“The late 90s may have seen Sadus wandering too deep into (then) modern, groovy, and progressive sounds, and the 2006 offering Out for Blood leaning further into weird synth intros, drop-tuned guitars, thrash heresy. But, at the core of their most beloved outings, the backbone of Sadus was always a neck-snapping, zig-zag riffcraft.” Unsung but vicious.
“Emerging as an underdog in the budding Indian metal scene, upstart thrashers Kill the King come armed and ready to unleash a self-titled, self-released debut thrash platter. Formed in 2016, Kill the King have done the hard yards toiling in the underground, sharpening their tools in readiness for the five-piece outfit to put their skills to practice and rumble with the big dogs of the modern thrash scene. It certainly isn’t easy to stand out in the crowded field of modern thrash, a scene that splinters off into various offshoots such as retro thrash, blackened thrash, death-thrash and modern thrash territory.” Rabid Regicide.
“Swedish upstarts Eternal Evil seek to plant their flag along the spectrum of modern thrash, a genre that has become a surprise hot-button issue around the AMG universe. Their 2021 debut album The Warrior’s Awakening…Brings the Unholy Slaughter! garnered a less than enthusiastic reaction from our resident pointy-ear Felagund, citing a sacrifice of “essential memorability for monotonous haste”. Apparently undeterred, the Stockholm quartet have swapped out their battle axes for a box of tapered candles and a nice hooded robe and unleashed a new platter of blackened thrash, The Gates Beyond Mortality.” Evil never dies.
“When the Elder Gods finally turn their dread gaze on this flake of cosmic dandruff, Xoth will be there to pass out beers. “Party Lovecraft” is a tricky vibe to nail and also possibly an oxymoron, but this Seattle tech/thrash/black/melodeath/whatever act makes it their own. Over the course of two excellent albums, Invasion of the Tentacube and Interdimensional Invocations, Xoth filled a void that only Xoth knew was there. Few who listen can resist their charms, and now the band drops third long-player Exogalactic.” X marks the Xoth.
“I’d be lying if War Curse’s new offering didn’t take me aback. It is so different from anything they’ve done before that it took me a few spins to grasp. Like many bands before them, Confession will either be a stroke of genius or their weakest album.” Curse of evolution.
“The “for fans of” line in any given promo is a true test of character. While most bands crank out their faves, there are intriguing blends that grab attention. Most of these are disappointments, often running the gamut of extreme metal buzzwords only to be the latest act to sound exactly like In Flames, but there are others whose combinations are pretty accurate, like the tantalizing combination that the California-based Owdwyr boasts in its debut Receptor: from Car Bomb, Human Remains, and Fleshgod Apocalypse to composers like Bach, Allan Holdsworth, and Heitor Villa-Lobos. In essence, Owdwyr may be genius or not, but this trio is always batshit crazy.” Owdwyr812.
“Long Island’s Executioner also thinks El Cuervo is an idiot as they reveal their debut album, False Idols. An album that doesn’t give two fucks about being unique, trendy, or even famous. False Idols feels like a band playing a gig at the bar down the street. There’s no talking to the crowd, complete with short interludes for other band members to switch guitars or chug Jager. False Idols ain’t gonna win any awards for originality or change the face of the scene, but that’s not its purpose. This is how thrash should sound.” High speed or die.
When 2 months of Filter crud collects, things get sticky. We got our hands dirty in July and August so you could have nice, fancy fingernails.
“Last time we met Bekor Qilish, the one-man show was the thrashened epitome of what we like to call “Voidhanger-core:” black metal with a penchant for riffs, wonky rhythms, and a healthy slathering of dissonance. Honing in on a completely alien sound tossed with reckless abandon and a healthy amount of lighthearted fun, Throes of Death from the Dreamed Nihilism nonetheless suffered from a lack of surefire direction, just kinda bouncing around wonky dissonance and neat riffs for the hell of it. Over a year later, we are greeted with its follow-up, The Flesh of a New God.” Flesh is a gift.
“For all the hype, Nervosa has never blown me away. With each release, I hope for that breakout record that’ll drop me to my knees, but instead, they’ve established a catalog of solid releases with a handful of stellar pieces. For a minute, I was intrigued by the release of 2021’s Perpetual Chaos because the band picked up a new vocalist. In doing so, I hoped that it would be that great album, but it never panned out. This time around, founding guitarist Prika Amaral takes to the stage and lends her growls and barks to Jailbreak.” Jailbait.
