Crucified Mortals - Psalms of the Dead Choir (2016)^{Release ID: 10923}

Crucified Mortals is basically a duo of vocalist, bassist and guitarist Craig Horval, aka Reaper, and drummer Ash Thomas who is actually guitarist and vocalist in a number of Ohio death metal bands. They have been joined on Psalms of the Dead Choir by Detroit lead guitarist Victor "Lore Lord" Ruiz in a guest capacity. The album is very much based on the old Slayer sound, with Reaper's vocals sounding like he is a big admirer of Max Cavalera. The riffs are pretty decent, albeit not the most original you will ever hear, but this is thrash metal almost 30 years removed from its heyday, so what do you expect? The soloing is where I scratch my head the most because Lore Lord sounds like a pretty good lead guitarist, but his solos here seem almost hesitant, as if he is uncertain of himself. Whether this is down to a misperception on my part or some hesitancy to fully express himself or lack of confidence on his part in a band that he is only performing with as a guest, I have no way of knowing. Check out the soloing towards the end of "Into Eternity" to get an idea of what I am getting at - it feels like he really wants to let rip, but is holding back for some reason.

I guess this doesn't really hold up as well as I was hoping when I suggested it and I feel my 4-star original rating is maybe a bit generous upon relistening to it. It is a perfectly fine, third tier thrash metal release that holds very few surprises for the seasoned inhabitant of the Pit. My favourite part of the album is probably the hulkingly slow intro riff to "Dusk of the Advent" which left me wondering why more thrash acts don't slow things down to a more menacing pacing sometimes, for variety's sake if nothing else. Ash Thomas' drumming is probably the one real highlight of the album for me and he seems like a very talented skinsman, despite it not necessarily being his day job.

At the end of the day this is a "C", maybe a "C+" thrash metal release and just adds fuel to the fire of my belief that the South Americans are now the only game in town when it comes to thrash metal.