a number of albums with "Hobbs Angel of Death" being one that I'd pick up from the older skater kids at my school. My positive experiences with that dubbed cassette copy of the record would lead to me also seeking out the two earlier demo tapes from the band in 1987's "Angel of Death" & 1988's "Virgin Metal Invasion from Down Under", both which really floated my boat. Slayer were basically my gods at the time (& arguably still are) so Hobbs' sound was always gonna appeal to me given the very close alignment with Slayer's aggressive thrash sound & Hobbs has stuck with me ever since. In 2003, Victorian extreme metal label Modern Invasion Music would go through the exercise of remastering & re-releasing the two Hobbs Angel of Death demos & I've had the absolute privilege of checking them out this week.

Both of the Hobbs demos were recorded at Doug Saunders Studio in Melbourne during the mid-to-late 1980's & the sound quality is excellent compared to other demo tapes of the time. Front man, guitarist & band leader Peter Hobbs had previously enjoyed some time studio time with his earlier thrash band Tyrus who are equally revered in my home country so it's perhaps understandable that the Hobbs cassettes sounded pretty decent. For the recording of "Angel of Death" he'd recruit Nothing Sacred guitarist Mark Woolley, Renegade bassist Steve Scott & relatively unknown drummer Darren McMaster-Smith. Hobbs Angel of Death was essentially a solo project for Peter though so that lineup changed fairly dramatically by the time "Virgin Metal Invasion from Down Under" was recorded with Nothing Sacred/Non Compos Mentis bassist Karl Lean (aka Karl Monara) & Nothing Sacred/Depression/Non Compos Mentis drummer Sham Littleman joining the fold temporarily before Woolley & McMaster-Smith returned for the recording of the self-titled full-length along with Bestial Warlust/Deströyer 666/Mass Confusion bassist Phil Gresik. Despite the consistent personnel changes though, "Hobbs Satan's Crusade" sounds really good with modern day ears. It harnesses the raw intensity of the underground thrash scene of the 1980's beautifully with the two tapes sounding a little different from each other but with neither really achieving any sort of ascendancy.

Hobbs Angel of Death's early sound was clearly built around their gratuitous worship of one classic thrash metal act & it won't be very hard for you to figure out which one that might be upon switching on this compilation. Peter was obviously quite enamored with Californian thrash gods Slayer because Hobbs' sound is so closely aligned with Slayer's 1984-1985 period that it's almost impossible to stop yourself from consistently drawing upon your memory for comparisons while listening to their recorded output. While Hobbs may not sound exactly like Slayer singer Tom Araya, the fact that he mimics Araya's phrasing so accurately makes him trick your mind into thinking that their tones are very similar. The lyrical content only amplifies those comparisons as it's also very well aligned along with the riffs & song-structures. I'll be honest, I miss classic Slayer virtually every day of my life so if anyone can pull off their sound with any sort of success then I'm well up for it & that's certainly the case here. Just listen to opening track "Lucifer's Domain" & try not to draw comparisons to Slayer's "Chemical Warfare" or dare to question the influence of the title track from "Hell Awaits" on "House of Death" or "Satan's Crusade", not to mention the searing blaze of Kerry King & Jeff Hannemann that runs right down the middle of highlight track "Chainsaw Massacre" which is one of my favourite Aussie thrash anthems of the 1980's.

Almost all of Hobbs' debut album appears on "Hobbs Satan's Crusade" with the only exception being "Brotherhood". It also includes rejigged versions of several old Tyrus tracks with "Bubonic Plague", "Crucifixion" & "Liar" all being live favourites from what was one of the original bands in the Australian thrash metal live scene. Both "Bubonic Plague" & "Liar" sound a lot better here though with the Venom-inspired latter being much thrashier & more aggressive than the original which was more of a speed metal number. This is a really consistent tracklisting actually with no duds included & plenty to get excited about. It simply feels so underground, despite the performances all being excellent. If pushed, I'd suggest that I slightly favour "Angel of Death" over "Virgin Metal Invasion from Down Under" but there's very little in it as they're both excellent thrash releases in their own right so I'd encourage all of our The Pit members to check them out through this excellent compilation CD.

For fans of Infernäl Mäjesty, Black Shepherd & 1984-85 period Slayer.

The 80s thrash tsunami occurred mostly in the US, the UK, and Germany, but one band from Brazil has propelled that country into the scene. Sepultura brought Brazilian thrash metal forward with albums Beneath the Remains and Arise. Though longtime thrash fans were turned off by their switch to groove metal in Chaos A.D. and the more Korn-ish nu metal of Roots. After that, frontman Max Cavalera quit the band, followed by his brother drummer Igor a decade later. The band has continued to stay active, all the way up to this year (as of my review), when they started a farewell tour that will last until 2026. I actually hadn't experienced an entire Sepultura album, not even during my ultimate Pit test a couple years earlier, until now. Although it's unusual to start with the band's possible final album before retiring, let's hear what they got in Quadra!

