Forgery - Hellbringer

Australian Thrash Metal, what's not to love about it? Since the 80's we've been blessed with a ton of great bands (Slaughter Lord, Mortal Sin, Armoured Angel, Addictive, Destroyer 666, Grenade and Gospel of the Horns to name a few.)from this wonderful land down under. Forgery are one such Australian Thrash band, hailing from Canberra these 3 young men proudly wear their influences on their sleeve (there's obvious Sodom and Venom influences to be found all over the place here) and are here to do one thing, and that thing is; THRASH!

The EP kicks off with a haunting intro that leads into the ripping title track which thrashes without mercy and lets you know you're in for one hell of a neck-snapping listen. The best way to describe the sound on this EP is Venom jamming on Whiplash songs with Tom Angelripper on vocals (The bassist/vocalist, sounds a LOT like Onkel Tom).

The riffs in every song simply slay and are varied enough to keep you from getting bored. The guitar tone is violent and evil which fits in perfectly with pounding drums and thumping bass (that you can actually hear!). What you are in for here is a thrash assault that does not let up until these boys are done.

My personal favourite track on Hellbringer is "Spawns of the Void" which builds up with a Metallica-esque intro that leads into an evil sounding mid-paced thrasher. It is hard to choose a stand-out track on such a consistant EP, though.

Watch out for these guys, true THRASH METAL runs in their blood. Posers need not apply.

4/5

Support the band and buy this EP by messaging them over myspace at www.myspace.com/forgerythrash or emailing them at forgery101@hotmail.com.

Simplistic Genocide - Hazardous Thrash

Simplistic Genocide are a Thrash Metal band hailing from Connecticut USA. I don't know much else about them aside from the fact this is their first demo and it shows a lot of potential, under the low quality production and obvious DIY attitude.

The intro and opening track set the mood quite well and you know right from the get-go that you're in for some straight up, punky as fuck Thrash Metal. The production quality is pretty bad, but you can still hear enough of what's going on to know what these guys are all about, and it adds a touch of personality to the music. Not that this group need any more personality added, they have great charisma.

While the production may be low-fi, you can still here all the instruments (yes, even the bass!) and the songs still kick plenty of arse. The best way to describe their sound would be a mix of crossover punk attitude and thrash metal aggression. My favourite track off this demo would have to be the second track "Dying on the Front Line", it's simply a kick-arse fast thrash number that reminds me of crossover era Sodom.

All in all, Simplistic Genocide aren't trying to do anything new or original, rather just sticking to what they like and having a good time doing it. There is a lot of potential shown in this demo, and I would love to hear more from these young'uns in the future.

3.5/5

www.myspace.com/simplisticgenocide

Invection - Demented Perception

Like ball-kicking riffs that melt your face off? Like Bay-Area style Thrash Metal? Like German Trash? WELL THEN! Have I got a treat for you!
Invection are a group of young bucks hailing from California USA who clearly seem to love Bay-Area Thrash Metal like your dog loves taking a good shit on your freshly mowed lawn!

With this EP, these guys bring one hell of a Bay-Area and Kreator worshipping thrash assault! Chugging Destruction meets Exodus style riffs? Yep. Shouted thrashing vocals? Yep. Furious Thrash Metal drums? Yep. Driving bass that compliments the guitars and drums? Yep. Everything a good Thrash band needs can be found right here in these songs.
Invection bring the Thrash.

Every song on here is enjoyable, and it's not all balls-out high speed thrashing, they slow down at times which adds a good sense of variety that a lot of Thrash bands seem to forget about these days.

Listening to this EP makes me wonder why so many people get up in arms against the so-called "new wave thrash movement". I mean, sure there's a LOT of bands just riding the trend, but there are MANY diamonds among the rough, such as Hellcannon, Forgery, Lich King, Nocturnal, Hellish Crossfire, Brutallion and Invection among others who still carry the old spirit of THRASH in their veins. I think it's great that there's newer bands out there bringing back everything we love about Thrash!

Now lets get into details about the music to be found on this disc;
The vocals seem more in the punky-vein and seem to remind me of mid-era (the crossover albums) Sodom, that is a very lose comparison though, I'm really not sure who they remind me of.
The guitars are distorted and chugging, just like good thrash riffs should be. They remind me a lot of some strange mix of German Thrash and Bay Area Thrash. I have no idea who to compare them to! It sounds like Kreator playing Exodus songs.

All in all, this is a great EP that shows a LOT of potential. Invection is a band to watch out for, they WILL make a splash.

4.5/5 I REALLY like this, can't wait to hear more from the boys from Cali!

www.myspace.com/invectionmetal

Diabolic - Infinity Through Purification

Here's a Death Metal gem from a few years back, 2003 to be specific.
I discovered this band when they added me on Myspace a few months ago, and just recently decided to give one of their albums a spin. So after doing my research and finding out where to start, it seems the general consensus that this is their best. And I can see why, it rips!

