Aura Noir - Black Thrash Attack

AURA NOIR - Black Thrash Attack (MALICIOUS Records LP 1996)

Black fuckin Thrash Attack!!! This title is such adequate to the musical content of this record. And is best description for what you'll find there. It says everything - about the influences of Aura Noir members, which are deeply rooted in the 80's legendary records, like thrash classics from Sodom, Slayer and Destruction, and in 80's primeval black metal from Venom, Bathory, Hellhammer and all other beauties from the ice age. It says everything also about the ferocious, aggressive attitude of the music, its vulgar sound and really dark, obscure atmosphere. Yeah, this is Aura Noir. 

First time I have seen this band's name was probably in interview for Thrash'em All Magazine (I may be wrong though) in mid 90’s. Soon later I bought "Black Thrash Attack" cassette from Mystic Production and loved it from the first listen. It sounded so fuckin great! For me Aura Noir proved that you can still play black metal in that more archaic, ancient way, but sound fresh and really powerful at the same time. And adding the sodomizing thrash feel was also clever and absolutely fantastic idea. Of course, many accused Aura Noir for stealing old riffs and other such bullshit, I remember reading a lot of such stupid comments back then. But that was absolutely useless and untrue opinion. Who cares? What mattered was that "Black Thrash Attack" contains a whole bunch of killer songs and not even a second of dull stuff. Written half-half between Apollyon and Aggressor, each having his own style, this is a killer album, where every riff is razor sharp and cuts deep into the flesh. It forces to bang head, like classic metal records always do and you know it’s impossible to resist. The result is even more interesting, because Aggressor writes more like old Venom songs, while Apollyon songs sound like Sodom or Hellhammer. That gives a quite varied effect, also because each of them sings in his own songs. But yeah... From “Conqueror” through “The Pest” and up to “Fighting for Hell”, it’s insane record. 20 years later I still love to play it and I can only recommend it to those, who have never had a chance to listen to it. 

Standout tracks: “Conqueror”, “Caged Wrath”, “The Pest”, “Fighting for Hell” 

Verdict: 90/100