More often than not, when a thrash band tries to relive their 80s era of destruction and mayhem, it doesn't reach the same glory as that era. However, the thrash sound in this album has been given more modern depth, and whether or not you've only heard one of Max Cavalera's other projects like Nailbomb or Soulfly beforehand, you can't resist the tribal heaviness of this band now led by top-notch vocalist Derrick Green. Bassist Paulo Jr. and guitarist Andreas Kisser have kept the band going throughout their history, heating things up with the riffing and shredding. And we have the rocket-powered drumming of Eloy Casagrande, who didn't stick around for the farewell tour. Quadra is an album of 4 different 3-track sections that practically pay tribute to their different eras. I'll name them after 4 of the classical elements; the "Thrash Fire", the "Groove Earth", the "Progressive Water", and the "Melodic Air".

The "Thrash Fire" section kicks off with the blazing epic opening track "Isolation", where an orchestral march leads into high-speed chaos. "Means to an End" blasts through with the thrash/groove metal of The Haunted, though the verses remind me of the heavier tracks by Demon Hunter. "Last Time" is filled with relentless shredding.

The "Groove Earth" section starts with "Capital Environment" which can go progressive and deathly without going far into the stylistic territory of, say, Job for a Cowboy. More groove-ish riffing can be found in "Ali". That, along with marching beats and bellowed vocals, brushes aside the shredding leads without losing too much melody. Stomping in again with that groove is "Raging Void", with lots of mid-tempo rage and none of the nu metal tomfoolery.

The "Progressive Water" section begins with "Guardians of Earth", as orchestral/choral sounds rise just like in the opening tracks of the first two sections, evolving into an epic progressive groove/thrash fest. It's only surpassed by the progressive thrash instrumental "The Pentagram", one h*ll of a journey that can be considered the Quadra Crusade. "Autem" is once again as progressive as Waltari, though sometimes it has the more melodic yet deathly verses of Mercenary. The other two tracks in this section still reign in the progressive throne though.

The "Melodic Air" section is introduced with the acoustic title instrumental. The rest of this section has two melodic heavy metal/hard rock tracks that are so unlike the other 3 sections. "Agony of Defeat" is a soft while still heavy power ballad, like a metallic Led Zeppelin. Far From Alaska vocalist Emmily Barreto guest appears in the "Fear, Pain, Chaos, Suffering", though her vocals don't really sound powerful compared to Derrick Green. The song is a bit underwhelming, and I prefer the other track in that section.

Sepultura's career has made it up to album #15 with Quadra. Anyone who has enjoyed Sepultura since before their move out of thrash 30 years ago will find something to love, and those who came here for progressive energy and/or earthly groove will be in luck. This blend of thrash and groove is similar to Slayer's final album Repentless, only lightyears better and more progressive. I think Quadra can win back earlier Sepultura fans while also bring newcomers who have spent time with music from bands like Machine Head and Gojira. The possible final offering from these Brazilian thrash masters shall be worth it for any metalhead!

Favorites: "Isolation", "Means to an End", "Raging Void", "Guardians of Earth", "The Pentagram", "Agony of Defeat"

Brazilian thrash metal gods Sepultura had a life-changing impact on me as a kid. They could literally do no wrong in their early days as far as I’m concerned with their first couple of releases playing a role in defining the early death/thrash sound, their next few taking thrash to heights that no one suspected the movement still had in the tank at the time & their 1993 fifth album “Chaos AD” closely competing with Pantera for the groove metal crown. I can’t deny that “Chaos AD” scared me a little though because, even though it was undeniably a high-quality & universally engaging metal album, I had to admit that it had moved slightly away from my musical sweet spot which saw my defences coming up a bit with Sepultura’s next full-length “Roots”. In fact, I didn’t even end up checking it out in full until only relatively recently. Although I have some time for “Roots”, it wasn’t exactly my bag in terms of style & the exit of Max Cavalera only exacerbated any qualms I may have had with the modern-day Sepultura. I haven’t enjoyed much of what I’ve heard from them in all the years since to be honest but that changed with their 2020 fifteenth album “Quadra” which offered me significant appeal. I haven’t returned to it since giving it a couple of well-received spins at the time of release but I’ve been looking forward to affording it the full-length review it deserves after it was nominated as this month’s The Pit feature release.

There’s a fairly sizeable gap in my knowledge of Sepultura’s back catalogue as I never gave the releases from 1998-2006 a chance after I returned to metal in 2009. Instead, I saw myself progressively checking out each subsequent full-length with a feeling of apathy being the general outcome, so much so that I didn’t even bother with 2017’s “Machine Messiah”. But the buzz around its follow-up “Quadra” saw my intrigue being strong enough to have me throwing my hat in the ring again & I had to admit that I was glad I did too as it saw Sepultura returning with their strongest release since “Chaos AD” in my opinion, perhaps not the potent statement the world was hoping the Brazilians still had in them but a decent enough effort for an old-school act nonetheless. Max’s brother Igor had also moved on by that point, calling time on his childhood band more than a decade earlier in order to work with his brother on their Cavalera Conspiracy project. Bassist Paulo Jr. (aka Paulo Xisto as he’s known here) & guitarist Andreas Kisser were still onboard from the classic Sepultura lineup though so I was a little surprised at just how far “Quadra” saw the band venturing from their classic sound. There seemed to be more ambition on display than we’d heard from Sepultura in a very long time & I had to admire the energy of an artist that had already been around for an impressive 36 years by that point.

