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

Eggs of Gomorrh - Wombspreader

EGGS OF GOMORRH - Wombspreader (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2022)

I hate to admit it, but I am guilty of a great underestimation. Even though I have heard of Eggs of Gomorrh a few times before, I never bothered to check their music. I did not care, I guess. But now “Wombspreader” is crushing the speakers in my music room and I have to say it, I was wrong to skip this band before. My opinion on their new album is simple – it is a fuckin' killer. It may be one of the best releases from Godz ov War so far – which should be a good recommendation, if you know how much great music has been unleashed by this Polish label. I didn’t even expect that it will be so good, so it’s a nice, much welcomed surprise for me.  

If you’re looking for anything sophisticated, Eggs of Gomorrh will not be for you. This band opted for the most ferocious and insanely intense, straight forward bulldozing death / black metal one can imagine. Without wasting a second, they fire up with a cannonade of savage and slashing riffs, which can result in pure annihilation. They are furious, aggressive and bestial and do not sound soft or weak. Eggs of Gomorrh kind of creates a crushing wall of sound, which erupts right in your face and demands a loud, repetitive listening session.   

Stylistically, it may be a bastard child of Angel Corpse, early Morbid Angel, Diocletian, Infernal War, Impiety, Perdition Temple, Revenge, Azarath and that sort of bands. Put all their lethal energy, viciousness and barbarity into one cauldron and it will blow up in the form of Eggs of Gomorrh. A lot of the music on the album is insanely fast and brutal, which gives that erupting, chaotic feel. But I am glad that “Wombspreader” also contains some slower fragments, there are even small traces of shy melody here and there, which gives a nice diversity and more interesting results. So, as weird as it may sound, I take a lot of pleasure from this album. Its energy and dark atmosphere work perfectly well for my musical taste, I like these songs a lot and do not find anything what would not be right, really. “Wombspreader” is a brilliant album, so I can only recommend it to all crazy maniax out there. You will never see this band on Wacken, but damn, it kills 90% of bands from there, I am sure. 

Verdict: 85/100

Nauseant - ILN

NAUSEANT - ILN (Self financed promo 2009)

Sometimes I just don’t remember what hides among the stack of CDs or vinyl, there are always some items, which I completely forgot about and have not listened to in ages. Here's one such example of CDR demo I had in collection for years, I think I got it directly from the band at the time, when it was released and I was still running a printed fanzine. But after doing a review, I had to put it somewhere and forgot about it. And just yesterday I saw it all covered in dust and slime. Damn, I even had no idea I have such a great demo in my collection. The band is called Nauseant and this is a promo CDR copy of their "ILN" EP from 2009, limited to 30 copies only and pressed on a simple CDR with a xeroxed cover. 

And what the hell, this Swedish band wanted badly to be like Finnish monsters from Demilich!!!! Simple as that. There are so many similarities to "Nespithe" authors that it's almost striking. Just check these inhuman, deep monstrous growls. Someone may say that Antti Boman was one and only and who would dare to imitate him. Arghhh, lose your pants, it's just death metal! And Kalle Fagerberg does quite great job here. More so, the whole music also sounds very solid and interesting. Obviously, these riffs have that sick, weird sound, so similar to some of these Finnish lunatics like Demilich, Lubricant or Funebre, so yeah, I just have to looooveee it. Some crazy and bizarre arrangements, tempo changes, almost cacophonic parts here and there, obscure sound... It sounds wonderfully sick to my old ears! Actually, “ILN” has such a strong early 90’s vibe that it could be mistaken with some of these old demos or EPs. With the exception that the production here is a bit better. 

All in all, I feel just happy that I managed to find this CDR in my collection. Great discover, yes. And I will definitely try to grab a copy of the vinyl (released by No Posers Please! from Norway, a great label, which was run by a Diskord dude!). Hell yeah! 

Verdict: 80/100

Stillborn - Cultura de la muerte

STILLBORN - Cultura de la muerte (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2022)

This brand-new black vomit from Stillborn is a real feast to my ears. I'm not even gonna pretend it’s any different, this album caught me in some sort of maniacal maelstrom – as a result, I couldn’t take it off the fuckin stereo for days. You can only imagine destruction it caused to my ears and how it pissed off my wife, who really had enough of this album hah! But extreme metal is not a vaniila ice cream, it has to be rough and be hostile hah! 

I have to say that I like that consistency, with which Stillborn records their music, how they stick to the best formulas for their style of death metal, without any compromises – and despite all lineup changes they suffered. But also, how they make the music sound even more dense, more intense and darker. Ohh, more blasphemous too, which is now underlined with the Polish lyrics on this new album. Although you may not understand much from these harsh, possessed screams of Killer, but there’s no doubt that lyrics for such “Gniew diabła” and “Profanacja i bluźnierstwo” are a big fuckin nail in the coffin of christianity, especially in such useless country as Poland. Anyway, going back to the music, there’s one more thing, which I personally like a lot. There are eight songs, compressed in nearly thirty minutes. This really underlines the brutality and ferocious intensity of “Cultura de la muerte” perfectly. Stillborn doesn’t waste time for some unnecessary intros, covers or whatever, but blast and crush with no remorse. With such a short album they don’t even need to diversify these songs much, it all seems to have one aim to fulfill – and Stillborn are there to do it! Total annihilation! 

Yeah, enough of that melodrama and stupidity. “Cultura de la muerte” is really damn great and worthy album, it may be the best Stillborn effort so far – but I would have to check some of their early stuff first, before giving a final verdict (it’s been years since I’ve listened to some of that stuff). But the truth is, I don’t remember any of their albums to have such an intensified and repeatable listening session as “Cultura de la muerte”. Which is why I really, I mean REALLY recommend this album a lot. Don't be a pussy, get it before it’s too late. 

Verdict: 85/100 

R.O.D. - HateSpeech

R.O.D. - HateSpeech (DEFENSE Records - CD 2021)

I'm not big expert on the Polish thrash metal, to be honest. I do know there’s quite a solid number of young bands out there, but I don’t really bother myself to check their albums or whatever they have to offer. There are very exceptions from that rule obviously (Excidium, Warfist and Bloodthirst among others)… but they are very few. And that takes us to R.O.D. and their third album “HateSpeech”. I don’t remember if I’ve ever heard them before, if I did then I completely erased that fact from my memory. I doubt also that “HateSpeech” will help R.O.D. become my favourite band of this year, but this album isn’t that bad. Actually, it is solid and listenable piece of thrash metal.  

There are few things, which I like about “HateSpeech”. One is that aggression and whiplashing riffs they have all the way through their album. R.O.D. doesn’t waste much time and really puts some fuel into the fire, getting that nice, energetic feel. Cool. Obviously, their riffs aren’t the most extraordinary thrash metal you will ever hear, but it’s OK if you want to simply listen to some thrash with a bit of crossover. Another good aspect of the album is that it’s just around 25 minutes long (or short), which helps a lot to avoid irritating feel of thrash overdose. A quick couple of spins are enough, the CD can go back to the shelf and wait for its another turn. Also, the production is pretty damn good. Are there any things I don’t like? Well, some vocal parts probably are not my favourite. But I deliberately decided to avoid reading lyrics, which I heard are quite idiotic here and there. I don’t care. Musically it is not so bad at all. 

Verdict: 70/100