“I remember being blown away by the badassery that is 2007’s Sons of the Jackal. Whenever I find myself thinking back on that album, I typically spend a week with it on repeat. But, no matter how old these gents get, they never soften. And this year’s Poison Chalice once again proves that there’s no room for posers, and please keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle at all times.” Damned if you don’t.
“When you listen to Demiricous’ first two records, they clearly didn’t know what sound, style, or production they wanted. One is more At the Gatesy and relatively dynamic in the mix. The other is a Hatesphere punishment that makes your ears scream in pain. Back in the saddle, Demiricous has brought all their death/thrash influences together on Chaotic Lethal.” Chaotic good or chaotic bad?
Originally formed by two members of Asphyx when their band went on hiatus, Soulburn resurfaced under their original moniker in 2014, after a hiatus of their own and a stint carrying the name To The Gallows during which Rogga Johanssen briefly joined the line-up. Nowadays, the cast still includes founding member Eric Daniels, as well as Legion of the Damned guitarist Twan van Geel and Graceless members Remco Kreft and Marc Verhaar. On paper, a team like this should be able to make a pretty killer record.” Death reclamation.
“Let’s get this out of the way up front: despite being named after Onset of Putrefaction’s opening track, Foul Body Autopsy doesn’t really sound much like Necrophagist. If you came hoping for a whirlwind of brutal neoclassical tech death, you’re better off reading one of Kronos’ reviews; for the rest of us, slightly techy melodic death metal is what’s on the operating table today.” Bone Saw is ready!
“There’s Something Rotten… in the State of Denmark, I believe it’s the stench of death! Following on from Sense of Darkness, and still under the watchful eye of Germany’s dealers of hard and heavy (Massacre Records), Illdisposed are back with the 12th full-length installment in their mighty discography. And true to form it’s a mash-up of artfully used metalcore riffing and modern thrash with some head-bangs towards Legion of the Damned, bound together with a big Parasite Inc. melo-death colored ribbon that grasps furiously at melody while trying its utmost to give you a brutal Pantera-style wedgie.” If Pantera wants to give you a wedgie, you let them!
“2014 is here and it’s time for the Metal Show to begin anew! And what better way to raise the curtain on the sixth year of AMG than with… retread thrash! Yes, yes, you’ve all had your fill of thrash, re-thrash, retro-thrash and frash, but as long as bands keep spitting this stuff out, we in the reviewing biz have a duty to review it… and it’s a BIG duty!” When the call of duty is heard, Steel Druhm jumps in the skull tank and reviews thrash metal from the Netherlands. Thank him for his service.
We haven’t had any old school Swedish death for awhile, so here’s some of that! Nominon does that beloved, old school style, but with much more thrashing, crashing, bashing and harassing. It sure is speedy, but is it good?
An extreme metal super-group from down under? Intriguing eh mates? Assaulter is a slightly blackened thrash band featuring S. Berserker, formerly of Destroyer 666 on guitar, bass and vocals and Peter Hunt, formerly of Razor of Occam on drums. For the Australian extreme metal scene that’s pretty super indeed. Boundless is their second album under this moniker and it’s a hefty slice of good old fashioned thrashing lunacy with enough black metal and Middle Eastern influences to make them stand out from the likes of Legion of the Damned and their modern thrash brethren. After never hearing of these guys before, this impressed me enough that I felt compelled to track down the debut as well and I feel on solid ground saying they’re onto something here sound wise. It’s not reinventing the blackened thrash wheel or doing anything truly revolutionary but this is still some solidly ugly, brutal stuff and well executed at that.
This will be a pretty short review and here’s why. I just can’t find all that much to say about these blokes from England. Dreams of Reality is the debut full length by Eradication and they traffic in slick, thrashy melodic death metal with some metalcore elements stirred in (mainly the vocals) and of course, they co-opt the Gothenburg melo-death metal sound and style for all its worth. We’ve all heard this style done about a gazillion times already by any number of good, bad and really shitty bands. Since these guys, although talented, bring nothing new to the long running Gothenburg party, this isn’t the type review that cries out for extended and thoughtful prose.
Steel Druhm is a famously soft touch for a mean and angry thrash album. Because of this well know thrash predilection, I’ve celebrated the entire catalogue of Dutch death thrashers Legion of the Damned because these guys can really bring the pain. Over four albums, LOTD (formerly known as Occult) have consistently crafted intense, punishing thrash in the vein of old Slayer and Sodom mixed with the more modern death metal approach of bands like The Crown. They certainly aren’t reinventing the thrash metal genre in any way but they always produced quality material. Happily for thrash mavens, after a three year hiatus they manage to keep the spiked ball rolling with Descent Into Chaos and give yet another lesson in violence and aggressive thrashality.