As with “Machine Messiah”, Sepultura recorded the “Quadra” album at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden with renowned metal producer Jens Bogren who’d accumulated a huge resume of metal credits by that point in time. You can certainly hear the class in the production job here too although I can’t deny that I was a little surprised by just how clean the album sounds. This seemed to be a far more crisp & clinical Sepultura than I could recall encountering in the past & I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that to be honest. I mean, they were always very capable in terms of musicianship but here we see them sporting a production that’s more suited to a progressive metal band than a thrash/groove metal one but perhaps that’s in part due to the brand-new musical direction the band were taking because it was certainly more ambitious than I was expecting too.

The main musical feature of “Quadra” that I wasn’t expecting was the progressive component that is incorporated into a large enough chunk of the record, enough to see me claiming it as a genuinely progressive groove metal record which came as a complete surprise. As with the production, the musicianship & arrangements consistently exude a shiner & more sophisticated edge than I can remember hearing from Sepultura in the past. The regular use of progressive tools like odd time-signatures & symphonic orchestration gives “Quadra” a different look & feel to anything I’ve heard from the Brazilians in the past, so much that it’s taken me some time to come to terms with it. I’ve never been the biggest groove metal fan so I was thankful for a few thrash tunes early in the tracklisting (see “Isolation”, “Last Time” & “Ali”) although a couple of them were admittedly all progged up. Things get even more progressive through the back end of the album though, reminding me quite a bit of Devin Townsend’s more expansive work on several occasions & even heading into symphonic territory a couple of times. There are a number of more traditional groove metal numbers spread across the tracklisting (see “Means to an End”, “Capital Enslavement”, “Raging Void” & “Autem”) & it’s clearly those that I get the least appeal out of, particularly the first two which do very little for me. I definitely prefer it when Sepultura either thrash out like they did back in the day or opt for a more creative & interesting approach. The aggressive vocal delivery of front man Derrick Green is a strong contributor in tying Sepultura to their adopted groove metal sound though & I feel that my Phil Anselmo (Pantera) meets Jaz Coleman (Killing Joke) comparison is pretty much on the money. Young drummer Eloy Casagrande (currently of Slipknot) does an excellent job behind the kit, occasionally even crossing over into blast-beats when things reach their most violent. It’s the lead guitar solos of Kisser that are the real highlight here though & he proves himself to be a wonderful exponent of his craft these days, no longer opting for short bursts of dissonance like he did back in the day. These solos are beautifully crafted examples of melodic yet highly proficient musicality that may not sound like the Sepultura we grew up with but hit my metal spot hard nonetheless & with great force too. His lead tone is nothing short of brilliant here.

While “Quadra” isn’t a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, it is the best thing I’ve heard from Sepultura in the last three decades which has gotta count for something. I do have to question whether I want the Brazilians to sound like this though as this record doesn’t sound much like the Sepultura I grew up with. It’s also lacking any genuine classics which was always gonna see it struggling to see me considering for my higher scores. I’m not sure I can see myself reaching for “Quadra” again in the future but it has opened me up to the idea of exploring 2021’s “Sepulquarta” album at some stage which I hadn’t considered up until now. I’d suggest that groove metal nuts will get a bit more out of “Quadra” than I do but I’m pleased that I gave it a crack nonetheless.

For fans of Machine Head, Pantera & Devin Townsend.

While Metallica's classic fourth album "...And Justice For All" may represent my gateway into extreme metal back in late 1988, the ability for a local Australian band to create a genuinely intense metal release still seemed a little unattainable to me for a while, that is... until I picked up the first edition of a new Aussie metal/hard rock magazine called "Hot Metal" from the local news agency in May 1989. It came with a cover CD that included a collection of sixteen tracks from a variety of artists, mostly on the popular glam/hair metal end of the metal spectrum. Amongst them were great inclusions from acts like Ozzy Osbourne & Yngwie Malmsteen that saw me exploring their back catalogues extensively over the coming months but the track that stood out from all the rest was a song called "Mayhemic Destruction" from a young Sydney band by the name of Mortal Sin whose vicious attack appeared to sit on the deathlier side of thrash metal. I was a complete Big Four nut at the time with Slayer being my musical gods so the sheer intensity of this song offered me massive appeal & saw me quickly reaching out to the older skaters at my high school to see if I could secure a dubbed copy of the "Mayhemic Destruction" album. Thankfully, they were able to oblige & I'd spend a bit of time with Mortal Sin's debut record over the next couple of weeks before leaving it behind to explore ever more extreme forms of metal music over the next few years. Regardless, Mortal Sin would remain with me as a constant presence during my early time in the Sydney metal scene until I'd take a self-imposed decade-long hiatus from metal altogether in 1998. I'd see them play live on a number of occasions which could inevitably see my blood boiling with a desire to fulfil my own dreams of playing extreme metal on stage. I've even gotten to know a couple of the band members a bit over the years with drummer Wayne Campbell (Baltak/Grungeon) booking my death metal band Neuropath for a number of live gigs & vocalist Mat Maurer's daughter becoming a gig buddy of mine which would see Mat tagging along to some of the shows we'd attend during the 2010's after my return to metal. It was an interesting exercise to return to "Mayhemic Destruction" a couple of years ago now though as it gave me a new perspective on the legacy of Mortal Sin & the Australian metal scene in general & this week's second revisit has only provided further justification for my existing position on it.

