![Vindicator – Communal Decay [Things You Might Have Missed 2021]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/vindicator_communal-decay.jpg.webp)
“For my money, Vindicator was always underrated re-thrash, notwithstanding my concern about their collective understanding of monetary policy. Nearly 10 years later, the brothers Stown (Vic on guitars and vox and Jesse on drums) have reunited to bring us a new slab of post-Bay Area re-thrash called Communal Decay. What ensues is not surprising, but it’s teeming with old school riffing and features a short and sweet 31-minute runtime.” Did you miss it? We sure as hell did.
“The almighty riff. While I’m not entirely convinced of its importance, masochists like Diabolus in Muzaka and Ferrous Beuller spend their days raking the dregs of the Skull Pit’s outer limits in the vain hopes of discovering it laying amid the rusty needles of tech-death or beneath the gore and grime of OSDM, only to return empty-handed and receive yet another beating from the all-knowing ape. While the foundation of countless styles of metal, it’s a frail thing, as its weak implementation or absence can violently derail a song or an album. Worshipers of the almighty and ever-elusive riff, does The Day of the Beast succeed or will they crash and burn with the hordes of Nifelheim-copycats?” Nice to eat you.
“Transilvania is a black/thrash metal quartet from Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria, having released a full-length, a split, and an EP since its 2014 or 2010 inception. The project was officially founded in 2010 as Epidermis, changing its name to Old Skull and then to Transilvania in 2014.” Bad fangover.
“Deströyer 666 and Hellripper opened my eyes to the sheer energy and surprising hooks which can be present when linked with black metal, while the likes of early Slayer overlapped with an old favorite in classic metal. I saw more clearly the interconnected map of styles in the ’80s and was lured in with the treats of genres with which I was better accustomed. The prospect of a new blackened thrash release in the promo bin was therefore exciting and so it was that I turned to New Jersey’s Anticosm and their third full-length entitled The Call of the Void.” Jersey boys in the void.
“In the realm of blackened thrash, Frosthelm are a unique breed. While many bands of this style are content in simply carrying the torch of Venom or adding a slightly blackened edge to a thrash metal template, this North Dakota group instead swirl together Dissection-style meloblack and crunchy Bay Area thrash into a blizzard of orgasmic glee.” When victory is death.
“I fucking love black-thrash, and if you don’t then I’m sorry about your inferior taste. My latest sample of the genre comes from Frosthelm, hailing from Minot, North Dakota of all places (coincidentally the same town as Ghost Bath – in case anyone still thought they were Chinese). Frosthelm are a quartet of self-confessed Dungeons & Dragons nerds who claim influences as broad as Metallica, Naglfar, and Dissection.” Put some Dakota in your dungeon and see how that suits ya!
