Eugenic Death – Under the Knife (Review)

Eugenic Death are a thrash metal band from the US and this is their second album.

Here we have 40 minutes of uncompromising old-school thrash metal. Prepare to bang your head furiously.

Straight from the start it’s clear that Eugenic Death know what they’re doing. Riffs piled upon riffs piled upon riffs hit you hard. Good riffs too. As well as the usual thrash influences, I detect a lesser-found Megadeth influence, which is nice to hear. Add to this some harsh Testament/Sepultura-ish vocals, and you have a solid base for the band to operate from.

Opening strongly with Indoctrinate, this is the band’s longest song on here and sets the scene nicely. The Devils Tower boasts some especially storming riffs around halfway-ish through, with some great soloing too later on. The title track ends the album in style.

The songs are typically all on the longer side, showing that Eugenic Death like to explore where their thrash sound takes them. This is very much in the 80s spirit, (which the band clearly worship), and allows them to experiment with different facets of thrash metal, (and sometimes non-thrash, such as the quite unexpected folk stylings of Hara Shiva).

The album has a crisp, crunchy, punchy sound, and overall Under the Knife is an enjoyable and satisfying slice of old-school thrash metal. Check it out.