I believe "Mayhemic Destruction" was originally intended to be a demo tape which stacks up when you consider that Mortal Sin hadn't released any recorded music at all at the time. It was recorded at Studio 301 in Sydney (which is where I mastered my own solo CD in 1999 interestingly enough) during the middle of 1986 with the recording process taking just three days & the mixing amounting to forty hours. A gentleman by the name of John Stitch-Darwish was responsible for the production & he was a relatively unknown entity in terms of metal although he would later go on to produce Armoured Angel's sole 1999 full-length "Angel of the Sixth Order". Despite his lack of experience in the field though, Darwish's production job does the job nicely here, particularly for a release that was only intended to be a demo. All of the instruments are presented with clarity & separation with the powerful bass guitar of Andy Eftichiou being the main driver in Mortal Sin's thrash metal attack. The guitars having an incisive tinniness which wasn't uncommon in late 80's thrash while Campbell's drums are full & offer plenty of depth. Maurer's vocals are given plenty of room to boom out over the top too so "Mayhemic Destruction" was afforded every chance to make an impact with a local metal market that hadn't received much in the way of well-produced & executed thrash metal at the time.

Mortal Sin's early sound wasn't the most technical or sophisticated you'll find in thrash metal, even for the mid-80s. The riffs were generally very simple with the tempo rarely exceeding mid-pace & the structures relying heavily on the tight execution & decent Darwish production job for appeal. Eftichiou's bass lines are the main driver that gets your head banging & I feel that he was probably the most accomplished musician here too. Metallica's 1983 debut album "Kill 'Em All" was very clearly the main source of inspiration though & there's even a case for claiming the majority of "Mayhemic Destruction" as nothing more than a Metallica clone if I'm being perfectly honest. Just listen to tracks like "Women in Leather" or "Into the Fire" & tell me you don't hear the obvious references to "Seek & Destroy". I'll give you the tip that you won't be able to & the same can be said for speed metal anthem "Blood, Death, Hatred" & Metallica's "The Four Horsemen" because the inspiration is blatantly obvious & when combined with Maurer's extraordinarily Hetfield-ish vocal delivery it's easy to simply cast Mortal Sin aside as a poor man's replica of the Californian gods of the thrash metal movement. I can't say that I'm not onboard with the way of thinking either but there are moments on this album where Mortal Sin manage to cast aside that stigma to produce some excellent thrash in their own right.

The tracklisting isn't without blemish mind you with a couple of songs not doing much for me at all. "Liar" & "Mortal Slaughter" just seem to be a little bit basic & lacking in depth & substance to me but the remainder of the album is all enjoyable enough. The closing title track is the clear highlight in my opinion & it stands out like a sore thumb as it's sound is simply so different to the rest of the material. It's a lot more extreme than the other seven tracks with the intensity of the riffage having been upped significantly & sounding a lot more like the Teutonic thrash scene than the Bay Area one the other material is centred around. The vocals are also delivered in more of a death metal grunt which blew my mind upon first hearing it on the "Hot Metal" compilation, particularly given the glammy nature of the remainder of the artists on that CD. The other track that stood out to me was the chunky "Lebanon" with its lyrical themes having a potent effect & its riffs representing the high point for Mortal Sin's mid-tempo thrash sound. It's a shame that these two songs stand out so much from the rest of the material though as it leaves me feeling that the overall package sits closer to the third tier of the thrash metal spectrum than it does to the first or second. I mean, we're talking 1987 here which was still very much at the peak of the genre so there was a lot of competition floating around &, looking back now, it's hard not to feel that "Mayhemic Destruction" has been overrated by an Aussie metal scene that was simply starving for good content. Personally, I can't deny that this is my position on it these days if I'm being honest which it pains me to admit given just how big in influence Mortal Sin had on me as a bright-eyed young metal musician looking to crack into the local Sydney scene.

While "Mayhemic Destruction" may not be the game-changer that a lot of Aussies might have you believe it is, I'd suggest that most members of our The Pit clan will gain some enjoyment out of it because it definitely reminds me of the fun that could be had in getting drunk with your mates & moshing around someone's backyard. Its simplicity is also its biggest asset in many ways as it remains accessible throughout but I don't think Maurer's vocal skills were quite enough to overcome the band's limitations, at least not yet. In fact, I've never been much of a fan of his performance here if I'm being honest. 1989's "Face of Despair" sophomore album would also frequent my tape deck in 1989 & it offered a similar level of appeal although I think I've always slightly favoured the debut over it as the better representation of the early roots of Australian thrash. It's just not the unheralded thrash classic that so many of my Aussie peers would have you believe it is.

For fans of Xentrix, Stone & "Kill 'Em All"-period Metallica.

