Review by Xephyr for Steel Bearing Hand - Slay in Hell (2021)

Hellish Amalgamation

I’ve come to accept that Thrash Metal is one of my weaker metal genres overall since very few modern, or even classic Thrash albums capture my attention for more than a few listens. However, it seems like when a band manages to pull in some other extreme metal influences like Death or Black Metal into the mix, it creates a bubbling, addictive concoction that I just can’t get enough of. Last year it was Witches Hammer with their 2020 debut Damnation Is My Salvation, containing a potent Death and Thrash Metal mixture with hints of Black Metal buried beneath, and this year Steel Bearing Hand offer up something that occupies a similar space while messing with the ratios just enough to create something just as robust. Slay In Hell is a ripping thrash record that comfortably stays in the classic thrash realm longer than any of its contemporaries considering its old-school production style and multitude of furious riffs, but is able to pivot incredibly hard into crushing Death and Death-Doom Metal sections without missing a single stride.

 Considering this is only their sophomore album, Steel Bearing Hand show some serious mastery with pulling other extreme metal influences into a Thrash Metal base without anything sounding out of place. Every track save for a few Death Metal sections on “Tombspawn” and “Ensanguined” are absolutely unhinged, with the opening track “Command of the Infernal Exarch” even transitioning flawlessly into a Black Metal blast-beat section that comes out of nowhere and sounds absolutely nasty. The Death Metal influence Slay In Hell demonstrates comes in a variety of forms, from “Lich Gate’s” faster take on a chunkier guitar tone, to the opener of “Tombspawn” showcasing some brutal chugs, and the beginning of “Ensanguined” seeing the band experiment with some extended, atmospheric Death Doom sections before transitioning into the full throttle closer complete with an incredible solo and slow-burn ending. The secondary extreme metal influences don’t overshadow the thrash sections though, as “Per Tenebras Ad Lucem” and “’Til Death and Beyond” have some of my favorite riffs and choruses I’ve heard all year. I’m always a fan of riffs that evolve throughout the song and “Per Tenebras Ad Lucem” illustrates this perfectly with a full 3 and a half minutes being an extended instrumental section that plays around the main riff theme and continuously builds aggression, tension, and excitement through the solo section all the way to the end.

The overall songwriting on Slay In Hell is frankly superb. It’s always a challenge to nail down an overall sound when trying to juggle so many different elements, but Steel Bearing Hand manage to nail it on a track-by-track basis as well as across the album as a whole. The way the tracks increase in length and complexity as the album goes on is very neat and something that I haven’t seen all that often outside of Progressive Metal albums. The pacing between Thrash, Death, and Death-Doom sections makes it so nothing overstays its welcome and manages to keep the listener completely engaged with ever-changing riffs and vocal styles. Lead guitarist Wyatt Burton showcases some incredible range with his vocals, helping to complete each section as it shifts between all three aforementioned genres. He’s pushed into the back of the mix and reverbed to hell and back so he doesn’t exactly steal the show like some other thrash vocalists, but all of his different vocal styles go along with the frantic pacing of the album nicely. He’s able to drop into nice, guttural Death Metal growls when he needs to, but still have the angry, grating thrash vocals that occasionally dip into Black Metal territory here and there.

Slay In Hell has turned into an album that I can’t get enough of this year, and for good reason. Steel Bearing Hand blast straight through the gates of hell with unrelenting force and demonstrating incredible dexterity in fusing some of the best aspects of more extreme metal genres into an aggressively fun package. As Thrash Metal continues to evolve and pull in more and more dark aspects from the likes of Death and Black Metal, I feel that it’s easy to get overzealous and misconstrue how and why all of these genres can work together when well written. Slay In Hell aims high but doesn’t falter under the pressure of everything it wants to cram into its runtime, even when closing with a 12 and a half minute, Death-Doom laced ender. If this is how Thrash Metal with old-school production is going to evolve, then I’m all for it.