Written by: Blackie Skulless
Indiana’s Wraith touched my radar back in 2018 with their simple and straightforward but hard-hitting debut album Heed The Warning. Since then, it’s been a mixed bag, as I felt their follow-up Absolute Power didn’t do much to inspire despite a slight reworking, but then Undo The Chains swung in and blew my mind a few years following, outdoing themselves. It was anybody’s guess as to how the band would fare moving forward with such a background. This brings us to Fueled By Fear, working in the same vein as the prior record. Working on a good foundation, the fourth outing sees similar songwriting tactics that made the previous record super strong. The blackened, harsher vocals remain while the cleaner, precise guitar sweeps and strong leads still take the forefront for much of this. Hooky tactics that build for nice choruses can stick in one’s head, and I’d go as far as saying a lot of these fall in the fun category (with a mean tint). Tunes like “Ice Cold Bitch,” “Code Red,” and “Merchant Of Death” are packed with pummeling drum kicks, breakneck riffs for days, and energy that’s easy to dig.
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Written by: Blackie Skulless
Once in a blue moon, I’ll come across something that I find to be decent at best, worthwhile enough to revisit, and each subsequent revisit makes me appreciate it a little more. The Chilean heavy metal outfit Shadows fit that exact situation. Without the backing familiarity of their EP, going into this blind yielded many surprises. While in the realm of “traditional metal,” I would struggle to call their debut Out For Blood traditional at all. The term fits in regards to the riff style, but there’s really a lot going on here, giving it that effect of growing more addictive every time I hit it. In a formulaic sense, this is everything I could ask for. Rough and raw rhythms with grating burrs make up an otherwise melodic foundation, backed by some thunderous basslines and eerie synths to muffle coarse edges. Emphasis on the melody, though, because almost every lead is surprisingly catchy amidst a foggy haze that matches the obvious occult-loving album art. It should come as no surprise that influences of doom metal make a pretty aggressive appearance. This is more evident in the presentation, however, not so much in the riff structure; very seldom do we find doomy riff stomps. 
Written by: Blackie Skulless
A four year gap between Enforcer releases, especially considering the controversy that followed their previous disc, really had me eager to hear what the Swedes would come up with for their sixth time around. Would it be a continuation of the cool and mature energy of the last one? Would the title Nostalgia indicate that it’s back to business as usual? The answer is a little confusing, since for the first time in the band’s history, the direction seems a little unclear. A lot is going on in this effort, so unpacking it bit by bit is the way to go. For one, stripped away is the clearer Europower tint that covered much of the previous record, letting through some rougher touches that we felt in the earlier albums. The drums specifically stand out in this realm, coating the otherwise buttery guitar noodles with a tougher backbone. Another real consistency lies in the fact that all thirteen tracks avoid the intricate, epic builds or advanced layering that made its way onto several prior releases, making for a disc that’s meant to make a bunch of quick points before moving onto the next. 
Written by: Blackie Skulless
Ever since The Affair Of The Poisons dropped in 2020, I’ve been saying Hellripper are due for an alteration in sound, as the black/thrash genre can run stale fairly quickly if action isn’t taken. Boy, did they ever deliver! Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags came in clutch, completely blowing away anything they'd done prior to this album. This isn’t to say that McBain’s brand was never good, it was great; but this was exactly what the latest recipe called for! First, it’s important to address the fact that the foundation isn’t lost at all. Longtime fans should still find the appeal; “Goat Vomit Nightmare” makes this quite obvious. However, now the blackened element is laid on in a fashion far more in line with the traditional tropes of the black metal genre. When it isn’t running in that vein, more melodic leads are clearer than they’ve ever been. Speed metal still exists, but it is no longer the backbone needed to carry the entire album. Instead, it’s a nice feature along with these other notable traits. 
Written by: Blackie Skulless
These days, thrash and traditional metal revival bands are all over the place, Sweden being a country that boasts a fair amount of each. Seldom do people like to go for that core speed metal sound without leaning towards something else, so when that’s placed before me, it gets immediate attention. Armory has been around for roughly a decade now, and their second full-length Mercurion is what got my attention with that very aspect. Being a genre that’s tough to screw up, but also tough to make an impression, I can confidently say that this is the latter. Despite incorporating breakneck riffing under an umbrella of an untampered atmosphere, Armory has a strong ear for hooks. Melody isn’t usually the focal point, but I’ll be damned if this isn’t everywhere. Perhaps the lead guitars are meant to make up for the vocals, as those carry a coarse identity with little focus on being concise. Instead, there’s a whinier element that blends with harsher attitudes, which can admittedly be tough to get behind sometimes. It isn’t a dealbreaker, though. The way they flow with the music itself more than makes up for it. 