What we have is a good slice of Floridian Death Metal, via heavy Morbid Angel and Immolation influences. Right from the opening track you can see what this band is all about, straight up, no bullshit Death Metal. Blast beats, check, gutteral vocals, check, thudding punishing bass, check, kick-arse headbangable DM riffage? CHECK! These guys have everything you need to make a good Death Metal band. Sure they may not be the most original in their field, but they know exactly what they are doing.

There's some nice variety in the tracks here, so you're not just hearing the standard CHUGGACHUGGACHUGGAROAR that so many DM bands use as a cop-out when they can't think of ideas. In saying that, there's not really one track that stands out above the rest, they all fit in together as an album and each track is very listenable.

All in all, this is a great album and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Florida Death Metal and needs something new (note: I saw new, not different, not that that's a bad thing, though).

4/5

www.myspace.com/diabolic666

Tribulation - The Horror

Oh Swedish Death Metal, how I love thee oh so much.

Tribulation play a heavy, fast and thrashy blend of old-school style Death Metal. Their sound best reminds me of Kreator at their most DM (especially vocal-wise, think Mille's vocals on Pleasure to Kill and Endless Pain, but more screechy) and Morbid Angel at their thrashiest. I would almost call this album Death Thrash, but not quite, as it has a more DM vibe.

The riffs on this album, while not being terribly original, fucking slay, that's all I can really say about them. I did not find a single song on this album that didn't have me banging my head like a maniac. The vocals are like the bastard child of early Tom Angelripper, early Mille Petrozza and early Dave Vincent mixed in with their own personality.

As for stand-out tracks, I'm not sure if there is any, maybe Spawn of the Jackel, which reminds me of a blinding rifftastic Rigor Mortis tune with Mille Petrozza on vocals. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but a bit more variety would be great, not to say there isn't variety because there is plenty to be found within the songs here. I just seem to listen to this album as one long and awesome song, rather than a bunch of great songs.

All in all, this is a great album. I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone who has a problem with the Death Metal scene as of late, as these guys offer a much needed breath of fresh air and originality mixed in with good old fashion trashing metal of DEATH! Great stuff.

Special mention should also be made for the cover art, talk about evil!

4.5/5

www.myspace.com/soultribulation

http://www.tribulation.se/

In Solitude - In Solitude

Sweden. Heavy Metal. Here's two things that go together like beer and curry!

What we have here is a band playing straight up Heavy Metal, in the vein of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Mercyful Fate (pretty obvious MF influences, actually). This album has everything you need to make a good Traditional Heavy Metal record; catchy riffs, soaring vocals, decent drumming and killer melodies.

There aren't many bands around these days that actually show a personality through their music, there's no real "it" factor in their songs that make me say "fuck yeah! this is awesome!". In Solitude, however, have that special something that makes a great metal band. Every song on this album is good, I really can't find a filler track on here, and believe me, I tried. Every song has great riffs, catchy vocal lines, what more could you want in a Heavy Metal song?!

The stand-out tracks on this album would be the opener "In The Darkness" because it just hooks you in right from the word go, track give "7th Ghost" because of the killer riffing, not much else to say about this particular song, and my favourite, the closing track "The Monolith" which is just plain epic.

These swedes are definitely not trying to re-invent the wheel here, you get the feeling that they are playing good old fashion Heavy Metal because they love it! It's great to see a band playing Metal for the sheer thrill of playing such amazing and fun music. This album is destined to be a classic dose of Swedish Heavy Metal.

I give this a 5/5 for being everything I could ever want in a Metal album. Any fan of the timeless classic Metal sound should give this a listen.

www.myspace.com/InSolitudeHeavyMetal

Hellcannon - Raiders of the Wastes Demo/EP

Here's a VERY nice piece of old school Thrash/Death Metal to kick off the blog.

If you're looking for anything new and innovative, you ain't gonna find it here.

Hellcannon plays Death thrash in the old-school vein of Sarcofago, early Sodom and early Sepultura. This is the stuff that makes you want to down some beers and headbang until you get major whiplash.

The CD kicks off with a ripping thrash intro called Vicious Circle that just grabs you by the balls from the get go, it perfectly sets the tone for the whole EP. This disc does NOT allow you a break from headbanging until they are finished assaulting your ears with their heavy and fast Death thrash riffage.

The end of the final track (Raiders of the Waste) leaves you thinking "Where the fuck did the last 14 minutes go? I want more!".

Any old-schoolers wanting something heavy, fast and evil that sounds like it stepped straight out of the early 90's Death/Thrash Metal scene simply MUST check this out.

Pretty fucking good for a bunch of young fellas from Buffalo New York.

I give this an easy 4/5. Didn't give it a 5 because I want MORE!

www.myspace.com/hellcannon

BUY IT: http://hellcannon.bigcartel.com/

Welcome

Welcome to my blog.

Over the coming weeks I will start posting reviews, lists and articles relating to the awesome genre of music that is Metal.

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Cheers,

Vagabond.