“Cruel Force released two back-to-back albums in 2010 and 2011, both showcasing a blackened thrash style—and both pretty awesome—but after a decade’s hiatus, the band apparently felt the need for speed, morphing into more of a traditional US-style speed-infused heavy metal project a la Jag Panzer or Omen.” Wiolence and Cruel Force.
“The band’s 2015 debut record, The Future Is Now, is a predictable platter of one-dimensional black/thrash riffs with gravelly vocals and the occasional Slayer pig squeal. That album flowed like one thirty-eight-minute track, barely allowing you to process a song before throwing you into the next. In general, the album is standard-fare black/thrash. Eight years later, the band returns with a new outing in the form of Visions of a Parallel World. But, this time, the production is far superior to its predecessor. The rawness is still there, the vocals are lower in the mix, the guitars rule the roost, and the dynamics are pleasing to the ear. The only thing that remains is the songwriting.” Speed kills ladies of the evening.
“Before we dive headfirst into today’s induction, I want to address the impressively large, off-salmon-colored pachyderm that’s currently occupying a large space in the corner of the room. Black metal, especially in the late nineties and early 2000s, wasn’t all that terrifying, despite what their chief songwriters would have you believe. Behind all the church arsons, bullshit posturing, literal back-stabbing, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and murder, the music didn’t even come close to attaining a faint whiff of what they were trying to achieve aesthetically.” And then, transformation.
“For me, 2022 has been chock-full of highly anticipated albums from returning favorites, so it’s only fitting that my last review of the year should be more of the same. Three years ago, I told you not to miss Beyond the Wall of Desolation, the debut full-length from Massachusetts band High Command and late addition to my year-end list. When I first heard that record, I immediately fell in love with the band’s epic, fantasy-themed crossover thrash and was impressed by the way they were able to take a bunch of old-school, typically aggro styles and mash them together into something oozing with grandeur.” Command to highly overrate.
“Knocking about since 2008, Finland’s Serpent Ascending is the solo handiwork of Slugathor bassist Jarno Nurmi, formerly of Desecresy and Nerlich also. It wasn’t until 2016 that Nurmi released this project’s full-length debut, Aṇaṅku. A slab of blackened death metal in the vein of Desecresy and with more than a little Cruciamentum in the mix, Aṇaṅku packed a decent punch into its pleasingly trim 30-minute run. Another six years slithered by before the reptile resumed its climb to the surface, appearing now for second full-length outing Hyperborean Folklore.” Snakes on a fjord.
“Here’s an interesting release for you. The Troops of Doom (likely named for the classic Sepultura song) are a new Brazilan thrash/kinda-sorta death metal act, having only formed in 2020. Despite the project’s relative youth, the various members are grizzled scene vets with years spent in many other metal acts. On their Antichrist Reborn debut, they offer an interesting blend of classic thrash and death influences full of righteous nods to the big names that influenced them. The core sound is very much in line with early Sepultura material like Schizophrenia and Beneath the Remains, but vintage Slayer riffs percolate throughout and inform the writing, and the band’s deep Celtic Frost appreciation also becomes apparent on several tracks.” Old dogs, nasty bites.
“Some things enter human culture and just don’t leave. What could be a better example than the epic fantasy spearheaded (in the West) by J.R.R Tolkien, spawning countless other artworks and fuelling many an obsession to this day. Similarly, the rise of solo projects within black metal is seemingly indefatigable. Cirkeln combines these two strands—the mainstream and the counter-culture—through a discography inspired by genre heavyweights of each. Tolkien and Moorcock on the one hand, Celtic Frost and Bathory on the other.” Ring of sour.
“Norway’s Deathhammer probably need no introduction as they’ve achieved some notoriety by releasing a string of full-lengths, demos, EPs, and splits—with some form of release almost every single year—since their formation back in 2005. My personal experience with the band is fairly limited, but I do own 2015’s Evil Power and consider it to be a good-to-very good example of the early, chaotic thrash sound. I skipped 2018’s Chained to Hell despite its stellar artwork, but let’s see what Deathhammer sounds like in 2022.” Hammer will hurt them.
“Burning Tongue is a quartet from New York, citing bands like Trap Them, His Hero is Gone, Bathory, and Celtic Frost as influences. Debut full-length Prisoner’s Cinema is their first release in eight years, since EP Blackest. At heart a hardcore punk band, these New Yorkers spew nihilistic sermons with fervor and intensity, dragging in influences of grind and death metal for a foray whose comparison feels a tad like a more hardcore-influenced Nails or Great American Ghost minus the deathcore.” Criminal entertainment.
“It’s no secret that I like Mayhem. Since Slayer disbanded, they’re my favorite active metal band. Each of their “eras” has offered something unique, special, memorable, and great. I’ve been listening to the legendary Deathcrush a lot lately, and I’ve never found anything quite like it. Imagine my surprise, then, when I learned that Norway’s Order existed and featured Manheim (drums on Deathcrush) and Messiah (some vocals on Deathcrush).” Crushing.
