Snake Eyes - No One Left to Die

SNAKE EYES - No One Left to Die (DEFENSE - CD 2022)

It's been few years since “Macabre Tales” EP from Snake Eyes was released (2012 to be more precise) and honestly, I don’t even remember much from that CD, I haven’t listened to it since I got it. I also have no idea what took them so long to get another recording finished, but let's just be happy that "No One Left to Die" is out. Better late than never, especially when we get a nice and solid dose of thrash metal. Which is exactly what Snake Eyes served us. 

And there’s only one thing, which I would really do differently – this album is just too long for me. 50 minutes feels like a bit of overdose of thrash for my musical taste, especially in this form and style. On the other hand, Snake Eyes does everything to get things right and tries to diverse their thrash metal as much as possible. So, you will find here plenty of straight forward, faster, aggressive thrashing songs, as well as a bit slower pieces, to get a nice diversity within this genre of metal music. Stylistically, I think this is a good mixture of US and European thrash metal, both old and new. There has to be Slayer - Slayer is in every thrash metal band, it's just mandatory. But you will hear also a bit of Testament, Kreator or Protector in it too, so all the thrash metal I like to hear, not that wimpy stuff. My sensitive ear can also catch a bit of melodic death metal here and there, almost the Arch Enemy style - “Fear of Gehenna” for that matter - which is something I am not big fan of, but I have no problems with, if it comes in smaller dose.  

Generally, Snake Eyes delivers solid, quality thrash from start to finish. They did have enough cool ideas and great riffs to fill this album up, so I’ve listened to it with pleasure. Except of “Sigh of Death” probably, which is the closing instrumental song, extending this album for another ten minutes – without it the album would sound better, I guess, but I can easily use the skip button and just play the whole thing all over again. I am sure some listeners will enjoy that instrumental piece more than I did, but I am not gonna argue about it. And one more thing, only after I have finished listening to “No One Left to Die” I realized that Snake Eys got themselves a female vocalist. But for fuck sake, I would never guess. Take that as a compliment or not, but I think it’s quite cool to realize that. 

Verdict: 75/100

Hellfuck - Diabolic Slaughter

HELLFUCK - Diabolic Slaughter (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2022)

There was a time back in the early 90's when I would get cut for the German thrash metal trinity of Kreator, Sodom and Destruction. These bands meant a lot to me, and obviously I still hold their early catalogue dear. But it is just sad that despite their longevity, I don't really make anything of it and most of the stuff these bands did since mid 90's is useless to me. I think that only Sodom is still able to catch my attention, while the other two's recent albums can easily be buried and forgotten. What takes us to Hellfuck, who are completely new band from Poland and to their debut CD "Diabolic Slaughter". What's the connection between Hellfuck and the trio of German veterans of thrash? Well, I perceive the music on "Diabolic Slaughter" as completely infected by the old Teutonic thrash legacy. 

And it's not just a lame comparison, Hellfuck really took everything what's best in the old thrash (maybe except some more melodic and catchy parts, which such Kreator sometimes had) and built some killer songs on it. The sheer aggression, viciousness, razor sharp, cutting riffs, great fast pace and a whole lot of brilliant energy - it's all there. The music speeds like crazy, Hellfuck must feel really comfortable in this style, since they hardly ever slow down and definitely do not take prisoners. Obviously "Diabolic Slaughter" has a bit more updated production, and the general feeling of this music is far from something archaic, especially with these insane blasts... But it has that amazing old school feel, without sounding like a useless copycat. The whole satanic and blasphemous attitude is also noteworthy - from the amazing album artwork through the titles up to all lyrics ("Slay the nuns, whores of priests... Holy Mary, suck the Prick of Satan!" - hahaha). And finally, I am very surprised hearing how Skullripper sounds on "Diabolic Slaughter". Obviously, he is a great singer, I am great fan of both Embrional and Azarath, but in Hellfuck he sounds completely different, more like an ugly bastard son of Schmier and Petrozza. Damn, he really nailed these thrashing shrieks perfectly, hats off. 

That's all what I have to say about "Diabolic Slaughter". This album may not revolutionize your world, it will not become a new monument of thrash metal... but that’s not the point. I love how Hellfuck sounds here, this album kicks ass and almost makes me feel younger, since it so eagerly invites the listener for the headbanging. Reign in hell, fuckers. 

Standout tracks: “H.M.S.T.O.P.S”, “Reigning in Hell”... but they’re all equally good

Verdict: 80/100