“Just because you wore yourself down to the stubs doesn’t mean you produced anything worth a damn. It’s about what you achieve, not how much of it. Halcyon Way would seem to disagree. Having built their reputation on grit and gumption, they stand proud of their latest album, Bloody But Unbowed, a declaration to dogged persistence if there ever was one. But, does effort guarantee success?” Prog-thrash is a dangerous game.
“The best metal is not purely contemplative music, but the music of action that’s worth attention. The kinetic element of metal is present in the energetic rhythms and soaring harmonies, through the murk and the ice, in the slam and the breakdown; it’s baked into the idea of heaviness itself. This music makes those who get it move; we mosh, we furiously bang our heads, throw up the horns, or play an air instrument. The gut feeling that good metal gives me makes me need to do something: have a lively night with friends, furiously scribble a review draft, play an instrument, work out, or even just pace about and enjoy the music.” Chopping spree!
“Merciless were a cool act. They weren’t one of the best thrash acts, nor one of the most well-known of the B-tier. Yet between 1990 and 2002, they cut 4 throat-slashing records just past the heyday of thrash before calling it a career. Or so we thought. Who would have ever guessed a throwback band bassist would revive a classic sound in an attempt to relive the glory day? Certainly not I. But with former members of Deströyer 666, Centinex, and Portrait by his side, Total Destruction wants to lead you to a Dreadful Fate, whether you wanted a new take/act/genre or not.” Back from the dead and still without mercy.
“When visiting unsavory bathroom stalls, one can often find an invitation to call a phone number for a good time written on the walls. This type of advertising never worked for me, but when I see an album cover drawn by Ed Repka adorned with a hilariously muscular Predator and an album title ripped straight from Doom, I’m confident that a good time awaits me. Stall vandals lack an understanding of a good niche market. Traitor’s latest record, Knee-Deep in the Dead, does not.” Traitor’s Great.
“I guess it’s only fitting that I’d follow up a review of the newest Machine Head record with another long-lost thrash band. This time, it’s a German outfit that hit the scene in 1986 and has more thrash metal cred than the thrash/groove/rap-metal outfit from Oakland, CA. Even if no one has any idea who they are. Accuser’s first two records, 1987’s The Conviction and 1989’s Who Dominates Who?, are underrated thrash metal classics. The latter, in particular, is a thrashpiece that combines the technicality of Testament and Annihilator with Kreator, Metallica, and Destruction. But after 1987, the band swan-dived straight into the groove-metal pavement for the next four releases. With this nightmarish Pantera-like tailspin finally coming to a halt after Taken by the Throat. And, to no one’s surprise, the band was no more.” Thrash through the ages.
“You can accuse me of being a jaded, cynical bastard and I wouldn’t disagree, but I fucking love thrash so the genre’s often stagnant modern scene leaves me underwhelmed. So can the firebrands of Perpetratör help restore the faith or are they merely hurtling towards a copyright lawsuit?” Rise from your grave!
“Kobra and the Lotus is a Canadian melodic power band that first came onto my radar in 2012 with their self-titled debut. Fronted by the actually-legally-named Kobra Paige, the band’s third LP, Prevail I, is on Napalm Records, after releasing the debut on Spinefarm, and 2014’s High Priestess on Titan Music. Prevail I is, apparently, the first of two albums which will be released in quick succession, and it’s being marketed as produced by the guy who produced Amaranthe’s records, with a debut single squarely marketed at people who like Delain. Since the band’s debut was a solid power metal album, this strategy raises a question for me: three full-lengths (and three labels) into this whole experiment of being named Kobra, how’s the whole thing going?” That’s a very personal question.
“Thrash has deflowered many a metal virgin over the years, myself included. As such, regardless of the modern state of the thrash metal scene, it’s easy to fall back into cozy nostalgia, despite my belief that the majority of thrash bands are caught in a perpetual loop of attempting to rehash the genre’s past glories and ’80s heyday rather than forging their own path of destruction. Pulling strands from the much pillaged Bay Area thrash scene of the ’80s, spiked with whiffs of old school Slayer and Destruction, Distillator go about their business with minimum fuss and plenty of throwback thrash attitude and tightly executed chops.” Distillation was never this heavy.
“Formed in 2000, this quartet mulled about in obscurity for years, releasing only a demo and an EP before their self-titled debut in 2013. Sophomore LP Black Pyres shows these thrashers continuing to cook up Destruction riffs filtered through the blackened savagery of fellow Swedes Nifelheim.” File under: The Revenge of Black Phillip.
“In a dimly lit basement sits an easel covered by a dust-kissed veil. Beneath it reveals a portrait illustrating denim-clad, leonine-tousled men. Their faces are sunken and scored, their skin sallow and mottled. Whilst the painting’s subjects may be cruelled by time, the actual bands portrayed here are instead brimming with life, churning out quality music that belies their age.” The olde can still be bold(e).