Written by: Blackie Skulless
After actually waiting over a whole year to put out a new full-length, Haunt have come forward with album number six! Considering the rate, I have taught myself to enter new discs without any preconceived expectations, but I’m thrilled to report that Windows Of Your Heart brings forth a little more memorability. While 2021's Beautiful Distraction was still a solid disc, that was my main qualm outside of its title track. Stylistically I wouldn’t really call this one anything much different, but its execution is interesting enough. From the gate, you get a bit of a refreshed feeling from opener “Mercenaries.” The speed metal boost that’s brought forward breathes new energy, especially with the way it fills in the gaps with softer clean guitars. Similar energy exists on “No Control,” though I will admit that this one doesn’t utilize repetition as well as it could have. That isn’t utilized too heavily throughout the album as a whole, though.  Written by: Blackie Skulless
While always leaning more towards the speed metal end of things, Skull Fist would tone that back a bit on 2018’s Way Of The Road. While it didn’t stick to me as much as some of their earlier work, the latest disc Paid In Full tightens things up and slaps a sharper identity on there. Naturally, we wind up with more memorability. I’m going to preemptively see this as the point where the band fulfills a sought after “mature” sound. Filling in different pockets of the traditional metal sound now seems more important. You still get a dose of the older speed-drenched chops, but you’re also now equally likely to encounter stompier rhythms and anything in between. Vocal harmonies add life to the choruses better than any prior Skull Fist record, and there’s certainly no shortage of bassy integrity behind higher leads. In short, some of the most desired parts of the genre are found, and they blend together incredibly. 
Written by: The Administrator
When it comes the (admittedly ill-defined) bingo card of stuff that I like, Portland's own Soul Grinder ticks a lot of boxes, and have been doing so from their inception back in 2018. Their debut EP Terraflesh impressed with a uniquely unhinged energy, and follow-up LP The Prophecy of Blight proudly demonstrated a similar excitement and viscerality, albeit with enough refinement in the songwriting department to lend the band a clear maturity and sense of direction. Continuing the trend, the Queen Corrosia EP, released this May, subtly substitutes a sense of measured confidence for the sense of breakneck urgency that permeated their earlier work.While undoubtedly aggressive and rash, the title track isn't particularly unhinged--it is not restlessly scrabbling at it's own boundaries. The solo, for example, sits comfortably within the forward canter, and the vocals, while powerful, aren't chaotic to a blistering degree. As a result, this track, and those that follow, feel more settled--although in the grand scheme of exciting punky melodic thrash, Soul Grinder are still sitting comfortably at the more vigorous end of the spectrum. And when you're talking about the carnivalesque world of punky melodic thrash, that's saying a lot. Fear not: the riffs still thrash and stomp in familiar fashion, and Prilzor's vocals still shred through the instrumentation with a rabid yet gloriously dynamic freneticism. 
Written by: Blackie Skulless
While hardly ever anything overly new or standout, blackened thrash is something that manages to pull me in time and time again. South Carolina’s Demiser is a fresh act that once again reinforces my sentiment of being able to have identity without having originality. Taken formation a few years back, last year was when their first full offering hit the menu. Through The Gate Eternal is yet another record that looks the way it sounds, and I’m here for it. Forming an obvious sum of its ideas around fast riffing and fuming harsh vocals, the bottom level is business as usual. There’s a helping of classic sounding speed metal here, vulgar poetic flow there, and noodly solos that jump above an otherwise dry soundscape. What manages to sell Demiser is the ability to capture steady flow for a typically furious and fiery genre. “Deathstrike” moves into its outing leads so wonderfully from its galloping rhythm, and “Offering” manages to sneak in a bit of melodic catchiness resting in the chorus. The latter is probably the most memorable track. 
Written by: Blackie Skulless
Just before the world was taken by storm with a pandemic, Skumstrike blew my mind with their comprehensive brand of black/speed/punk. On 2020’s Execution Void EP of only fifteen minutes, they managed to sell me instantaneously. With a newer love for extreme music, I found the Canadian duo to touch close to the powerviolence side of things due to the unforgiving delivery. Now, they’ve solidified this into the form of full length with Deadly Intrusions. The debut album is every bit as intense as what we were given before, with just a slight hint of clarity amongst the extremely coarse finish. The noisy gradient over the guitars and borderline fuzzed vocal delivery is still ever so present, coating the metal oriented passages with the blackest tint. But the leads themselves stand out higher than they ever have before, be it the solos or the riffs. This is helpful, especially because some of the songs move right into the next, further bridging the already overwhelming songs. |
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