“We don’t hear a lot of Spanish in my part of Ontario, and I’d think there’d be even less in Franco-centric Quebec, where Anonymus hails from. They’ve been at this thrash metal thing since 1989 and have written entire albums in English and French. With La Bestia, they’re officially a trilingual thrash troupe.” Plenty of tongue.
“It never ceases to amaze me how many metal bands can continue to release high quality material so late in their careers. This year alone has seen terrific releases from both Vulcano and Sinister, for instance, and I’ll now be adding Witches to this list as well. Admittedly, I’d never even heard of this group until AMG Himself recommended I give them a try, a decision I’ve become quite happy with over the past week.” Run for covens.
“At last week’s regular AMG staff shaming re-education session, TheKenWord and I stood in the center of the writers’ circle and explained that our problem with thrash, despite all the riffage, had always been the vocals. Our Steely overseer prescribed a crash course in early Destruction, with the more unusual vocal delivery of Marcel Schirmer, aka Schmier. Having taken my medicine—and enjoyed both Infernal Overkill and Eternal Devastation, it should be said—I was stoked to find that the thrash promo I’d picked up on a whim actually included at least one member of Destruction.” A scorching case of Gomorra.
“Surgical Strike had its beginnings in 1993 and put out a couple of demos before going on hiatus for nearly twenty years. Reforming in 2014 with vocalist Jens Albert as the lone link to its past, the band released an EP in 2016 and now present their first official entry into the German thrash canon. And a solid entry it is.” Speed sickens.
“Warsenal is a throwback speed trio hailing from Canada, and much like their countrymen Razor, they want to bring the iron hammer down on you with merciless aggression and bestial wengeance. Their sophomore outing is speed for speed sake, with everything carefully curated to sound like it was belched out between the years 1983 – 1986.” Speed thrills.
“What am I supposed to do if I can’t look at a band’s country of origin and judge them accordingly? What the fuck am I supposed to do as a reviewer if I can’t take one of my Sodom reviews, copy-and-paste it into the blog, and change the band name and album title? Don’t worry, dear reader. It’s no problem. I’ll, instead, steal some adjectives from Steel‘s Death Angel reviews and verbiage from AMG‘s Iced Earth ones to pen my writeup of The Final Divide. That’ll work.” Plague of plagiarism.
“As a rowdy teen thrashard, Destruction was my favorite part of the 80s Germanic thrash wave, for a while anyhow. On seminal early albums like Infernal Overkill and Eternal Devastation, their oddball sound and penchant for quirky but biting riffs set them apart from and above fellow countrymen Sodom and Kreator. After 1987s Release From Agony however, things went off the rails for the band and they weren’t able to get their heads straight until 2000. Their second act has been solid if inconsistent, with some albums feeling rushed and half-baked. That brings us to their 14th thrash platter, Born to Perish.” Thrash never dies.
“Like father, like son, they say. Hatriot was the side project of Steve “Zetro” Souza of Exodus fame and his sons Cody, who handled bass duties, and Nick, who manned the kit. Their 2013 debut Heroes of Origin was a rip-roaring dose of classic thrash, and though 2014s Dawn of the New Centurion felt like a drop off, it was still a respectable slice of speed. The band’s been silent since then, but From Days Unto Darkness sees the Souza clan return sans dad, with Cody picking up vocal duties.” Thrash is thicker than blood.
“Germany’s Exumer has been around since the 80s themselves, and they have a pretty good grasp on what it takes to craft a successful slab o’ thrash. I still enjoy their Possessed By Fire debut all these years later, and 2016s The Raging Tides had it share of sweet aggression despite some shortcomings. Now they’ve come back to bludgeon with their fifth album, Hostile Defiance, and lo and behold, all the essentials rules are followed and their mosh ducks are in a neat row.” Hostile work environment.
“The word “emerge” comes with sinister connotations. Think about where things emerge from: the fog, underneath things, out of the shadows and darkness. For Philadelphia quartet Basilysk, their debut full-length comes after almost a decade of honing their craft in obscurity with a series of demos.” Does Emergence find this independent Philly act emerging from the crowd?