I first became acquainted with Exciter around the middle of 1985 when I picked up a copy of a Music For Nations comp, Hell Comes to Your House, from my local record emporium. That compilation changed my metal-listening life for ever. It wasn't because of Exciter's Violence and Force which was track two (or even Manowar's Blood of my Enemies which opened the album and which I already knew), no it was the opener of side two, Metallica's Creeping Death which shattered my worldview on what heavy metal meant. I fucking hammered that track over and over, at least until I got a copy of Ride the Lightning anyway and then I fucking hammered that too! Sadly for Exciter that meant they never really got a look in and were just "some other band on that comp with Creeping Death on" and so I never really paid them much mind.

So let's fast forward the best part of forty years and now I'm here finally giving Canada's speed metal trailblazers' debut album the attention it properly deserves. Originally going by the clunky moniker Hell Razor, they later took their permanent name from the classic Judas Priest track and that's a decent choice because the track Exciter does bear a lot of the hallmarks that Exciter the band were going for. They play high energy, get-out-of-our-way speed metal that may sound quite generic now, but considering this was released in '83 there wasn't a huge amount of stuff in similar vein before it. Taking inspiration from NWOBHM bands like Venom, Maiden, Diamond Head and, of course, Motörhead tracks like Overkill and The Hammer, Exciter just wanted to crank it up and strive for a kind of extremity by playing as fast as they possibly could.

While you would get no argument from me that this was an earth-shaking release at the time of it's release, just before "Kill 'Em All" and a full six months before "Show No Mercy", it just doesn't have the kudos of others from the time. Despite it's missing link status bridging the gap between the NWOBHM and the just-emerging Bay Area thrashers, it was quickly overshadowed, thus condemning Exciter to the role of supporting characters rather than leading men. This is a great shame because there are some exhilharating tracks on offer here, "Stand Up and Fight", "Under Attack" and "Cry of the Banshee" are supercharged headlong metallic charges dessigned for god-tier headbanging action. Unfortunately, the rock 'n' roll-like nature of the title track misses the mark for me, "World War III" feels like a very lacklustre workout and the attempted epic track "Black Witch" doesn't play at all to the band's strengths.

Still, all things considered, this must be counted as a fairly important album in the history of metal, it's importance maybe being greater than it's actual quality, but it still has some really good stuff on it, even though it may occasionally fail to hit the heights or consistencies of it's contemporaries. 

I lived in ignorance of the existence of these german speedsters until getting an earful of their track "Realm of the Impaler" from this, their latest album, on the Guardians playlist for November, where it leapt out at me from amongst the stuff I wasn't already familiar with. This is the band's fourth full-length and it appears that they already have quite an enthusiastic and loyal following, which I am sure this latest will only increase.

Sentinels is an album of infectious speed / thrash metal that leans heavily towards the speed side of that equation, with a strong link back to Maiden-esque heavy metal and early USPM. There is a lively enthusiasm about Vulture that suggests a particular love for the wider culture of metal worship, beyond the mere riffs and notes and deep into the core of the band's very being. This is definitely not thoughtful and contemplative metal, rather this is metal to be experienced and lived, each track a joyful and triumphant expression of metalhood.

Hi-octane riffs, scorching solos and sing-along-at-the-top-of-your-voice choruses are the order of the day here. Vocalist Leo Steeler reminds me a fair bit of Exodus' Steven Souza with a raggedness to his normal vocals and a tendency to shift into a higher register at a moments notice. In fact early Exodus are a fitting comparison for the band as a whole, Sentinels ticking a lot of the same boxes as Bonded By Blood. The rhythm section of drummer Stefan Castevet and bassist Andreas "Irön Kommander" Axetinctör are really solid and maintain the propulsive momentum of the tracks with a tight and precise adhesion. Occasionally, especially during the solos during "Realm of the Impaler", the bass moves more to the fore and takes on a Steve Harris galloping quality, the twin guitar soloing not being the only touchstone with the Irons. The production is excellent, as is so often the case nowadays, and everybody gets to shine in their respective roles, due to top-knotch clarity.

You will be seriously struggling to find a more exhuberant celebration of metal than tracks like the aforementioned "Realm of the Impaler", "Death Row" or "Oathbreaker" and as a dyed-in-the-wool metalhead it is very difficult not to listen to Sentinels without a smile on my face and a yearning for a moshpit in my heart. An album like this reminds me very much how and why I got into metal in the first place in much simpler times, so very, very long ago.

Released shortly after the murderous Pleasure To Kill, this three-track EP encapsulates Kreator in a blissful 18-minute riff fest. It opens with a reworking of "Flag of Hate" from the debut album, Endless Pain, which illustrates how far the band had already come, this version being much tighter, faster and more aggressive, with the increased production values certainly helping massively on that front. The other two tracks, "Take Their Lives" and "Awakening of the Gods" are longer affairs which see the band in a more expansive mood than the straight-ahead, charging neck-wrenching of "Pleasure To Kill". The songwriting on these two tracks sees the band maturing and starting to move in the direction that would culminate with Coma of Souls, unafraid now to revert to slower tempos at times and to exhibit a lot more control over their impulse to just let rip, so that when they do, I think it is far more effective in this more controlled environment. Of course this increasingly professional and mature evolution comes at a price, with the sheer exuberance and brutal aggression of their early material, particularly Pleasure To Kill, being held in check here. Now, I am sure there are plenty of fans who lamented this direction, but surely Kreator couldn't just keep ploughing the same ultra-violent furrow ad nauseum and needed to display some kind of musical development by this point. No matter what came after, PTK would always still be there, so why would they need to keep remaking it?

