War Curse: Eradication (Svart Records) [Paul H]
Old school thrash is one strain of our beautiful music which when done well gets me very excited and happy. The early thrash of not only the big 4 but numerous other bands as I grew up worked its magic at an early stage. Of course, if it is done poorly, then it can be shudderingly awful. So how do you square the thrash circle? Well, one way would be to listen to War Curse, whose second release Eradication is just one big circle pit of excellence from start to finish. Stomping, chugging sections intersect the classic full throttle speed and roaring but clearly decipherable vocals all garnished with some vicious, lacerating guitar work. Not only those essential ingredients, of course, because you still need some solid songwriting which War Curse have managed with ease.
The album opens with great power, Asylum is a ripping flesh type of song, and features no less than guitarist Glen Alvelais who played on Forbidden’s debut album Forbidden Evil and laid down some sterling guitar work for Testament amongst others. Serpent sees a guest appearance from Heathen sharp shooter Kragen Lum whilst the classic raging Deadly Silence is stunningly enhanced by the vocal excellence of Exhorder’s Kyle Thomas. Whilst the guests add some girth to an already meaty release, the overall delivery on Eradication is first class, and in Blaine Gordon the band possess a top-drawer vocalist, ably supported by the duelling guitars of Joshua Murphy and Justin Roth and a blisteringly tight rhythm section of Jason Viebrooks and drummer James Goetz. This is old school thrash with all the right quantities of ingredients, competently performed and perfectly executed. Magical stuff. 8/10
Three Dead Fingers: Breed Of The Devil (Bleeding Music Records) [Paul H]
34 minutes of high-quality thrash and death metal superbly composed and performed. That’s the brutal summary of this debut album from Swedish outfit Three Dead Fingers. Oh, I haven’t mentioned that these guys are all aged 13-15 years old!! Well, fuck me, there is a maturity here that thousands of bands could learn a thing or too from. Powerful, tight and heavy, and with a variety which maintains the interest, this is an album that grows the more you play it. With a bank of influences threaded through this release, it’s unsurprising to hear Testament, Slayer, Death, Arch Enemy and Sepultura in the mix although the energy and sheer enthusiasm reminds me of the early days of Bay Area titans Death Angel who were all relatively young when The Ultra Violence hit the streets in 1987. There isn’t a duff track on this release but if I’m going to point you in the direction of something really gritty, I’d point to the raging A Virus Called Life, the fiery Into The Bloodbath and the crushing thrash of Nocturnal Gates. Quite simply, this is a stunning release. Whilst some bands think that because they are young the world owes them a living; Three Dead Fingers have instead raised the middle one and produced a quite blistering debut. 8/10
Animal Drive: Back To The Roots (Frontiers Records) [Matt]
That famous repetitive chorus from The Look gets engrained even to this day so have you ever thought: "What I want is a Croatian rock band doing a cover of this and making it sound like it was written by a Sunset Strip sleaze band?" Well you're in luck because Animal Drive have released a covers album and this is the first song on the record featuring a guitar solo and the gruff vocals of frontman Dino Jelusic duetting with Rosa Laricchiuta. This screams of stopgap release which of course it is, a way of keeping the band in the consciousness while they wait to release their second album. The remaining covers on this record are a moody version of Whitesnake's Judgement Day, Monkey Business by Skid Row the song that opened Slave To The Grind and Warrant's Uncle Tom's Cabin, they are nearly all faithfully done but the heaviness is ramped up a little on all of them, except of course Monkey Business which was about that heavy to begin with. It's a covers EP done by a talented band and there's nothing much else I can say. 6/10
Hammered Overkill: New War (Self Released) [Matt]
Hammered Overkill's third album is a picture of a leather jacket, covered in an anarchy pin badge and an Iron Cross, on their website there's an Ace Of Spades and the same image. Yes folks these Finns want to be Motorhead so bad it hurts! Unfortunately they haven't quite achieved it as even though the music is rapid fire punk n roll the vocals are almost undecipherable due to the poor production and the vocalist essentially mumbles, he's trying to have the same gruff tone as Lemmy but it's far too gruff. Musically too many of the songs outstay their welcome or are just a bit too simple to keep the attention. Put on 1916 and steer clear. 4/10
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