Bloodletter are a thrash metal band from the US and this is their fourth album.
Leave the Light Behind contains 35 minutes of well-written melodic thrash metal. Bloodletter bring something to thrash that I haven’t heard in ages – pure, unadulterated quality craftsmanship. I normally pass on thrash metal these days, but this one wouldn’t let me go. Continue reading “Bloodletter – Leave the Light Behind (Review)”
Sarcator are a Swedish thrash metal band and this is their third album.
Sarcator play a black/death-influenced style of thrash metal, and Swarming Angels & Flies contains 44 minutes of material. Think of a blend of early-period old-school metal in the form of bands such as Kreator, Sarcófago, Sodom, and Morbid Angel, and then blend this with more contemporary acts like Hellripper, Devastator, and Midnight, and you’ll be on the right lines. You can throw in some other refences too at various points, but ultimately, despite the ancient style that underpins this album, it’s remarkably fun and fresh sounding. Continue reading “Sarcator – Swarming Angels & Flies (Review)”
This is a split between two US black metal bands, Lust Hag and Reaping Fields.
NEW LUST HAG! ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! I dunno what it is with Lust Hag, but I just can’t get enough. Actually, I know exactly what it is – it’s just absolutely killer black metal. This is a split though, and Reaping Fields, as we’ll see, are a revelation. Continue reading “Lust Hag/Reaping Fields – Prayers Unanswered – Split (Review)”
This is the second album from UK black/thrash metallers Devastator.
Conjurers of Cruelty boasts 51 minutes of material, (44 without the two bonus tracks), delivering a feast of filthy riffs, corroded teeth, and overgrown claws. Continue reading “Devastator – Conjurers of Cruelty (Review)”
This is the thid album from US black ‘n’ roll band Funeral Chic.
Following on from 2018’s Superstition, Roman Candle brings us a different band with a different sound. With ten tracks and a duration of 36 minutes, the album has less songs than Superstition, but is four minutes longer. Continue reading “Funeral Chic – Roman Candle (Review)”
Hellripper is a one-man black/speed metal band from the UK.
Complete and Total Fucking Mayhem is a compilation of all of the Hellripper work so far. This includes The Manifestation of Evil, a split with Batsheva, a three-way split with Acid Cross and Kreigg, and finally a split with Fetid Zombie called Prophecies of Ruin. All tracks have been remastered for this release. Continue reading “Hellripper – Complete and Total Fucking Mayhem (Review)”
Hellripper is a one-man Black Metal band from Scotland and this is his first release.
If you’re anything like me, when you think of one-man Black Metal bands you tend to think of the longer, darker end of the Black Metal spectrum; crazed loners creating malevolent art that sprawls aeons of textured oblivion.
What you probably don’t think of is raw, underground, Speed Metal infused Black Metal. This entire EP is shorter than the average one-man Black Metal project’s song length.
This is ugly and primitive but not without character. The riffs have attitude and it’s like a Blackened Motörhead mixed with Impaled Nazarene or Audiopain and a sprinkling of early Kreator.
The songs are good, much better than you might think. The more I listen to it the more I think of a Blackened version of Kreator, when they first started off and were all spikes and attitude. Hellripper are cut from the same bloody cloth.
Short, loose and surprisingly catchy, Hellripper have produced an enjoyable ride through the worst part of town.
Listen loud.
Wonderbox Metal 