Assaulter (It) - Meat Grinder

Artist: Assaulter (It)
Release Title: Meat Grinder
Year: 2017
Label: EBM Records
Genre: Speed Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Assaulter
2. Meat Grinder
3. Dead End Siding
4. Terror World
5. L.M.T.
6. Liesocracy
7. Mind Control
8. Pay to Play
9. After the Countdown
10. Bestial Vomit

Formed in late 2007, the Italian speed/thrashers named Assaulter have quietly set out to bring forth their odes to old-school speed and thrash metal as a slew of lineup issues initially kept their first release until 2012 when the band had become faster and much more technical. Now finally at the time to unleash their first professional release, the bands’ full-length debut was released April 12, 2017 on EBM Records.

Bringing the fire and fury from their early work, there’s plenty of rather strong and impressive work throughout here which makes for a fine start. The basic style here of utilizing the speed metal riff-work, firing off the tight and thunderous riffing which really amps up the intensity of these speed metal riffs. There’s a strong and dynamic attack here that makes for a rather enjoyable approach here with the fiery riff-work zipping along at those far more vicious and frantic patterns that makes for a far more engaging time here with the thrilling old-school thrash rhythms still on-track here keeping this one with a rumbling, heavy backbone to the speed-metal lashings and furthers this one quite nicely. While the basic experience here is quite enjoyable and makes for a really solid starting point, the fact that there’s a minor flaw here makes for a somewhat lesser experience where the album goes into way too many half-a-minute instrumental interludes that interrupts the flow of the release a little too much to really take the main intensity out of the album. Rather, this one feels like they could’ve been more as proper song intros rather than separate tracks, and it stifles the album somewhat, but even with this there’s not a whole lot really wrong elsewhere here.

Coming along rather nicely here with plenty of really enjoyable and frantic speed metal assaults laced with solid thrash metal leanings, a few minor shake-ups in the running order does hold it down slightly enough here for this one to really be of interest for those looking for speed metal or solid old-school thrash.

Score: 85/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://ebmrecords.bandcamp.com/album/meat-grinder-2

Revenge (Col) - Metal Is: Addiction and Obsession

Artist: Revenge (Col)
Release Title: Metal Is: Addiction and Obsession
Year: 2011 (2017 reissue)
Label: Rata Mutante Records (EBM Records reissue)
Genre: Heavy/Speed Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Intro - Hell Avenger (Let's Go to Hell and There Hail to Satan)
2. Speed Metal to the Bone
3. Plague of Death
4. Metal Rules My Life
5. No Speed Limit for Destruction
6. Addiction and Obsession
7. Satan's Warriors
8. Fire Attack

Holding out strongly in their style, the Colombian speed/heavy metal group under the name Revenge have continually utilized their raging musicianship and boundless energy to become one of the more prominent names in the South American revivalist scene. Fully coming into their own with their full-on attack, the groups’ fourth full-length effort was originally released November 15, 2011 on Rata Mutante Records as well as a series of reissues later on including one February 28, 2017 on EBM Records.

Burning straight out of the gate, the group wastes little time offering more of what made them impressive as there’s a continuing of those elements once again. The basic approach is general traditional metal straight from the old-school glory days, brimming with a tight crunch, thunderous patterns and a solid blending of traditional steel and more melodic fire that bridges this one nicely. The fact that the album then decides to include far more frantic, vicious and downright blazing speed metal passages that are incorporated so well into the attack that there’s a varying dynamic taken here that makes for a rousing and wholly appreciated outcome. There’s a reckless and bombastic energetic presence on the album due to the blazing speed metal rhythms featured here, and its liveliness makes the album rush through in a heap of tight, thrashing sections that are given a great balance here by the more classy-sounding work on the traditional rhythms bouncing along to the tight, frantic speed metal blaring around in the background. Although it does come a little undone with the fact that so much of the album is played in such similar fashion it doesn’t really strike much of a variety between the tracks doesn’t really dilute this one in the slightest as this is so fast and frantic this is easily overlooked.

One of the more enjoyable and truly ferocious old-school homages in the scene in quite a while, this is a truly ripping album given a special boost with some solid bonus tracks in this particular edition to help highlight the fury within and make this a no-doubt inquiry for fans of raging old-school heavy metal or speed metal in general.

Score: 97/100

Does it sound good? Order the reissue from here:
https://ebmrecords.bandcamp.com/album/metal-is-addiction-and-obsession

Unhoped - Sonic Violence

Artist: Unhoped
Release Title: Sonic Violence
Year: 2016
Label: EBM Records
Genre: Thrash Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Whole World Gone to Hell
2. Assimilation
3. Sonic Violence
4. Human Disgrace
5. No Man's Land
6. Warhead Sunrise
7. The Naked and the Dead
8. Club of Swines
9. Pies & Friends

After years of struggle to break through, Finnish thrashers Unhoped have finally found their mark with a strong combination of fast and heavy-handed thrash metal with plenty of death metal elements brought to the forefront. Taking a three-year gap in between releases with an EP in the middle, the group’s third full-length effort was released March 3, 2016 on EBM Records.

For the most part here, this one tends to go for the more blistering and frantic thrashing that carries with it a sense of violent intensity that’s highly impressive with the rattling riffing making for quite a fun time. They manage to inject a reckless bombast to the material as the furious rhythms are generally tight, frantic and built around the rattling fury of the thrashing blasts present here to create the frenzied approach typical of this style while also being mindful of adding in plenty of more vicious elements with the furious death metal charging chugging being added as well. This adds another layer to the bands’ approach with a reckless and energetic intensity added to their riff-work by offering a blistering up-tempo counterpoint to the traditional thrashing offered here, and that gives this plenty of swirling rhythms interplaying with each other as this generates the band’s trademark fury here even on tracks that take their time to build into the thrashing. This really doesn’t leave the album much breathing room in it’s rhythms at all, which works out incredibly well here with it managing to offer up it’s best positive as well as greatest negative in the fact that there’s just not much variety at all in the tracks which tend to come off as vicious, violent slabs of thrash without much exception here and is generally a difference of minute details in how they all differ from each other. This can make the album appear somewhat one-note and rather oblivious to itself as it just thrashes away with reckless abandon as to what’s on offer here, but overall there’s not much else really wrong here.

Featuring a ton of utterly fun vicious thrashing that doesn’t really slow down all that much which becomes it’s greatest virtue as well as biggest stumbling block, overall the fact that this one is such a blistering, brutal bash of thrash makes this one of the more appealing prospects for those into that style as well as any thrash/death fanatic.

Score: 96/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://ebmrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sonic-violence