Armory: The Search (High Roller Records)
Another band whose sophomore album has reached us. Gothenburg thrashers Armory (not to be confused with the melodic power metal of the American outfit or the many others of the same name) didn’t set the world alight with their first release, 2016’s World Peace … Cosmic War, an album that was so old school that I said at the time ‘it takes you right back to the mid-1980s and the overlap with the formative thrash of Metallica circa Kill Em All, Slayer’s Show No Mercy and the power metal of Priest, Accept, Sacred Reich and Helloween’. Well, album number two doesn’t change the style, pace of frenzy that the debut belched up in our faces. 40 minutes of reasonable thrash, which at times appears to be so fast that it’s almost out of control. How these guys keep time when playing live I don’t know. Anyway, if you like your thrash at breakneck speed The Search should keep you reasonably happy. There are pulverising riffs, cocaine fuelled drumming and the improved vocals of Konstapel P, who has limited the shrieks which marred the debut release for me. It won’t make my top 50 this year, but The Search is an improvement on the debut. 7/10
Extremity: Coffin Birth (20 Buck Spin)
Hailing from Oakland, California, Extremity is a three-piece death metal band, made up of Aesop Dekker on drums, Marissa Martinez Hoadley on guitar and vocals and Shelby Lerno on guitar and vocals. Coffin Birth is their debut album, following 2017’s ridiculously titled EP Extremely Fucking Dead. The band have nailed their colours firmly to the death metal mast. This is what they like … and this is what they play. Growling vocals, fast-paced guitar and drumming, themes of death and war and general brutality are all packaged into a 40-minute onslaught which is of sufficient quality to attract the interest and hold it for more than two minutes. The anti-religion themes are inevitable, with tracks such as For Want Of A Nail and Like Father Like Son leaving little to the imagination. Thunderously heavy in parts, Coffin Birth follows the death metal blueprint, adds originality in places and leaves you satisfied. A pleasing debut. 7/10
Heads For The Dead: Serpent’s Curse (Transcending Obscurity Records)
The opening riffs of this debut release leave you in little doubt that this will be one fantastic album. And so it proved. The combined experience of Revel In Flesh’s Ralf Hauber and Wombbath/Ursinne’s Jonny Pettersson have created an absolute beast of a debut. Erik Bevenrud’s powerhouse drumming is insanely ferocious throughout, underpinning 36 minutes of some of the most aggressive and laceratingly punishing death metal of 2018. The brutal pounding of the opening title track serves only as a warning of what is to come.
There is scarcely room to breath between tracks, the intensity never drops and at times the power is such that I feared the speaker would explore. Combining short, sharp tracks such as Heads For The Dead and Post Mortem Suffering with longer, more malevolent songs like the brooding menace of Deep Below, this is an album of extreme metal with a death and horror theme that not only sets but clears the bar. 8/10
Sathanas: Necrohymns (Transcending Obscurity Records)
Formed way back in 1988, it’s been a long ride for New Brighton PA trio Sathanas. I must admit I was only vaguely aware of them prior to this album but surprised to discover a huge back catalogue and history. Necrohymns is their 10th full release amidst several live/split and group EPs. Unsurprisingly, the band focus their content and topics on the horned one down below; this ain’t the Stryper appreciation club that’s for sure! At The Left Hand Of Satan and Throne Of Satan leave nothing to the imagination and at 32 minutes it isn’t the longest player in the world, which can sometimes be a very good thing. Necrohymns does exactly what you would expect. It’s raucous, gnarly and sinister and the three members, Paul Tucker, Bill Davidson and Jim Strauss deliver an 80s style black metal album with some style. There’s little to fault on an album that has huge nods to Venom, Bathory, Sodom, Celtic Frost and Possessed. Once more the devil is getting the best tuneage. 7/10
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