Zerre - Rotting on a Golden Throne (2026)^{Release ID: 67751}

Thrash is not a genre I spend a lot of time with these days. The favour continues to grow thinner with each passing year. But every so often, an album will pop up, whether it be through Metal Academy's featured releases, or a record that just continuously gets rammed down my throat by the online algorithm. And just so we're clear, if that later option happens, you certainly would not be seeing a review for an album, but rather a concerted effort by myself to push it as far away from my vision as possible!

I come from a background where my appreciation of crossover thrash comes from the punk family tree. I absolutely fell in love with the Black Flag's, Husker Du's and Rites of Spring during my exploration of the genre many years ago. So crossover thrash had an appeal to it that was novel, but really had an appeal to me; traditional thrash was always too long with not enough substance. Modern outputs like Power Trip were punchy, relentless, and straight-to-the-point. And while Zerre show promise of that here with Rotting on a Golden Throne, it feels lacking in other aspects. My main criticism towards thrash is how bloated it becomes, and I was worried at first glance as "Pigs will be Pigs" storms out with riff swapping, guitar solos after every stanza, and a hard to follow through line. Ironically, "Mental Vacation", the albums longest song, is far more connected. There were a few times while listening to this where I was surprised just how quickly and smoothly the album was passing by. Songs like "Rotting on a Golden Throne" and "Concrete Hell" were so easily digested that I lost track of how much time had passed; I thought for sure there was supposed to be another four minute guitar solo after!

Alas, it can't all be good. The mixing is very much in the style of the old thrash giants like Exodus and Slayer with tons of reverb, along with high treble and not a lot of bass. The riffs themselves are sporadically solid, but without that thud of a foundational bass line, the album just sits there. This is most egregious during the guitar solos where the lead is not allowed to build and transform into the Kerry King/Jeff Hannenman solo it desperately wants to be. If Zerre could tighten up their mixing, or find a new producer altogether who values those sweet bass tones, while continuing in the same vein as Rotting on a Golden Throne, they very well could be on their way to ascending to the top.

Best Songs: Deception of the Weak, Mental Vacation, Rotting on a Golden Throne, Killing Taste

For Fans Of: Power Trip, Exodus, early Kreator

I love thrash metal and I love punk rock but, in truth, I am not all that enthusiastic about crossover thrash. Maybe I haven't heard the right albums as a quick look at my ratings sees me amassing less than 20, so I can hardly call myself an expert. One of my problems with crossover thrash is that far too often it just doesn't seem serious and feels like more of a "party" sub-genre like glam metal. Even outside of fatally unfunny shit like SOD, bands like Gama Bomb, DRI and The Accüsed sound a bit frivolous to me. Before you all call me out on this, I know that this is probably an unreasonable stance to take and you may well be justified in calling me a miserable old fucker, but it is genuinely how I feel. All that said, I am more than happy to say that Zerre have blown that stance completely out of the water with "Rotting on a Golden Throne".

One thing is for sure, these guys are deadly serious about this shit. Having begun life as a hardcore punk outfit, they definitely have the grounding in the punk side of things, bringing a serious level of hardcore aggression and vitality to proceedings. Despite their punk origins, however, they don't come up short in the metal department either with some barnstorming riffs and quite thrilling soloing from dual guitarists Dominik and Rocco. Interestingly, vocalist Nico Ziska, who was previously bassist with black metallers Der Weg einer Freiheit, is not the singer from their punk rock days, yet he still has quite an aggrressive, bellowing vocal style that may lead you to assume he had a previous grounding in hardcore. The gang backing vocals are also expertly handled and don't ever come off as lame or naff, which can't always be said about a crossover album The speed and aggression never lets up and I can imagine a pit at a Zerre show is a hell of a place to be.

The tightness of this five-man outfit is certainly impressive and the guys are evidently skilled musicians, the two leads in particular impressing with their abilities, both technically and artistically. These are genuinely some of the best, high-octane thrash riffs I have heard from outside of Chile for quite some time. The drumming on final track "No Alibi" is also some of the most Animalistic (as in the Muppet drummer) craziness I have heard on a thrash track. There isn't really a weak track on the album, but the run of four tracks from "Deception of the Weak" through to the title track is just insanely good. It is still early days yet, but I am becoming increasingly convinced that this is my all-time favourite crossover album (unless "Among the Living" counts).

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

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

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

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