Anyway, the two longer tracks see Kreator expanding the scope of their songwriting, possibly influenced by albums like Metallica's Ride the Lightning or To Mega Therion. "Take Their Lives" kicks off at a more measured tempo than we had come to expect from Kreator with a chugging riff that is afforded a nice sharp edge by the production and which accompanies Mille's bile-spitting, barked vocals perfectly, before it kicks up a gear and Mille unleashes a shred-tastic Kerry King-on-steroids guitar solo. A breathing space is then allowed for as the trio hit the eye of the storm and build anticipation with a jagged guitar line before letting it fly once more while Mille tortures another howling solo from his six-stringer. The final track, "Awakening of the Gods" is one of my favourite Kreator tracks, it has several riffs that just go so hard it's unreal and the Slayer-esque solos are devastating slashes of sonic thuggery that should carry a health warning.

I may have gone overboard and made more of the songwriting changes than is justified because this isn't Opeth, this is still Kreator and it is gloriously bitter and vicious teutonic thrash that still has enough to get you wrenching that neck of yours, don't you worry. It's just that that isn't all that Flag Of Hate is about and, sure, the songwriting isn't super sophisticated, but I think they had made good progress on that front here and hit a nice balance between their earlier violent aggression and a more developed song progression. Look I like Pleasure To Kill as much as the next thrash-head, but I think credit should be given where due and here Kreator added a new dimension to their established brutality.

By the early 1990's, Swedish metal gods Bathory had already made a huge impression on my life. I'd first discovered Quorthon & his various forms of stylist expression through 1988's incredible "Blood Fire Death" album, a record that would represent my earliest experience with genuine black metal, & it would change me in ways that I've never really recovered from. I would very quickly take in the rest of Bathory's prestigious back catalogue with each successive release seeing Quorthon gaining in credibility as one of the most original & influential artists of all time in terms of metal music. 1991's Twilight of the Gods" sixth album may have seen Bathory taking their foot off the pedal a little bit but was still a very solid effort when viewed outside of the context of the record that preceded it. I just think that Bathory had defined their Viking metal sound so emphatically with "Hammerheart" from the previous year that its follow-up was always going to struggle to achieve the same level of notoriety. There's no doubt that "Twilight of the Gods" is still a very strong record in its own right but I can't say that I consider it to be as classic as the three records that led into it. It did leave me wondering where Quorthon's next creative endeavour might take him though as it was still an immensely ambitious creative statement. We'd have to wait a full three years to find out though &, by the time 1994's "Requiem" appeared, I think my anticipation had waned a touch. Make no mistake about it, Ben & I still raced out to buy the album immediately upon release but I don't think my expectations were quite as high as they had been for the previous two records. Thank goodness they weren't either because "Requiem" is far from the classic that many people simply expected from Quorthon by that point in his highly celebrated career.

The first thing that hits you about "Requiem" is the rawness in Quorthon's production job. The album was once again recorded at Stockholm's Montezuma Studio which had seen Bathory creating yet another huge wall of epic Viking metal with "Twilight of the Gods" but this would be the first time that Quorthon had attempted to produce a Bathory record without the oversight of his father Börje Forsberg &, if these results are anything to go by, then it was a bad decision. My major gripe is with the artificial drum sound which is nothing short of abominable. The album cover lists Vvornth as once again handling the drums on this record but that name is generally accepted to be a pseudonym adopted by a number of different performed who filled the seat for Bathory from 1998 to 1996. On this occasion though, I don't actually think Vvornth is human because the drums on "Requiem" sound like a cheap drum machine to me but even that suspicion doesn't fully portray how bad the snare sound is here. In fact, it rivals Metallica's "St. Anger" for sheer cringe factor if I'm being completely honest. The rest of the kit isn't much better either with the kick drums & toms sounding thin & clicky. The rest of the instrumentation isn't too bad actually but there's very little in the way of studio gloss to be found here with the rhythm guitar tone being as raw as they come.

If you were expecting the next installment of Bathory's epic Viking metal legacy with "Requiem" then you were going to be sorely disappointed & I think it's fair to say that I was. "Requiem" sees Quorthon taking a complete change of stylistic direction towards a fairly generic thrash metal sound which is a little hard to understand. It doesn't actually sound all that bad on paper but the reality isn't all that it might have been. Quorthon has still maintained his trademark black metal shriek but the music sounds very much like an attempt to emulate classic Exodus & Kreator &, while there are some great riffs employed at times, it's hard to overcome the impact of those awful drums. The vocals tend to be fairly hit & miss too with the faster & more aggressive material benefiting from their extremity while the more restrained inclusions tend to suffer the opposite fate with Quorthon's raspy screams sounding far too over the top for the instrumentation that supports them. The guitar solos are instantly recognisable & see Quorthon simply blazing away on fast (if relatively simple) pentatonic licks with no attempt to hold anything back. As an holistic package though, "Requiem" simply seems a bit lacking in ambition after the incredible run of forward-thinking releases that Bathory were already responsible for producing over the previous decade or so.

