Merciless

Hazzerd – Delirium Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on January 23, 2020 in 2020, Canadian Metal, M-Theory Audio, Reviews, Thrash Metal, 19 comments

“While I relish the disgusting lurch and crawl of Asphyx and Autopsy, I’ve never been able to shake my love of blistering, thrashing metal. Reign in Blood kicked down the door, and through that door has charged classics like Slaughter’s Strappado, Merciless’ The Awakening, and Morbid Priest’s Spectrum of Death into my iron heart and album collection. I can’t get enough of the stuff, but after listening to …And Justice for All again, I rediscovered my enjoyment of that vein of thrash as well – Metallica was my gateway into metal, after all. Hazzerd is a relatively young Canadian band who play this second type of thrash.” Speed Hazzerds ahead.

Oath of Cruelty – Summary Execution at Dawn Review

By Mark Z. on December 8, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Dark Descent Records, Death Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 14 comments

“Oath of Cruelty are a name I’ve been familiar with for a while even if their output thus far has been extremely limited. Formed in 2010, this Texas trio play a combination of death and thrash metal that first came to my attention with 2014’s lean and mean Hellish Decimation EP. Consisting of just two tracks, Decimation seemed to show Cruelty had a mastery of their style, with the EP’s five minute runtime being filled with absolutely fierce riffing and crunchy rhythmic breaks that made it impossible not to bang your head.” Obsessed by cruelty.

Maligner – Attraction to Annihilation Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on August 22, 2018 in 2018, Blood Harvest Records, Death Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 44 comments

“While the cliché has been beaten into the dust, came again, and was beaten further until it returned unto the dust, let me use it just one more time: death-thrash is like pizza – even when it’s not great, it’s still good. This little corner of the metalverse has given me the two things I crave when listening to metal – riffs and energy – in spades, clubs, hearts, and diamonds.” Comes with ER included!

Morgengrau – Blood Oracle Review

By Ferrous Beuller on June 25, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Death Metal, Reviews, Unspeakable Axe Records, Death Metal, 27 comments

“Hailing from Austin, Texas, Morgengrau are another act to tow the classic death metal line, and while they don’t attempt to break boundaries per se, they do affect a few refreshing accents seemingly lost to the annals of death metal history, and second album, Blood Oracle, is all the more coherent for them.” Old death and blood magic.

Slaughterer – Conjurer of Realities [Things You Might Have Missed 2017)

By Diabolus in Muzaka on December 18, 2017 in 2017, Death Metal, German Metal, Things You MIght Have Missed 2017, Thrash Metal, Via Nocturna, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 25 comments

“Despite being a huge fan of death-thrash, I wind up feeling and sounding more like a curmudgeonly Goldilocks when I write about the stuff. It’s not fast enough, it’s not thrashy enough, it’s not death-y enough, there aren’t enough of those devastating Slayer-style slowdowns, and on and on ad infinitum. Naturally, I began to worry: was it me? Have I outgrown death-thrash?” No one outgrows death-thrash until death.

Phylactery – Necromancy Enthroned Review

By Mark Z. on August 16, 2017 in 2017, Canadian Metal, Death Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Unspeakable Axe Records, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 41 comments

“I won’t mince words: Necromancy Enthroned is the riffiest album I’ve ever heard. This album makes Master of Puppets look like Music for Airports. This album makes Sodom look like Sunn O))). This album is the reason why my socks remain unfolded while I stand over my bed playing air guitar.” The socks have been rocked.

Mortuary – Nothingless than Nothingness Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on January 28, 2016 in 2016, French Metal, Goregeous Productions, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Death Metal, 26 comments

“In Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols, there’s a section called Skirmishes of an Untimely Man. In France’s metal scene, there’s a group called Mortuary whose career may as well have been called Expeditions of an Untimely Band. Unleashing their first full-length in 1996, already eight years old as a band, their deathy and thrashy style was long since out of vogue and death metal had moved on to graze in different pastures. They also managed to release a whopping four whole full-length records in the span of twenty-five years.” The slow knife cuts the deepest.