Production issues aside, the nine-song tracklisting actually begins fairly well with the first tree tracks all being pretty enjoyable, particularly the excellent "Necroticus" which is my clear pick of the bunch. Things start to get noticeably shaky from there though with three of the next four songs all falling well short of the mark. "War Machine", "Pax vobiscum" & "Suffocate" don't even come close to reaching an acceptable level of appeal with me personally &, even though things return to some level of normality at the end of the album, I've always found it very difficult to repair the damage that had been done through the middle of the album. Don't get me wrong, there is some seriously shredding blackened thrash on this album at times but there's little doubt that it's presented in an inappropriate packaging & that Quorthon is miles better than this simple collection of tunes which never attempt to push through any pre-existing musical boundaries. It simply feels so safe, not to mention more than a little amateurish, so I can't deny my disappointment in what seemed like such an anti-climax at the time.

I think you'd be a brave man to claim that "Requiem" was anything other than the first genuine disappointment in Bathory's incredibly prestigious recording career & things would only get worse for Quorthon over the next twelve months as he continued to explore this "new" sound. I tried my very best not to let these creative misfires taint the legacy that Bathory had built up in my esteem & I think I did a reasonable job of it too. I can't deny that the Swedes would never again return to the throne they'd created with their past glories though & I definitely sensed that this might be the case at the time too. "Requiem" may not be a complete disaster but it certainly fell well short of the stratospheric levels of musical mastery we'd come to expect from Bathory so I feel that this might be my last revisit to one of Sweden's more tragic descents.

For fans of Exodus, Kreator & Sodom.

When I fired up this bad boy, it had been far too long since I last heard Nasty Savage, remembering their '80s stuff as some surprisingly dirty-sounding power/thrash. Sleaze thrash would be an apt descriptor. But bands rarely sound the same after nearly forty years and a nearly complete lineup change, what would be the difference?
They've definitely gone for a more straight thrash sound, and it's very different, but it's still Nasty Savage. Gone is the sleaze and instead we have a grimness to things. Vocalist Nasty Ronnie sounds not like the high pitched vocalists of the '80s, like he used to be, but like Lee Dorian off Soul Sacrifice. It's a very odd thing to hear, but fits the package. I wonder if it was intentional or accidental?
Despite a mostly new lineup since the good old days, it doesn't really feel like Ronnie + some hired guns. Unless this is just a masterclass in managing hired guns. You'd swear they were working together for decades; They got some good energy. They come together well to make a song, but individually they are less than the whole. The riffs aren't particularly memorable; The lyrics are vaguely connected nonsense and probably have the exact same lines in all the verses; The drum sound is one of those obnoxious electronic-sounding ones. As a complete package, they work together for a grimy, creepy sound. And it helps that the solos, while not true guitar god territory, have the right mix of technicality and story-telling to get there.
Most of the songs, while they'll have a slight deviation from the usual thrash formula, are mostly what you expect. Then there are the oddities on the album. Witches' Sabbath starts off like a Pink Floyd song and then something more Mercyful Fate-esque. At this point the album is solidly thrash, despite a few intros, so this noticeable even during a casual listen. Despite the out of place theatrical nature, it does a good job of breaking up what might otherwise be a monotonous album. Schizoid Platform sounds completely different to the rest, like some Voivod/Atheist piece. Not really tech thrash, it just sounds like it. I don't know if they changed the guitar tone on this song to song like Atheist or if it's always like that and this just reminded me of an Atheist song. I'm a huge sucker for both those bands (well, Doom Japan and Atheist, but Voivod is Doom for the average metalhead) so I really liked it. That said, as the lead singles, I question the decision to pick these. I just assumed that the whole album would sound like Schizoid Platform.
I'm glad to see a band successfully survive after losing most of its members and coming up with a new, yet distinctly them sound. Time will tell if they can keep it up or if this is merely a lucky one-off.

If you do a bit of research into the history of thrash metal in my home country of Australia, you'll often find yourself being told that Melbourne's Renegade represent band one in that story as they were reportedly first formed all the way back in 1982. I've never bought into that opinion personally as the evidence simply doesn't stack up. I'm not denying that Renegade were probably around as early as any other band that would go on to play extreme metal over time but if you follow the early "recorded" history of Aussie thrash fairly closely you'll soon start to question the timeline for when Renegade first transitioned into a genuine thrash band as their 1985 demo tape is more of a speed metal release than it is a thrash one with the heavy metal influence still a little too prominent for genuine thrash status. The song "Black Ritual" certainly proved that they had it in them but we'd have to wait until 1987 to see them finally taking that potential & turning it to reality with their sole album "Total Armageddon", a record that has gone down in Aussie metal folklore as a seriously important release in the grand scheme of extreme metal in this country. I can't stress enough how highly regarded it was by older metalheads when I first entered the scene in the late 1980's & early 1990's & can recall many a drunken night of air guitar & backyard moshing while accompanied by its charms. Let's take a look at it in a little more depth today & see if it holds up against the legend that surrounds it.

While the authenticity of Renegade's 1985 demo tape as a genuine thrash release is questionable at best, the same cannot be said of "Total Armageddon" as it's a total thrashfest with each of the eight songs included sitting very comfortably under a thrash tag. The album was recorded with producer Bruce Johnston at Melbourne's Jam Tin Studios some time in 1986 with Johnston's only other notable metal credit coming in the form of the 1987 "Warlords” album from relatively unknown Melbourne heavy metal outfit S.A.S. Johnston plays an important role here though as "Total Armageddon" beautifully harnesses the raw energy of Renegade at the time while allowing all instruments to maintain complete clarity throughout. I would suggest that the cover artwork has also played some sort of role in the records success with the image of VB-drinking devil aligning fairly closely with many Aussie metalhead's ideals back in the late 1980's.

"Total Armageddon" is a consistently fast record that barely takes its foot off the accelerator or stops for a breath at any point. Many of the more up-tempo riffs remind me a lot of Metallica's "Kill 'Em All" album while the moments when Renegade do tone the velocity back a bit seem to have been heavily influenced by classic Slayer & Mercyful Fate which can't be a bad thing now, can it? Front man Johnny Beer possesses a raspy delivery that reminds me more of Teutonic thrash acts like Destruction than it does the Americans & his performance here is an important ingredient in the overall appeal of a record like this one as he does an excellent job at calling Renegade's fanbase to arms while also separating the band from the more traditional heavy metal acts that had surrounded them for the majority of their existence to the time. Bassist Steve Scott (who would also appear on Hobbs Angel of Death's self-titled demo tape later the same year) puts in a great performance with his basslines being easily heard throughout the entire album. This most certainly isn't a terribly ambitious album from an instrumental point of view though as there's nothing you haven't heard before & the riff structures do tend to be quite simple but it's all executed with a clear understanding of what made 1980's thrash so great so there's nothing to complain about for fans of that era. The rare moments of experimentation (such as the acoustic guitar section in "Lucifer's Reign") are done very well & provide a nice contrast to the aggressive tremolo-picked speed metal riffs that make up the remainder of the record so it's pretty clear that Renegade had paid their dues & were very much a well-oiled machine by this stage of their evolution. Drummer Mick Scott is probably the weaker component of the band though as his kick drum work isn't as tight as the true masters of the genre. I really dig it when he goes for a driving Charlie Benante-style beat during the more ballsy parts of the album though & he displays good restraint during the chuggy halftime parts too.

The tracklisting offers great consistency with no weak songs included in the eight on offer. The title track is the clear standout in my opinion though as it reminds me of the unbridled aggression that the Teutonic thrash scene had built its reputation on. A couple of tracks from Renegade's 1985 demo tape ("Black Ritual" & "Lucifer's Reign") have been revisited with the latter being a stronger & more muscular effort than the original. While few listeners will deny that "Total Armageddon" is a thrash release, the speed metal sound that dominated the demo tape is still evident in the high velocities & uncluttered tremolo-picked riff structures which are well supported by Johnston's production job which helps to keep things sounding attractive & professional. All of this amounts to a more than decent thrash record that competes fairly well on a global scale but which no doubt threw a fairly nasty cat amongst the pigeons as far as the local scene went as I don't think that Australia had seen a release of this intensity before, at least not one in a proper album format. Renegade's role in Australian thrash cannot be denied in this respect & it's not hard to see why the old-schoolers are still waxing lyrical about it either.

For fans of Tyrus, classic Slayer & "Kill 'Em All"-period Metallica.

Progressing through the clan challenge for Groove Metal sees me arrive at one of the more inconsistent bands I have experienced over my time listening to metal. After their debut album, Poland’s Decapitated dropped right off my radar with Nihility and The Negation doing nothing to further the promise offered on Winds of Creation. Over a career that saw the band suffer immeasurable tragedy and move from their more traditional technical death metal sound to a more groove orientated direction in later years, Decapitated have gained very little of my attention since the early noughties.

Anticult landed on my radar before the clan challenge brought me here though, with Kill the Cult appearing on a workout playlist earlier this year and finding itself becoming a mainstay track for most of my kettlebell sessions. The rabid yet rhythmic style of that track was a good indicator of what to expect from the album overall. Although I would argue that there is nothing remarkable about Anticult in terms of being a classic by any means, it does offer a consistency that avoids pedestrianism largely due to the vicious and seemingly tireless energy levels that are deployed in abundance.

The old Decapitated sound is still here (Anger Line) amidst the more groove orientated sections. Closing track, Amen sounds like a Nile track – albeit never lives up to their sense of the epic by any means it must be noted. Part of Anticults success is that it does not allow the groove elements to be at the expense of the death metal strains of the record. Death metal is the core structure still with groove metal applying the fixtures and fittings if you like.

Anticult misses out on higher score because as solid as it maybe it never gets exciting. I have no desire to revisit it immediately after most plays, even with raging moments like One Eyed Nation still present in my brain. Whilst Kill the Cult continues to help me push various weights around, the album overall leaves me satiated yet still looking for a bit more somehow.